Apple’s nonexistent iPhone naming scheme: Will next one be the iPhone 6, 5 or 4G?

“Now that the iPad 3 (yes, that is what Apple should call it) is out and available we are seeing even more rumors of the next iPhone,” Matthew Miller writes for ZDNet.

“I am also getting lots of questions from coworkers and readers about the next iPhone wondering if they should wait or get the iPhone 4S now,” Miller writes. “Talking about this with them led to me thinking about the iPhone naming convention and realizing there really isn’t one…”

Miller writes, “‘Will the next iPhone be called the iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iPhone 4G, or something else?’ Everyone currently talks about the rumors as the iPhone 5, yet the iPhone 4 was the only model so far that had a name that matched the actual number in the iPhone series. If people are using that naming convention, then this rumored model should be referred to as the iPhone 6.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Why should Apple call it “iPad 3?” and, why shouldn’t Apple simply call the next iPhone, “iPhone?”

44 Comments

      1. +2

        Most people don’t realize that not only did the iPad lose the numbering scheme, but the same thing happened with latest Apple TV. There is no Apple TV 3, it’s just an Apple TV.

  1. Gonna go with 5. Maybe even just iPhone. Either will be fine with me. It won’t be 4G. Too confusing with the 4 and 4s. 6 is possible, but I doubt they’ll use that. I could be wrong, obviously, but my big guess is 5.

  2. You can bet dollars to donuts Apple has turned a corner on naming their products and getting away from alphanumeric iterations. Yep it will just be “iPhone.”

  3. Why in the world would Apple skip iPhone 5 and go to iPhone 6? Because it’s 6X faster than the iPhone (original)?

    These guys have WAY too much time on their hands.

      1. That’s the most retarded logic ever. Why are people so fixated on this. Your average consumer would be confused as heck if they skipped the 5… so they won’t. The iPhone 3GS had nothing to do with being the 3rd iPhone. It was a 3G phone and speedy.

        Gah! Apple doesn’t BRAND their phones based on generations. The Apple ][GS.

        The next iPhone will be just that… the next iPhone… the generation will have no bearing on the branding.

  4. It appears to me that the most likely upgrade to the next version of the iPhone will be 4G. The display is already rockin’, although Apple might decide to upsize it to 4″ diagonal from the current 3.5″. It already has a great processor – if Apple can gain speed and battery life by moving to a next generation, then that’s all good. But the current iPhone 4S is great as it stands.

    The key for Apple – don’t mess it up by listening to people who complain when the new model does not look radically different from the current model. The old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” holds a great deal of wisdom. Improve the display, improve the wireless performance, improve the battery life, improve the user friendliness and utility of the iPhone 4S when designing the next generation, but don’t mess it up!

    1. Who gives a shit about its capabilities; the subject is the nomenclature, or what it’s called, for those slow on the uptake. Why on earth should it be the iPhone 6? The series has been iPhone/iPhone3g/iPhone3Gs/iPhone4/iPhone 4s. What possible reason could there be for skipping 5? It makes zero sense to jump to 6, despite what some of the intellectually challenged on here might think. There is a need to differencitiate between models so just calling it iPhone won’t help customers at all, when there’s cheaper models with lower spec available.

  5. I hope Apple sticks to just “iPhone”. No need to put numbers after the name… For one there’s already enough marketing for Apple people will recognize plus people at the carriers will ask you what version you want to buy.

    What is gonna happen “iPhone 100S”? I think it’s a shift in marketing when Apple just simply referred to it as the iPad(3rd generation). They don’t do it for the Macs so they should drop the numerical at the end of the product.

  6. I have an early 2008 iMac. The model number is 8,1 but it’s not called the iMac 8. If iOS devices are becoming one of their main platforms, there’s no reason they can’t adopt the same generic naming pattern. I have an early 2012 iPad and plan to get a late 2012 iPhone.

  7. I think they should drop iPhone and start using snack food names in alphabetical order. That would make things less confusing.

    For example, Honeycomb.1 helped consumers understand that such a version of Android may or may not run in their phone, depending on their carrier and hardware. It’s that simple.

  8. It will be “iPhone”. The reason is that Apple is the only one that can claim such consistency in their device history that calling all their phones iPhone actually works. People will add the generation on their own.

    Can you imagine if any android manufacturer tried this? Their devices have changed so radically over the last 5 years that it would be laughable.

    I believe that this contrast is exactly what Apple wants to highlight with their new naming scheme.

  9. People allready call their phones “iphone” , as in ” hey dude i cant find my iphone” .. They dont say ” hey dude have you seen my iphone 3GS” ? Apple understands this. Same with ipad.

  10. Must be a slow day to write an article about naming scheme

    Who cares as long as it has LTE and it works

    As previously mentioned Apple gets it
    I call my phone
    IPhone not iPhone 4

  11. “MacDailyNews Take: Why should Apple call it “iPad 3?” and, why shouldn’t Apple simply call the next iPhone, “iPhone?””

    So next Mercedes should be called just Mercedes? Well …

  12. I too assume the next will be simply “iPhone”. But it does make you wonder three years from now ordering an iPhone how they will differentiate between the several different generations still available for purchase.
    Next year will you be choosing between the new iPad and the old new iPad?
    I personally like an official specific iPhone name. Obviously it shouldn’t be written on the back of the phone, and only need be mentioned when confusion may arise.

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