“These days, Apple launches new iPhone models in September,” Evan Niu writes for The Motley Fool. “The supply chain leaks surrounding the purported duo of devices continues to escalate. Investors have already taken to calling the device the ‘iPhone 6.’ Here’s the thing: Apple shouldn’t launch an ‘iPhone 6.'”
“To be clear, Apple absolutely should and will launch the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models that have been widely leaked. Rather, it should transition away from using numerical branding for its most popular (and financially significant) product. The ‘iPhone 6’ moniker simply doesn’t make sense. Apple is a company that values simplicity above all else, and it needs to simplify its product naming conventions,” Niu writes. “This year’s iPhone will be the eighth-generation model, so ‘iPhone 6’ isn’t quite accurate. That didn’t stop Apple from using ‘iPhone 5’ two years ago either, though.”
“Every other product in Apple’s lineup eschews numerical branding, from the iPod Touch to all Macs; there is no ‘iMac 12’ or ‘MacBook Pro 5,'” Niu writes. “These product families merely use generations or years to reference their models, similar to the auto industry.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Apple’s next-gen iPhone is a naming catastrophe waiting to happen – June 27, 2014
Unlike other Apple devices though, Apple wants a reason to compel you to upgrade even though your device is still functional. Numbering schemes allow them to do that. Who wants to keep an iPhone 4 or 4S when the 6 is coming out? It helps clearly indicate how many generations behind you are.
And it avoids labeling the midrange model as a year out of date and the lowest model as two years old. Would you rather buy an iPhone 4s in 2014 or an iPhone 2011?
While I suspect Apple will dump the version number sooner or later, I hope it’s later. It’s clear. When Apple named the iPad 3 just “iPad” it made it more complicated for people talking about it since the first generation iPad was also called “iPad”.
Perfect solution. . .
There happens to be a monicker protocol left lying around which is currently unused that is inherently associated with Apple, to which Apple already has the trademark rights, and fills both requirements: it divorces itself from a numerical sequence, while retaining a consumer sequential expectation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, (and those not too sure, and some who haven’t a clue), let me introduce the new Apple iPhones for 2015. The 4.7 inch screen Apple iPhone “Jaguar!” And it’s bigger sibling the 6 inch Apple iPhone “Panther!”
The iPhone is, at heart, a Mac in the hand. . .
With the release of the iPad Air there is a likely/possible change coming to the iPhone as well, I think that’s what this guy is betting on so he can claim heightened insight.
How far can you take the numbering system? iPhone 32!
iPhone 6 doesn’t have the same ring to it as 5 either
Another analyst telling Apple how to run their business. How many multibillion dollar companies has he run? What’s more remarkable is that guys like this think their opinion matters. I’m sure Tim Cook said, “Oh, what a great idea!” when he read this column.
Hopefully, Tim Cook WILL think it is a great idea and adopt numbering by the year released. Makes it easy when shopping for used cars, same for used electronics. Makes perfect sense.
Calling it iPhone 6 when it is year 8 of iPhone is not a great strategy and very confusing.
You don’t have to run a billion dollar company to make a great suggestion. Anymore than you need to be a chicken to tell when an egg is rotten.
I don’t see why the number has to match the year or the generation – it is simply a unique identifier. The iPhone did not start out that way (no “iPhone 1”) and the 3GS, 4s, and 5s were not intended to denote numerical years or generations.
Should Apple consider a different naming approach – sure, if they can find a better one. But Apple often uses a similar form factor for years and has caused difficulty with its simplified naming approaches, forcing Apple, techs and consumers to come up with simple identifiers to differentiate between models (“mirror” PowerMac, mid-2007 intel iMac, etc.). There is something to be said for a simple numerical identifier…
Ford 150 pickup is the largest selling vehicle in the world for years and years last time I checked sales figures.
Imagine if they named it by number, it would be in the 70s or 80s by now.
Apple is headed in that direction and that’s why I agree with the author.
Something better comes along, fine.
