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  • Apple has had a long history considering the company was founded in 1976.

  • And over that period, we've seen changes in their product designs, but most people

  • haven't noticed the subtle change in how Apple names their products.

  • If you were an Apple fan in the early 2000's, you might've used an iMac, iBook, or iPod.

  • But Apple fans today might be using an Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Apple pencil.

  • And although there are still products from what I call the 'i' era, like the iPhone

  • and iPad, it's worth exploring how Apple's product name strategy has changed over the

  • last two decades, and learn why those changes was made.

  • This is Greg with Apple Explained, and I want to thank Ting for sponsoring this video.

  • If you want to help decide which topics I cover, make sure you're subscribed and voting

  • polls like this one will show up in your mobile activity feed.

  • Now before we talk about Apple's naming strategy today, I want to take a look back

  • and explain how it evolved over the company's history.

  • Apple's first computer ever, created by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs themselves back

  • in 1976, was called the Apple I.

  • Its successor, released a year later, was called the Apple II.

  • It proved to be one of the most influential computers of that period and provided Apple

  • a steady stream of revenue for the next decade.

  • And they would need it, since the company tried creating a followup computer in 1980

  • called the Apple III, which was primarily targeted to the business market.

  • But it failed miserably, selling only 70,000 units in its lifetime, 20% of which were defective.

  • At that point, Apple shifted their focus to other projects like the Macintosh.

  • Now the Macintosh project had been in the works since 1979 and was initially led by

  • Jef Raskin, the person responsible for naming the product.

  • And the reason why Raskin chose the name Macintosh, is because that was his favorite type of Apple.

  • Now if you're familiar with apples, you might be wondering why Jef Raskin spelt the

  • word Macintosh wrong, since the McIntosh fruit is spelt without an 'a.'

  • Well, it turned out that the team decided to add the 'a' in order to avoid trademark

  • disputes with an audio company called McIntosh Laboratory.

  • But unfortunately that slight spelling difference didn't save Apple from trademark infringement.

  • Steve Jobs was so desperate to keep the name that he actually wrote a letter to McIntosh

  • Laboratory, asking for permission to use the word Macintosh for their computer since the

  • team had become very attached to the name.

  • But the president of McIntosh Labs denied Jobs request.

  • Eventually in 1983 Apple was able to license the name, and then in 1986 they purchased

  • the trademark outright for a reported $100,000.

  • Which is equal to almost a quarter million dollars today.

  • So that explains why Apple's revolutionary 1984 computer was called the Macintosh instead

  • of the Apple IV.

  • And that marked a very significant point in the company's history, since most their

  • following machines would continue using the Mac name.

  • Now there were exceptions beginning in the early 90's, when Apple named their first

  • notebook computer the PowerBook.

  • But in the late 90's, with Steve Jobs return, the company continued to leave the Mac name

  • out of their notebook computers with the introduction of the iBook.

  • But it's very important to understand why this decision was made.

  • Because looking back today, it seems strange that Jobs would name a notebook computer iBook

  • instead of MacBook, especially when he was part of the original Macintosh team who fought

  • to secure the name.

  • But you have to consider the iBook in the context of Apple's product line at the time.

  • Because one year before it was released, Apple had introduced the iMac.

  • Which, at the time, became the company's most successful product in history and helped

  • save them from bankruptcy.

  • And considering the iMac was the first product to use the 'i' prefix, it'd make sense

  • that Apple would capitalize on the name's popularity by using the lowercase 'i'

  • in other products like the iBook, which was marketed as an iMac to go.

  • Adopting its translucence, colors, and bulbous design.

  • It also had a built-in handle like the iMac.

  • Now if you're wondering why Apple chose the name iMac in the first place, it's because

  • the 'i' was supposed to stand for internet, which the iMac was primarily built for.

  • But there were additional meanings ascribed to the letter, like individual, instruct,

  • inform, and inspire.

  • It's also worth pointing out that the name was created by Ken Segall with the ad agency

  • Chiat/Day.

  • And initially, Steve Jobs didn't like it.

  • Instead suggesting the name MacMan which he found particularly appealing.

  • But no one else did, with Segall saying the name made his blood curdle.

  • So the following week Jobs was presented with more names to choose from, but he rejected

  • all of them.

  • From then on, the ad agency didn't hear anything directly from Apple, but they did

  • have friends that told them Jobs was testing the name iMac on prototypes of the computer.

  • Trying to decide whether or not it looked good.

  • And apparently it did, because the final product was named iMac, which came to a surprise to

  • Segall.

  • He said, “[Jobs] rejected it twice but then it just appeared on the machine.

  • He never formally accepted it.”

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  • So with the iMac and iBook enjoying more success than Apple could've ever wished for, and

  • with the company roaring back to profitability, the 'i' prefix became a very valuable

  • asset.

