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Other Is Apple dropping [S] devices for good?!

Jack Napier X

Jack Napier X

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 16, 2020
12
23
I am surprised this has not been discussed (or at least I haven't seen any comments regarding that matter)...

So we have had iPhone 11 and now we are going straight to iPhone 12....rumors are talking an iPhone 13 not 12....is Apple marketing going to drop the iterations completely???

I know. The hardware design changes justify the numerical jump for the 12 but what about that jump from iPhone 7 to 8... there was no real design change back then.
I fear Apple will not release anymore iPhones...those were always my fav. iPhones...established design with fundamental hardware features...

What do you think???
 
To be fair, this isn’t the first time they’ve skipped an ‘S’ release. There was no iPhone 7S range, and instead they went straight to the 8 & X (completely skipping not just the S release but the 9 as well). That didn’t stop them from bringing the S back with the iPhone XS range the following year. All that is to say that the iPhone naming scheme has been inconsistent and unpredictable for a while now. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year saw an iPhone 12S, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the iPhone 13 either!
 
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I don't think so. I think the S means a minor update. I think the 6, 7, and 8 are not S versions because they have new bodies (Someone correct me if this is wrong). I know the 8 started glass back so different than the 7 but I can't remember my 6. This is the 12 because it has a new body over the 11.

I think Apple felt that they would make the phone then work on improving that specific one making the S version. Now they are pushing change hard so maybe there is no room for minor improvements. Who knows maybe we will get an S version of the 12 with 120 Hz display on the Pro models :)
 
adamlbiscuit said:
To be fair, this isn’t the first time they’ve skipped an ‘S’ release. There was no iPhone 7S range, and instead they went straight to the 8 & X (completely skipping not just the S release but the 9 as well). That didn’t stop them from bringing the S back with the iPhone XS range the following year. All that is to say that the iPhone naming scheme has been inconsistent and unpredictable for a while now. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year saw an iPhone 12S, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the iPhone 13 either!
Click to expand...
Do you think there’s a chance they may not have a “13” model and skip straight to the 14? I only ask because I know there’s a lot of superstitious people out there, lol (I’m not one of them). Kind of like buildings don’t have a 13th floor.

Oh, no! I just realized that my 12 Pro Max is supposed to be delivered on Friday, November 13th...🤪
 
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Lsmachado said:
Do you think there’s a chance they may not have a “13” model and skip straight to the 14? I only ask because I know there’s a lot of superstitious people out there, lol (I’m not one of them). Kind of like buildings don’t have a 13th floor.

Oh, no! I just realized that my 12 Pro Max is supposed to be delivered on Friday, November 13th...🤪
Click to expand...
Anything is possible. I don’t follow the Samsung Galaxy series too closely, but did they jump from 10 to 20?
 
Lsmachado said:
Do you think there’s a chance they may not have a “13” model and skip straight to the 14? I only ask because I know there’s a lot of superstitious people out there, lol (I’m not one of them). Kind of like buildings don’t have a 13th floor.

Oh, no! I just realized that my 12 Pro Max is supposed to be delivered on Friday, November 13th...🤪
Click to expand...

I wondered the same thing. Then again, they did release iOS 13 and didn’t skip to 14. Istill have to wonder what the tech industry have against the number 9 though. Both iPhone and Windows skipped the 9!
 
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Jack Napier X said:
I am surprised this has not been discussed (or at least I haven't seen any comments regarding that matter)...

So we have had iPhone 11 and now we are going straight to iPhone 12....rumors are talking an iPhone 13 not 12....is Apple marketing going to drop the iterations completely???

I know. The hardware design changes justify the numerical jump for the 12 but what about that jump from iPhone 7 to 8... there was no real design change back then.
I fear Apple will not release anymore iPhones...those were always my fav. iPhones...established design with fundamental hardware features...

What do you think???
Click to expand...
Apple seems to be more on a 3 year design cycle now to be honest, and it leads to some interesting naming issues. I suspect we won’t see any design changes next year other than new colors and Apple will call the series 12S. The year after who knows, but if it follows the pattern of the last few years there will be some tweaks to the design (new camera hump design? smaller notch?) and they’ll call it the 13. S cycle phones do tend to last longer and age better, but hard to say if the trend will continue.
 
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JPack said:
There was no way Apple would add 5G and do a form factor change and call it an iPhone 11S.
Click to expand...

I dunno why but I was kinda hoping it would be called iPhone 5G haha

a throwback to iPhone 3G, but it might be a bit bold to name it after a wireless tier that isn’t avaliable in a super ton of markets, yet.

i think apple realized a new number is a better way to distinguish generations.

While some here prefer refined S cycles, I’m sure the big number conventions psychologically draw in bigger numbers. They come with dramatic design changes often too, but thE line is kind of blurred now whats a major release and what’s an S cycle or an SS or SSS haha
 
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russell_314 said:
I don't think so. I think the S means a minor update. I think the 6, 7, and 8 are not S versions because they have new bodies (Someone correct me if this is wrong). I know the 8 started glass back so different than the 7 but I can't remember my 6. This is the 12 because it has a new body over the 11.

