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Your original statement was.
"When has the number corresponded to which one they released?"

And the answer to that is:
since iPhone 4, thats when the corresponding release and the corresponding number matched

So why do you think they will follow suit as the others have not been numbered based on release?
 
I'm not sure there is any such thing as a "simple spec bump" when it comes to iPhones.

Need proof? Look at the simple spec bump the 3Gs got over the 3G...

Try running iOS 4 on both devices. The 3G is useless and the 3Gs is ok. I think that's more than "simple" but that's just my two cents.

The next iPhone (whatever it's called) is very likely to have a better processer and camera. I don't consider any of that a minor update. The processor is the heart of the device. The camera on the iPhone 4 has nearly replaced my stand alone camera and if the next one is even better I can probably never worry about buying a camera again. The iPhone 4 camera is more than enough for most people (as long as you don't need a lot of flash). Yeah if you have a wedding or need something waterproof that's another story. But for everyday use it is more than adequate.

I think they called it a 3Gs because it looked identical to the 3G and because at the time 3G was still a big enough deal to include it in the model name. Now the iPhone 4 gets mistaken for a 4G device all the time. I still have people ask me "is that the 4G?!" and last week there was even a front page article about the confusion on mac rumors. That being said, the confusion/ignorance of the average consumer has not hurt sales one bit. I am assuming the next phone will have a similar design and they will call it a 5- but that's just like, my opinion, man.
 
I'm not sure there is any such thing as a "simple spec bump" when it comes to iPhones.

Need proof? Look at the simple spec bump the 3Gs got over the 3G...

Try running iOS 4 on both devices. The 3G is useless and the 3Gs is ok. I think that's more than "simple" but that's just my two cents.

Agreed.

Can we drop the debate whether it'll be a 4S or a 5? iPhone 4S was labelled by some random developer who was just using a Dual Core A5 chip to test out their app. Now everyone has blown this out of proportion and think that the next iPhone will be "just a spec bump".
Somethings to keep in mind.. a spec update is huge. A Dual Core iPhone will blow away all previous iPhones out of the water. But it won't be "just a spec bump", it'll be more.

WSJ says that the next iPhone will be thinner and lighter, aka external hardware redesign.
Also apparently the iPhone 4 design "fell out of favour" by the Apple execs. I don't blame them, because it really is ergonomically horrible.

Also, the iPhone 3GS was named because it made no sense to go from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3 in a marketing sense. Consumers want to see more added to the product, not less.
I'm sure the iPhone 3GS was an anomaly.

iPhone = iPhone 1
iPhone 3G = iPhone 2
iPhone 3GS = iPhone 3
iPhone 4 = iPhone 4
iPhone 5 = iPhone 5

Also, last year we had the following specs and features..

A4 chip, iOS 4, 4th generation iPhone = iPhone 4

This year we have..

A5 chip, iOS 5, 5th generation iPhone = ?

I don't know what it'll be named, but iPhone 5 suffices until then. Anything else really makes no sense (aka 4S, 4G, 4GS).

Sadly, a lot of iPhone 4 owners who are filled with buyers remorse want the next iPhone to be "just a spec bump". Truth is, it won't be just that.
 
I'm not sure there is any such thing as a "simple spec bump" when it comes to iPhones.

Need proof? Look at the simple spec bump the 3Gs got over the 3G...

Try running iOS 4 on both devices. The 3G is useless and the 3Gs is ok. I think that's more than "simple" but that's just my two cents.

The next iPhone (whatever it's called) is very likely to have a better processer and camera. I don't consider any of that a minor update. The processor is the heart of the device. The camera on the iPhone 4 has nearly replaced my stand alone camera and if the next one is even better I can probably never worry about buying a camera again. The iPhone 4 camera is more than enough for most people (as long as you don't need a lot of flash). Yeah if you have a wedding or need something waterproof that's another story. But for everyday use it is more than adequate.

I think they called it a 3Gs because it looked identical to the 3G and because at the time 3G was still a big enough deal to include it in the model name. Now the iPhone 4 gets mistaken for a 4G device all the time. I still have people ask me "is that the 4G?!" and last week there was even a front page article about the confusion on mac rumors. That being said, the confusion/ignorance of the average consumer has not hurt sales one bit. I am assuming the next phone will have a similar design and they will call it a 5- but that's just like, my opinion, man.
The difference, though, is that the further you go into high-end devices, the smaller the actual performance boost you get with an upgrade. You got a serious boost from the 3 to the 3GS, but not so much with the 3GS to the 4. You did get a fantastic new display though. Something you're not getting on the 5. The camera on the 4 is fantastic, so how much can you improve on that?

It's not like the old days when a 386 was 10 time faster than the 286 it replaced. Now, the actual performance boost is minimal. Things are already high-performance.

Point being: 3GS to iPhone 5? No brainer. Perhaps even the 3GS to 4 (in part because of the sweet display upgrade). 4 to 5? Debatable that it would be justified if you just bought the 4. Thus the 'simple spec bump'.
 
So you think it'll go 4 then 4s then 4gs then 4x then 4z etc? Come on they're just going go by numbers now it's better marketing. iPhone 5 sounds newer than 4x
 
They'll either call it iPhone 5, or they'll drop the number all together and simply market it as "iPhone" (for support documents and compatibility, they'll just either call it 5th generation or refer to the time of release like they do with all their other devices.) It simply doesn't make sense to call it an iPhone 4S - what'll they call the one after that then? iPhone 5? or iPhone 6 since it'd be the 6th iphone?
 
They'll either call it iPhone 5, or they'll drop the number all together and simply market it as "iPhone" (for support documents and compatibility, they'll just either call it 5th generation or refer to the time of release like they do with all their other devices.) It simply doesn't make sense to call it an iPhone 4S - what'll they call the one after that then? iPhone 5? or iPhone 6 since it'd be the 6th iphone?

I used to think they'd do that before the iPhone 4 was announced, but there is a much greater level of differentiation between iPhone models than there is between Macbooks and Mac Pros, etc, and the number is a great way of express that differentiation more easily to the average consumer.
 
Yep, can't understand why people think it'll be called the 4s... Mainly because it seemed like Apple wanted to 'line up' everything - iPhone 4, with the A4 chip, with iOS 4....... Logic says iphone 5, with A5 chip, with iOS 5.......
 
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