  • That's why it was used for the vast majority of new Apple products during that era.

  • Their music player released in 2001 was called the iPod, their smartphone released in 2007

  • was called the iPhone, and their tablet released in 2010 was called the iPad.

  • The 'i' prefix became so strongly associated with Apple that they actually filed for a

  • trademark on the letter, arguing that no other company should be able to use it since customers

  • will think those products are made by Apple.

  • But their case failed in 2010, with the court asserting that “a person of ordinary intelligence

  • and memorywould not assume that just because a product has the letter 'i,' it was made

  • by Apple.

  • And this is when things started to get interesting.

  • Because 2010 is about the time when Apple stopped using 'i' for new products.

  • For example in 2015 the company released the Apple Watch.

  • A product many expected to be called the 'iWatch.'

  • In fact, Tim Cook was asked this exact question during an interview with David Rubenstein.

  • He said, “Why was it called the Apple Watch and not the iWatch.

  • Because you have iPhone, iPod, iPad.

  • Why not iWatch?”

  • Cook replied, “It was something we thought of at the time, but I kind've like Apple

  • Watch, what do you think?”

  • So while we didn't get any real insight from that non-answer, I do think it suggests

  • that Apple is simply moving in a different direction when it comes to their naming strategy.

  • They could've named it the iWatch, but they chose Apple Watch instead.

  • And I think one of the reasons is the name Apple is trademarked, whereas the 'i'

  • prefix is not.

  • So when a customer is shopping for a smartwatch and they see the name Apple Watch, there's

  • no question who makes the product.

  • This is also an effective branding strategy which forces customers to directly associate

  • a product with a company.

  • For example, when I was young, many of my friends didn't know about the company called

  • Apple, but they all knew about the iPod.

  • So maybe if it was called the Apple Music Player instead of iPod, there would've been

  • more brand awareness among my peers.

  • Now this sort of name strategy is nothing new to Apple.

  • Remember the iBook?

  • Well, that product doesn't exist anymore.

  • And it's because Apple replaced the iBook with the MacBook in 2006.

  • Steve Jobs even gave a reason for the name change, saying, “We wanted all of our computers

  • to have the word Mac in them.”

  • Which is also the reason why they replaced the PowerBook with the MacBook Pro the same

  • year.

  • And that same naming approach is taking place today.

  • We have the Apple Pencil instead of iPencil, Apple Card instead of iCard, and Apple TV

  • instead of iTV.

  • Although I should make it clear that the Apple TV was introduced in 2006 and really shouldn't

  • be included in the 'i' to 'Apple' transition happening today.

  • Mainly because Apple wanted to name the product iTV, and it was internally referred to as

  • such until just weeks before its release.

  • Its name was changed to Apple TV last minute due to a copyright dispute with a British

  • television network of the same name.

  • That's why, if you watch the 2006 sneak peek, Steve Jobs introduced the product as

  • the iTV.

  • But when they realized they couldn't win the trademark dispute, they were forced to

  • use the name Apple TV instead.

  • But that could be considered a happy accident for the company, since the Apple TV appears

  • to have kicked off a naming strategy in Apple's product line that proved to be useful after

  • they failed to secure the 'i' prefix trademark three years later.

  • And it's quite clear when Apple made the decision to stop using 'i', with the iPad

  • in 2010 being the last product to feature the prefix.

  • But this shift didn't only apply to hardware, it was carried through to Apple's software

  • as well.

  • In iOS 11.3 Apple renamed the iBooks app simplyBooks.”

  • In 2015, the iPhotos application in macOS became Photos.

  • And finally in macOS Catalina Apple completely rewrote the iTunes application and called

  • it Music instead.

  • So it's pretty undeniable that Apple is no longer interested in the 'i' suffix.

  • But this brings up a problem, what's going to happen to their existing i-products?

  • Two of which are Apple's most successful in history, the iPhone and iPad.

  • Well, there are a few possibilities based on how Apple has handled these situations

  • in the past.

  • First, Apple may change the products names when a new version is released, just like

  • with the iBook and PowerBook.

  • The iPhone could become the Apple Phone in the near future.

  • But considering how recognizable the name iPhone has become globally, I doubt it will

  • change.

  • So that brings me to the second possibility.

  • Apple could simply keep the names as they are until a completely new product cannibalizes

  • them.

  • Similar to what happen with the iPod.

  • Apple introduced the iPhone, and it caused iPod sales to shrink so dramatically that

  • most of the models were eventually discontinued.

  • Or, finally, Apple may keep the 'i' in their existing products and simply avoid the

  • prefix for new products, which has been the case so far.

  • Alright guys thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.

Apple has had a long history considering the company was founded in 1976.

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