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Other Will Apple ever stop numbering the iPhone?

WilsonNM

WilsonNM

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 16, 2023
20
10
Do you think Apple will ever drop the "17", "18", etc. from the iPhone name? Or possibly reset the numbers?

Currently, the numbering system is most relevant to the Phone and Watch, but other products, like the MacBook Pro and the iPad do not have numbers as part of their name and are referred to by chip name most frequently (or by generation number).

It seems like, as the numbers get bigger, they become less relevant or memorable as part of the name. "iPhone 4" has more weight behind it than "iPhone 29". The iPhone 17 is supposedly going to bring us a new form factor, the Air. They could potentially just call it the iPhone Air, with next year's being iPhone Air 2. The rumored folding iPhone brings an even more radical departure w/r/t form factor. Does it make sense to call it the iPhone 19 Fold, for example, if the folding phone is effectively a different product line? Or could it just be iPhone Fold with the following version called iPhone Fold 2?

The 20th anniversary phone is supposedly "19", but we know Apple is willing to skip a number (iPhone 9) to come out with a special name for the anniversary (iPhone X in 2017 for the 10th anniversary). This could be a chance to change the naming scheme.

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud here...this is not actually a serious issue. But wondering if anyone has thoughts about the naming scheme of the iPhone. Thanks. 😁
 
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I don't know, nor do I really think about it because I don't care enough. However, if they ever do change it, I think it'd go to the year. For instance, the 2026 iPhone, 2027 iPhone, etc.

In the industry I work in, both Adobe and Quark got rid of public version numbers. Those are still there, but both companies advertise their apps by year. I.e., Adobe CC25, QuarkXPress 25. To me, that would make more sense for Apple to do, but I'm not in charge of that.
 
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Under Tim Cook highly doubt it will change. Most people I talk to don’t even know which model number they have.

It would be cool if they adopted something to the car world how people use chassis codes for different generation body styles. Example bmw e46 or e92
 
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Well, you know. The second iPhone wasn't the "iPhone 2", but the "iPhone 3G", because 3G was the big important thing at the time. What was seen as important about the "iPhone 4" was that it was the fourth (and, I suppose, newest) one, and there's been a lot of leaning into that since – but, as we know, with a few little naming experiments along the way, none of which have stuck quite so much as the numeric sequence.

I think the constant rule – through Apple's history with every product line – is that the name is whatever most clearly or meaningfully communicates what's meant to be communicated. Through history, the marketing team (my impression is that's the team generally tasked with naming the products) has thought that varies. Studying the names in retrospect feels as much like gaining insight into that thinking as into the products.
 
I think so. If they are diversifying the iPhone into Regular, Air, Pro and Fold categories it is likely that these will get staggered throughout the year, maybe every 3 months to keep the hype train rolling. Numbering them all would make things confusing. As you say, the iPad and Mac work fine without numbered entries.

Next year may well just bring the iPhone (A20)
 
I think they missed the opportunity to do that with the iPhone X.

Yeah, iPhone 56 sounds silly, but back when we had the iPhone 5, saying iPhone 16 sounded silly.

The reason I think they will probably keep numbering them is to get the people that think they always need the latest number model to buy a new one every year.

For some insecure people out there, having the highest numbered iPhone possible is how they know that they are better than everyone else. If they were all just called the iPhone and distinguished by year like the Macs or the "generation" like the iPads, it would hide that distinction a layer down instead of in the actual name of the device. So those people might not feel the need to upgrade every year.

I think they will keep numbering the iPhone until they give it a different name completely, like to Phapple or something.
 
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tornadowrangler said:
I think they will keep numbering the iPhone until they give it a different name completely, like to Phapple or something.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Apple will of course miss the glorious open goal that is “Phapple” and call it something dreary like “Apple Phone”, instead.
 
Flamingdeathbolts said:
Under Tim Cook highly doubt it will change. Most people I talk to don’t even know which model number they have.

It would be cool if they adopted something to the car world how people use chassis codes for different generation body styles. Example bmw e46 or e92
Click to expand...
They already do! But, just like with the mentioned BMW naming scheme, only some freaks know them.

iPhone 16 Pro Max for example is D94AP, the iPhone 16e is V59AP or the iPhone 15 Pro is D83AP. 😉
 
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Flamingdeathbolts said:
Under Tim Cook highly doubt it will change. Most people I talk to don’t even know which model number they have.

It would be cool if they adopted something to the car world how people use chassis codes for different generation body styles. Example bmw e46 or e92
Click to expand...
Under Tim Cook the Claris subsidiary in 2023 after 30+ years changed Filemaker version numbering to now have versions named by the year of introduction. Currently Claris Filemaker 2024.

IMO by-the-year version numbering is the best way to do it as long as versions are no more frequent than annual. Apple could still have cute CA plant version names associated, like Mac OS 2026 Poison Oak. ;~)
 
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Allen_Wentz said:
Under Tim Cook the Claris subsidiary in 2023 after 30+ years changed Filemaker version numbering to now have versions named by the year of introduction. Currently Claris Filemaker 2024.

IMO by-the-year version numbering is the best way to do it as long as versions are no more frequent than annual. Apple could still have cute CA plant version names associated, like Mac OS 2026 Poison Oak. ;~)
Click to expand...
The cat and California landmark naming convention for macOS is the worst in my opinion. It's impossible to tell without looking it up what version is newer. At least when they were doing android updates by desserts it was alphabetical.
 
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People always ask this but never bother to think.

Without numbers, how would Apple sell last year's model? Or n-2 models?

Apple (and carriers) consistently sells old model iPhones, unlike Mac and iPad.
 
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