Opinion: What will the next iPhone be called?

With the Apple iPhone 4G expected to be announced on the 7th of June at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, a number of you may be forgiven for thinking that the big reveal has been somewhat neutered this year.

Through a combination of leaks, police seizures, bought devices, and shaky production line security, pretty much everyone and their Mum now knows what the next iPhone looks like and what’s inside.

However, there's one aspect of the new phone, oft not talked about, that remains a mystery – the name. Unlike with the iSlate (haha, oh dear), we at Pocket Gamer aren’t just going to go along with the masses and proclaim this next iteration as definitely the ‘4G’, oh no.

Before I explain why, though, let’s look at the evidence supporting the current favourite name, and then destroy it with Fact.

Understandably, the most obvious reason why it’s called the 4G would be that it’s the fourth-generation iPhone out on the market.

It makes sense if you’re using standard logic, but this isn’t how the previous iPhones have been named. The second generation iPhone 3G for instance is named after the 3G connection that was added to the device.

The 3GS, third-generation iPhone, retains the same number, not because it’s the third-generation phone, but because it still uses the 3G connection.

Why would the next iPhone suddenly break with tradition and be named after the generation number?

Okay, so if it’s not going to be named 4G because of the generation, then what about the technology inside the phone?

Alas, again the current name-of-choice falls down in this regard too, as every prototype leaked onto the market, including Gizmodo’s ‘illegal’ model, did not have any signs of 4G connectivity inside.

It makes sense for this to be the case both financially and technologically. Unlike 3G networks that have been expanding across the world for almost ten years now, 4G is a relatively new development with very little infrastructure in place.

So now we get onto the tricky part. If it’s not going to be called the 4G then what will it be called?

A name often bandied around on tech blogs and similar places of ill repute (only joking, Giz), is the iPhone HD.

There are good grounds for presuming this. For one, the screen has already been reported as being twice the resolution of the 3GS, which, while not technically high definition in the traditional sense (1280x720 or higher), would make it a high definition smartphone.

It’s also still the undeniably trendy term to apply to things, even if 3D is slowly encroaching on its ‘cool’. Think back to the last time an iPad game, a TV advert, or even just a commercial break between programs hasn’t thrown the term around with abandon. Hard, isn’t it?

Having said that, when Engadget reported that this would definitely be the next name for the iPhone back in March, the site was also told it was going to be announced on June 22nd, which now seems very unlikely given Steve Jobs’s presence at the WWDC next week.

So the next iPhone is almost certainly not a 4G enabled phone, but if that’s the case then what exactly could Apple use to differentiate it from the previous 3G model?

For the current iPhone, Apple added a single letter to the end of the name that apparently meant ‘speed’ to represent the increased power over the 3G.

So maybe this new iPhone will continue the trend, adding an ‘E’ or an ‘X’ before the ‘S’ to represent the extra speed the 1Ghz phone has over its previous model?

It sort of makes sense, but at the same time it looks incredibly clunky written down and is surprisingly hard to say fast (try it). There’s also only so many letters you can chuck onto a phone name before it ends up looking overly ‘geeky’.

The final name I want to put to you all does seem at first to be a bit radical, but hear me out.

We already know that the next iPhone uses a new operating system, is packing a redesigned case, and has Apple’s own processor, the A4, powering the innards.

So if it’s a radical upgrade from the previous model with a completely different look, feel, and electronics, why should it continue the old naming scheme?

In fact, calling the phone the iPhone A4 isn’t as radical as it first appears because it includes the name of the latest technology inside the device, as with the 3G before it.

While we can speculate until the cows come home there’s only going to be one source that actual knows the truth of the matter - and no, it isn’t Michael Pachter.

So stay tuned to Pocket Gamer’s coverage of the WWDC next week for the complete rundown of announcements as and when they occur.