An iPhone rebrand might not be as radical as it sounds

While Apple is known for the smartness of its product design, when it comes to naming conventions, things have a got a little, er, messy. Take this month, for example – with the advent of the new M4 iPad Pro, the iPad Air is now heavier and less thin than its Pro counterpart. No so airy, then. Then there's the fact that the keyboards for iPad and Mac are both called the Magic Keyboard. Then there's the fact that some years we get an 'S' model iPhone, sometimes we don't. And we also have an iPhone XR and iPhone SE, with no idea what either stands for. Chaos!

And now, the man behind Apple's famous 'i' branding has suggested it's time for a radical overhaul of the entire Apple naming ecosystem, suggesting the 'i' to be a relic of days gone by. (Wondering what's coming next? Take a look at our roundup of the main iPhone 16 rumours.)

Ken Segall worked with Steve Jobs from 1986 (way back when the latter's NeXT computer was in the works). He was the Creative Director behind famous Apple ads including the 'Think Different' campaign, and the originator of the "i" branding, which began with the iMac in 1998.

But it seems beauty is no longer in the 'i' of the beholder. “The ‘i’ needs to go,” Segall told Wired. “It’s now meaningless. Sure, [Jobs] built [Apple] around it, but remember, the ‘i’ has always been a sub-brand. There might be marketing experts who say Apple would be crazy to drop the prefix—it’s still in front of some of the greatest brands ever—but it can’t be protected, and for too long there have been companies with ‘i’ internet-connected things, and that’s an issue for Apple, known for innovation.”

And this might not be as radical as it sounds. While of course we have the iPhone, iMac and iPad, Apple has chosen to slap its own name in front of several recent products, including, most notably, the Apple Watch. Then there's Apple Vision Pro, and Apple TV. As we've already established, things are a bit of a mess, and leading everything with 'Apple' might add some consistency. 

But, with the iPhone arguably one of the most important and influential technological products of the last century, the name might just be too weighty to lose. And it seems plenty of Twitter (sorry, X) users agree.

As we know, recognisable brand assets can be priceless – which might explain why so many companies are taking a leaf from their own design history books right now. And with one of the best logos of all time, not to mention some of the most famous products in the world, Apple might want to keep things as they are – things are a tad on the messy side from a naming conventions point of view.