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Other Mini, Air, Pro: A New iPhone Lineup

J

Jacobi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 8, 2012
116
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Here's my proposal -- we've seen how Apple's new naming scheme is shaping up with Macs and iPads. So how about they apply it to iPhone as well.

iPhone Mini: 4" screen, similar design to the current iPad Pro with a simple bezel, no home button. Small and minimalist device. The successor to the SE and the premium small phone we've been wanting. It would even be slightly smaller than the SE with the same screen area.

iPhone Air: The current Xr, basically, becoming the mid-tier model with medium size.

iPhone Pro: The current XS Max. The large, top-spec option with the best everything.

So, we get three models. Seems simpler to me. I'd love to see the notch disappear across the board and have everything look like the new iPad Pro's in style.
 
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This idea gets proposed regularly and the answer is always the same.

The iPhone is unlike iPad or MacBook. Apple sells new and old generations of iPhone at the same time. Without using numbers, there is no way to differentiate a current year “iPhone Pro” from an old one. If you start adding the calendar year after the iPhone name, it immediately dates the product making old models much less appealing. Consumers will focus on product age rather than product features.

And unlike iPad or MacBook, the iPhone is updated annually. The iPhone needs to be numbered to emphasize and encourage shorter replacement cycles.
 
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Jacobi said:
Here's my proposal -- we've seen how Apple's new naming scheme is shaping up with Macs and iPads. So how about they apply it to iPhone as well.

iPhone Mini: 4" screen, similar design to the current iPad Pro with a simple bezel, no home button. Small and minimalist device. The successor to the SE and the premium small phone we've been wanting. It would even be slightly smaller than the SE with the same screen area.

iPhone Air: The current Xr, basically, becoming the mid-tier model with medium size.

iPhone Pro: The current XS Max. The large, top-spec option with the best everything.

So, we get three models. Seems simpler to me. I'd love to see the notch disappear across the board and have everything look like the new iPad Pro's in style.
Click to expand...

This seem more like a fantasy than a realistic viewpoint. Also, I also disagree that Apple would ever consider the name ‘Pro’ for a phone.

If anything, Apple could offer a smaller iPhone in the future, but that’s very much uncertain at this point. As you can tell, they’re going to continue on with the numbering scheme, as that shows value to the newest iPhones in the lineup and devalues the older iPhone models.
 
The Mini, Air, Pro naming scheme is bad enough when it comes to the iPads. Apple releases a new product in 2019 called iPad Air, and I have a product from 2015 called iPad Air 2...

To me, simply having iPad Classic (referring to both the 7.9" and 10.5" sizes with the classic Touch ID / home button and design) and iPad Pro (11" and 12.9" with Face ID and the new design) would be better until Apple can achieve design parity on all the models.
 
Maybe it's just me, I've never given a moments thought to what Apple names their products? Their naming scheme doesn't mean a lot to me, I'll still choose the one that best suits my needs. They could call them the iPhone Stinkypants, Dirtypooch, and Clownfart if they wanted and I don't think I would care.
 
DevinNj said:
Maybe it's just me, I've never given a moments thought to what Apple names their products? Their naming scheme doesn't mean a lot to me
Click to expand...

Even though the naming scheme doesn’t mean much to you, it is equally important with the numbering system. The reason I say that, is having the highest iPhone number, like the iPhone 10, or the iPhone 11,
Ect, it shows the older iPhone under that highest number, which gives the consumer an idea of which iPhone in Apple’s lineup is at their hierarchy. So it does have its relevance, but what doesn’t have any real meaning, are monikers like ‘Pro or mini’ For a smart phone.
 
neoelectronaut said:
It's hilarious to me that anyone would consider the iPhone XS "mini."
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no i dont think XS is mini. im just poking fun at TS' post of wanting an mini, air and pro. i do understand that some people want a smaller phone, but no point beating the dead horse. saying apple should have a 4" phone because it fits into their naming scheme is moot. In the end. it's about cost of production and demand.
 
Relentless Power said:
Even though the naming scheme doesn’t mean much to you, it is equally important with the numbering system. The reason I say that, is having the highest iPhone number, like the iPhone 10, or the iPhone 11,
Ect, it shows the older iPhone under that highest number, which gives the consumer an idea of which iPhone in Apple’s lineup is at their hierarchy. So it does have its relevance, but what doesn’t have any real meaning, are monikers like ‘Pro or mini’ For a smart phone.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course you need to be able to differentiate the product lineup, that wasn’t where I was going. My point is that I’ve never put too much emphasis into what a device is named. It isn’t that important to me.
 
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