Its also a really useless and unimaginative suggestion. What Apple names it has got to be the least interesting subject of new iPhone speculation. The suggested name changes are needlessly inconsistent with past, and fails accomplish its one job of distinguishing types of iPhones from one another. If Apple went with this, anyone who actually wanted to discuss different types of iPhones would have to ignore the official name and just go by generation number, year of release, or make up their own naming system, so Apple would effectively be forfeiting its control over what people actually call their devices.
Well his opinion matters more than yours. His opinion has just reached potentially millions of people. How many has yours reached? And since when are people not allowed to have an opinion or write a story unless they’ve run “multibillion dollar companies”?
MDN should have used the headline ending “or something.”
Yet Another ‘Apple Should’ Article.
They are backing off the strident ‘Apple Must’ headlines a bit. If and when AAPL blasts through the stratosphere, I expect the finger-wagging to recede even more, with meeker headlines like ‘Apple might consider.’
There are altogether too many of these know-it-alls. What’s emoji for ‘disgust’?
There need be no confusion. The iPhone 6 will launch and the existing 5S model could be rehoused in a plastic case and called the 5SC. The 5C will continue as before but will move down the matrix to become the model offered free with a contract.
In 2015, Apple launches the iPhone 6S. Then the iPhone 6 gets repackaged into a plastic case to become the 6C, while the 5SC goes free with contract.
In 2016 we would see the iPhone 7, together with the 6SC and the 6C. 2017 brings the 7S, 7C and 6SC.
The larger model will be the iPhone air and differentiated by name from the other iPhones.
iPhone 5SC is a confusing name. Why does 5SC have an ‘S’ for speed while the faster iPhone 6 has none? Why not just use a different letter instead of sticking two letters in a row? Why re-brand the existing iPhone at all, drawing attention away from the iPhone 6?
Ummm … iPhone 3GS existed alongside iPhone 4; iPhone 4s continues to exist alongside iPhones 5 … so what’s your point? And the “s” hasn’t stood for speed since the 3GS anyway.
As for the idea of 5sc being confusing … agreed, although somehow I doubt Apple will be able to release THREE “new” iPhones this fall, at least given that we’ve had zero component leaks of any such change. We’ll have to wait and see. I imagine there’d have to be SOME changes to the iPhone 5c production line to make a 5s plastic variant.
ProPhone? Or iPhonePro?
Oh yes, let’s use the year as part of the name….because that has worked so well for Microsoft, to remind consumers just how infrequently they update their products.
“Posted from my Mac running Office 2011 (the latest version!)”
The author uses the MacBooks as an a example. These are identified by the year they were introduced, but the year is not actually part of the name.
Yes because iPhone TF774321JX/¥#%c is soooo much clearer.
Just as long as they make up their minds and stay consistent.
iMovie ’11 was superseded by iMovie 10.
A rose by any other name is but a rose. Shakespeare said it all.It must be a slow news day!
Anyone notice that the Star Rating system is gone?
Good riddance. It had become a time-wasting game within a game.
Nope. . . Here for me as of my posting time. Must have been down for an oil change or something.
I think there is a lot of logic in what he says, the numbering system especially with new varients is becoming confusing. However the problem with his suggestion of doing as the other products is that the iPhone has traditionally kept previous versions on sale up to 2 years after a new launch unlike say with iMac (or with cars) where a new model replaces the old model so something like iPhone Air or iPhone mini etc is, like with the iPad, required to distinguish things.
I think ANALyst needs a hug, milk and cookies. After all, they are really stressed out running a MULTIBILLION DOLLAR company that’s regarded as the Most Valuable, Most Admired Company on the planet. 😜
I’m waiting for the iPhone 11.
Not quite true, Niu…there is an iPad 2.
How ridiculous. They also fail to mention how confusing it can be to be looking for memory or help online for your iMac/MacBook, etc. and have to search for “iMac mid-2010 Intel i5” or whatever the designation is. Search for “iPhone 6” and you get what you want.
Plus, how else are we to brag to our fellow iPhoners? “Is that an iPhone 6?” “No, it’s the latest iPhone. My wife just has an iPhone from last year. My kids have other iPhones, like blue and green.”
If naming conventions are all Apple has to worry about I think they’ll be fine.
Honestly it is a branding problem and i don’t really care. I just hope to have my 5.5 new iphone with a great battery 😉