Ever wonder what the 'i' in iPhone stands for? Here's what it is!

Apple has a product range that spans phones, tablets, music players, computers and more. Many of them have the prefix 'i' before them, but have you ever wondered what it stands for?

Most people would probably guess 'internet' and they wouldn't be too far off. But there is more!

The naming convention for Apple products that include the 'i' first landed on the scene in 1998, with the iMac.

The internet was still in the early days of widespread adoption and many device marketing strategies were to focus on the device's ability to use the internet. So Steve Jobs wasn't wrong when he correctly predicted that a device's main feature would quickly become it's ability to surf the interwebs. In a stroke of genius that resonates to this day, he added the now iconic 'i' to the device names.

So what else does it stand for?

During the iMac's launch, Steve show slides which explained what the 'i' in the new computer actually meant; internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire.

‘i’ also means some other things to us… We are a personal computer company, and although this product is born to network, it also is a beautiful stand-alone product. We are targeting it also for education. They want to buy these. And it is perfect for most of the things they do in instruction.

But nowadays, Apple is slowly moving away from this naming convention with devices like the Apple Watch (which was originally rumoured to be called the iWatch), the set top box AppleTV, and the Apple Pencil.

Denoting Apple devices with the 'i' has definitely lost it's meaning when relating to internet connectivity as this is no longer the huge new feature but rather a bare essential in electronic devices.


Bonus!

Speaking of the Apple Pencil, here's a video of Steve Jobs saying he doesn't like the Stylus. My how times change.