Just when it seemed that the Internet had finally passed the darkness on the names of the name of Apple’s iPhone … It left.
iOS 19 against 26
To be fair, I don’t really hate report that Apple will rename its operating systems to reflect the release year. Or rather, the following year. The cars do it. Samsung does it… ok, that’s about it. But it’s not that strange.
Once we have exceeded the initial clumsiness of jumping directly on iOS 26, jumping a handful of version numbers along the way, I am almost sure that it will begin to seem natural as soon as possible.
But if Apple really moves in this direction, it only increases the pressure to do something about the name of the iPhone. The idea of iOS 26 operating on an iPhone 18 seems already disconnected, and in a few years, this discrepancy will probably feel even worse.
Perfect timing?
I recently wrote about the way in which Apple’s rumor movement to replace the “plus” variant with an “air” model could give it a perfect opportunity to clean the rest of the range, retired “Pro Max” and to go all on “Ultra”.
This would lead to the name of the iPhone online with the rest of the new Apple high-level brand names, such as Apple Watch Ultra, M-Series Ultra and Carplay Ultra chips.
The truth is that at the time when we started to crawl towards clumsy names like iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, I am sure that I was not the only one to think that Apple would end up dropping the figures entirely and would adopt the name MacBook Pro style (which, to be fair, had its own version problems).
But over time and iPhone versions, I had made peace with the idea of current numbering. As clumsy as it once sounded, we were all used to it and we all had more pressures in our lives.
But now, in a world where the software could involve 2026, but the hardware always says 17 … Yes, it could start feeling a little weird.
Pakes discussions on the podcast.
So what could Apple really do here?
The first option is quite obvious and most likely: nothing. Apple retains the current iPhone name convention, while its operating systems adopt a unified and year -based convention.
The second option is also to return the switch on the name change of the iPhone. The iPhone 26 is released in September alongside iOS 26, and there is no doubt about phone models or current system versions. Except maybe, from September to December. But if people can understand this on cars, they can understand this on iPhones.
The third option is both my favorite and the least likely for all the obvious reasons: Apple completely abandons the iPhone. Marketing name? iPhone, iPhone Air, iPhone Pro, iPhone Ultra. Real product name? iPhone (2026), and so on.
The problem is that, unlike Mac, Apple continues to sell previous versions when it publishes new ones. So, even if everyone knows that you can enter an Apple Store and buy the current MacBook Pro, it would not be so simple for iPhones.
And then there is the elephant in the room: the iPhone 16th. Apple just launched a model whose whole height is that it is the entry -level iPhone, clearly labeled by number. Apple could a… iPhone E? I hope not. Sixteen is quite cacophonic.
That Apple decides to modify the name of the iPhone this year, next year, or never, the change of name of operating system based on the year will be more than enough for people to agree, in disagreement or to make fun of the idea of restarting these discussions again. Where do you land? Let us know in the comments.
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