Cult Of Mac On iPhone Naming
So this is all worth taking with a big grain of salt. Yet Apple would be wise to consider a different naming scheme for the next iPhone. The ‘S’ naming scheme, while honest, does imply to consumers that they are getting only a slightly spec-bumped, year-old phone. What the ‘S’ stands for usually depends: with the iPhone 3GS, it stood for ‘speed’, while with the iPhone 4S, it stood for ‘Siri.’ But it doesn’t send as strong a statement to consumers as a whole new number, and you don’t see the likes of Samsung dicking around with launching, say, Galaxy S4 And A Halfs.
Ultimately, I don’t think consumers are fooled by names, and the press certainly aren’t. What’s more interesting about Apple’s upcoming branding is how they position the cheaper iPhone variant in the lineup. With the iPad mini, the differentiator was screen size, which meant Apple could focus the branding on that distinction rather than its lower price point.
This likely won’t be the case with the cheap iPhone though, as it will use the same 4 inch display as its bigger brother, so Apple can’t use the same trick. It also doesn’t seem to be “lighter” or “thinner” either so adjectives like “nano” and “mini” are also out of the question.
The rumours point to the distinguishing factor being “cheaper” … I think it’s fascinating to see how Apple will brand “cheaper”.