“It’s widely rumored that Apple intends to launch three new iPhone models this year,” Ashraf Eassa writes for The Motley Fool. “At the bottom of the product stack is supposed to be a device with a liquid crystal display (LCD) that measures 6.1 inches along the diagonal.”
“That device is broadly expected to be the most popular model of the three that Apple intends to introduce this year because it’s rumored to bring substantial form-factor innovation at a reasonably accessible price point (between $700 and $800,” Eassa writes. “There’s been a lot of speculation as to how Apple will brand this upcoming LCD iPhone. Amit Daryanani, in a research note seen by Investor’s Business Daily, thinks the device could be marketed as the iPhone 9.”
“However, I believe it’s highly unlikely that Apple will call it the iPhone 9 and will, instead, simply call it the ‘iPhone,'” Eassa writes. “The LCD iPhone seems to be analogous to the iPad, while the upcoming iPhone X and iPhone X Plus seem to correspond to the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, respectively. So, if Apple is adopting a product strategy with the iPhone that is similar to that of the iPad, I think it’s reasonable to expect similar naming schemes as well… The higher-end iPhone models, then, could be referred to as the iPhone X and iPhone X Plus, or both could be referred to as the iPhone X alongside their respective screen sizes (just as Apple does with the current iPad Pro models).”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Anything could happen, given Apple’s stupid iPhone naming schemes of the past (only recently rectified), but we’d love to see some logical iPhone naming going forward.
These will be fine and easily updatable every year:
• iPhone nano (2018)
• iPhone (2018)
• iPhone Plus (2018)
• iPhone Pro (2018)‘Twas readily discernible differentiation, and not just in screen size, but in camera hardware and features that has sold and continues to sell many Plus model iPhones. ProMotion – especially and naturally coupled with Apple Pencil support – would be a strong reason to choose iPhone X Plus, iPhone X Pro*, or whatever they name it.
*”Pro” means Apple Pencil support already, so it makes sense to use “Pro” for any iPhone with Apple Pencil support, too. – MacDailyNews, November 28, 2017
And, yes, Apple has since ruined the whole “Pro” naming scheme with a $329 iPad that supports Apple Pencil.