A company of analysts predicts that Apple will skip the iPhone 19 name in favor of jumping directly to the iPhone 20 in 2027.
Omdia believes the company will do this in order to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary, but this reinforces my view that it’s time for Apple to drop the numbers altogether…
ET News Reports on forecasting.
Apple is expected to name the iPhone, which will be released in 2027, “iPhone 20.” At a conference held at El Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 22nd, Omdia’s chief researcher, Heo Moo-yeol, said: “Apple will launch the iPhone 18e and iPhone 20 in the first half of 2027, and the iPhone 20 Air, Pro, Pro Max, and iPhone Fold 2 will be released in the second half of 2027.”
I suspect this is speculation on Omdia’s part and not based on any confirmed information, but if Apple is considering changing the numbering system, I think it’s time to move to a simple year-based approach.
Of course, the company has already done this with its operating systems, despite doing the annoying automaker thing of jumping forward a year. iOS 26, macOS 26, etc. extend from 2025 to 2026.
Since doing the same thing with iPhones would result in increasingly unwieldy numbers, I previously suggested that it would make sense to follow the same approach as with Macs and iPads, and use the name alone with the year in parentheses.
iPhone names are starting to sound increasingly ridiculous as the numbers increase. Will we end up with iPhone 53? iPhone 104?
In my view, a better approach is to drop the number altogether, bringing the iPhone in line with other Apple products. Make current model iPhone only (iPhone, iPhone Air, iPhone Pro, iPhone Pro Max) and previous model iPhone (year).
When you go to an Apple Store or website to buy a MacBook Air, you’re not buying a MacBook Air 13 (that is, the 13th model, not the 13-inch size), you’re just buying a 13- or 15-inch MacBook Air. If Apple needed to distinguish the specific model, it used to do so with the year in parentheses, and now does so through the chip. Of the two, I actually think the year makes more sense for the average consumer.
So the current iPhone lineup will be:
- iPhone (2025)
- iPhone Air (2025)
- iPhone Pro (2025)
- iPhone Pro Max (2025)
Along with older models still on sale directly from Apple:
- iPhone (2024)
- iPhone E (2024)
Although I don’t see a need to use years on current models, so what you actually see in the store will be the same as what you see on the MacBook Air:
- iPhone
- iPhone Air
- iPhone Pro
- iPhone Pro Max
- iPhone (2024)
- iPhone E (2024)
I also suggest that Apple drops the model numbers for the other products it currently uses – the Apple Watch and AirPods. For example, AirPods Pro 3 will become AirPods Pro (2025).
In the long run, I’ll hold my nose and let Apple use the car manufacturing blueprint to match the OS, so the years will be shown as next year.
What are your views? Should Apple drop iPhone numbering and only use the year when necessary? Please take our survey and share your thoughts in the comments.
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