Kyle Stewart’ Opinion on why Apple won’t call the iPhone 5, the iPhone 5.
iPhone. iPhone 3G. iPhone 3GS. iPhone 4. iPhone 4S. iPhone 5.
You can’t look too far around a tech site without finding something about the upcoming iPhone 5, which is expected to come out in October 2012.
But… I’m going to tell you why the iPhone 5, won’t be called the iPhone 5.
It all goes back to the 2nd Generation iPhone, which was called the iPhone 3G. It was called this because it was the first iPhone to be on 3G networks. The original iPhone was on 2G networks.
Now, the newest network is 4G LTE. And all of the rumors pint towards the fact that the next iPhone will support 4G LTE.
I think you see where I’m going with this.
But then, it all goes back to marketing.
Why, would you call the next big iPhone, the iPhone 4G LTE. For one, you just released the iPhone 4S, now jumping backwards in the alphabet to the iPhone 4G LTE would just confuse the market. (Well, it might not confuse you, but think of the average person, buying a smart phone for the first or second time.)
So then it goes back to… let’s call out next iPhone, the iPhone 5.
But, that makes everything all weird. Once you start naming phones after their networks, you just can’t stop for no reason!
There is a back-up. Many, many people call 4G LTE, simply LTE. What if Apple decides to do the same?
The iPhone LTE?
Think about it… it actually makes sense!
Remember… you heard it here first.
-a KYLE STEWART article-
iPhone LTE….hmmm sounds good:D
I Know, Right!
The new iphone??????????/ just like the ipad
That’s always a possibility, but I think that Apple’s Phones need to be clearly different from one another in this huge phone market.
I agree there is no chance they will call it iPhone 5, but for an entirely different reason. Why did they call iPhone 4 “iPhone 4″? It had nothing at all to do with the tech inside, it was the 4th generation of iPhone. It was the first time they’d ever named a device based on its generation (and then they did it again with the iPad 2). The naming convention they established with the iPhone 3GS, using the S to indicate “under the hood” changes vs form factor changes was used again in the 5th generation of iPhone when they called it iPhone 4S. A new form factor in the next iPhone (which is what we all expect) would require the next iteration in the naming convention already established. So there are really only two possible names for the next iPhone. Either iPhone 6, since it is the 6th generation of iPhone (and also coincides with iOS 6 and will likely be powered by an A6 proc), or simply The New iPhone, pulling from the recent precedent set by the 3rd generation iPad. You heard it HERE first.