I think Apple felt that they would make the phone then work on improving that specific one making the S version. Now they are pushing change hard so maybe there is no room for minor improvements. Who knows maybe we will get an S version of the 12 with 120 Hz display on the Pro models :)
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say that S necessarily means minor update, just new internals in the same exterior (7 barely qualified, but they did tweak the antenna design and move and increase the size of the camera lens). I suspect there will be 12S phones. Probably with 120 Hz displays on the Pros as you said, A15 all around, some more camera upgrades (Lidar included on non Pro?) and the return of TouchID (iPad Air version?) as a secondary authentication method.
 
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thadoggfather said:
I dunno why but I was kinda hoping it would be called iPhone 5G haha

a throwback to iPhone 3G, but it might be a bit bold to name it after a wireless tier that isn’t avaliable in a super ton of markets, yet.

i think apple realized a new number is a better way to distinguish generations.

While some here prefer refined S cycles, I’m sure the big number conventions psychologically draw in bigger numbers. They come with dramatic design changes often too, but thE line is kind of blurred now whats a major release and what’s an S cycle or an SS or SSS haha
Click to expand...
With the whole psychological thing I was kinda shocked they didn’t just do sequential numbers when they got on track at 4. I was so convinced the 4S would just be called the 5.

Man, time flies. Seems like yesterday.
 
I just realized that we didn’t get a S release this year, we went from 11 to 12. Is it safe to say Apple is done with that? Or was this a one time skip, due to the fact of the new flat design deserved its own number?
 
There was no way 5G and new form factor would be considered "S" upgrades.

Next year with possibly LTPO 120Hz, X60 modem, and sensor shift on 6.1" will deserve S naming.
 
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JPack said:
There was no way 5G and new form factor would be considered "S" upgrades.

Next year with possibly LTPO 120Hz, X60 modem, and sensor shift on 6.1" will deserve S naming.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thats what I thought as well. But now the rumor is that 2021 will be iPhone 13... lets see.
 
JPack said:
There was no way 5G and new form factor would be considered "S" upgrades.

Next year with possibly LTPO 120Hz, X60 modem, and sensor shift on 6.1" will deserve S naming.
Click to expand...
120Hz is a pretty big update. More than the Jump from LCD to OLED
Due to the OS experience will be totally different.
 
adamlbiscuit said:
I wondered the same thing. Then again, they did release iOS 13 and didn’t skip to 14. Istill have to wonder what the tech industry have against the number 9 though. Both iPhone and Windows skipped the 9!
Click to expand...
Windows "skipped" the 9 b/c it would cause confusion with legacy Windows 9x, i.e. '95/'98
 
bodonnell202 said:
I wouldn’t say that S necessarily means minor update, just new internals in the same exterior (7 barely qualified, but they did tweak the antenna design and move and increase the size of the camera lens). I suspect there will be 12S phones. Probably with 120 Hz displays on the Pros as you said, A15 all around, some more camera upgrades (Lidar included on non Pro?) and the return of TouchID (iPad Air version?) as a secondary authentication method.
Click to expand...

If those features were to be true, that would certainly make the successor to iPhone 12 a worthy model.
But I am not getting my hopes up...
 
The first update after a new design is always a "S" release.

iPhone 3G (new design) -> iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 (new design) -> iPhone 4S
iPhone 5 (new design) -> iPhone 5S
iPhone 6 (new design) -> iPhone 6S
iPhone 7 (old design)
iPhone 8 (old design)
iPhone X (new design) -> iPhone XS
iPhone 11 (old design)
iPhone 12 (new design) -> iPhone 12S
 
IsaacM said:
The first update after a new design is always a "S" release.

iPhone 3G (new design) -> iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 (new design) -> iPhone 4S
iPhone 5 (new design) -> iPhone 5S
iPhone 6 (new design) -> iPhone 6S
iPhone 7 (old design)
iPhone 8 (old design)
iPhone X (new design) -> iPhone XS
iPhone 11 (old design)
iPhone 12 (new design) -> iPhone 12S
Click to expand...
Until 8 you can also say that the next update an 'S' release is a new design...until they changed it after all those years. And they also skipped 9 to top that off. So there's certainly plenty to speculate but Apple can change (and has changed) things whenever it might be convenient for them in one way or another.
 
IsaacM said:
The first update after a new design is always a "S" release.

iPhone 3G (new design) -> iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 (new design) -> iPhone 4S
iPhone 5 (new design) -> iPhone 5S
iPhone 6 (new design) -> iPhone 6S
iPhone 7 (old design)
iPhone 8 (old design)
iPhone X (new design) -> iPhone XS
iPhone 11 (old design)
iPhone 12 (new design) -> iPhone 12S
Click to expand...
Doesn't look like this holds true anymore.
 
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