Why does Apple Create S Model for iPhone?

iPhone is a king of Apple device series. iPhone was introduced for the first time by Steve Jobs on WWDC 2007. He said that this is the insanely remarkable project with more than 100 patents that they have registered for their first iPhone. The revolution of smartphone world was occurred after it.

Source: cultofmac.com

Smartphone world has totally changed, and mobile application business has risen into a billion-dollar business. As a device which has a bright future, of course Apple keeps making iPhone better and better every year. Every year is a regular cycle for iPhone and they never absence. A year after the first iPhone came out, Apple released iPhone 3G. One year later, they released iPhone 3Gs, then followed by iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s and iPhone 6. Are they going to release iPhone 6s?

Source: mob.today

What is actually “s” mean on the iPhone? Does iPhone with “s” label always better than iPhone without “s”? Even there’s rumor said that iPhone 4s is better than iPhone 5. Is that true? Why does Apple create s model for the iPhone? Just for your information, the naming of “s” model is only existed in iPhone and seems it has become their tradition to release “s” model. Some people even though that we’d better wait for “s” version from an iPhone generation. But why?

Source: flickr.com

If we look back at iPhone history, the “s” label was started from the 3rd generation of iPhone i.e iPhone 3Gs. It was released a year after iPhone 3G launched. Apple said this is an upgrade of internal hardware up to 2x faster in CPU and GPU from the previous iPhone. The “s” label on 3Gs is an abbreviation of “speed”, according to the rumor. Apple made iPhone 3Gs has the same design with iPhone 3G but fixes several things and increases its hardware ability. This Apple effort was absolutely can become a marketing slogan for iPhone 3Gs selling as a better iPhone than iPhone 3G, and it worked out. Its selling kept the increase. Apple released iPhone with their best design: iPhone 4 followed by iPhone 4s, as they have done before: faster and better. One day after the announcing of iPhone 4s, Steve Jobs died.

Was the naming of iPhone 4s approved by Steve Jobs? We never knew. The tradition of making iPhone with “s” label seemed continued until iPhone 5s. Does the “s” naming which has “speed” meaning has become blur and it just a label for an updated from previous iPhone with the same design? You can guess, maybe they will name their next iPhone with iPhone 6s then iPhone 7 and iPhone 7s and so on. As if the “s” naming gives us a sign every time Apple launches a new iPhone generation, you better wait until the next iPhone with “s” label launch. This is not good as a company that has revolutionized smartphone world. Why? One thing: It can give an impression to people that there’s an iPhone “experiment” version (iPhone without “s”) and iPhone with fixes’ version (with “s” label). This thought has to be thrown away from Apple’s and user’s mind so that this great product can be enjoyed without confused about which iPhone version should you buy.

This naming issue is critical; i think. Eliminating “s” version will make Apple focus in making a better iPhone every year and user will not be confused by the next selection from iPhone, and they will keep upgrading their iPhone because they know the newest version is always the best. IMHO.

See also: Apple has a great Politic: Step by Step Politic