The meaning of the letter "i" in the name iPhone

Even if you don't have an iPhone, you probably know at least one person who does. The iPhone took the world by storm when it was launched in 2007, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. However, not many people know what the 'i' in the iPhone name stands for.

Your first guess might be “Internet,” since the iPhone’s claim to fame is that it’s a phone with powerful Web access. Or maybe you think it means “I,” as in the English pronoun “I”—since the iPhone lets you personalize your smartphone with the apps and features you choose.

But you will be surprised to know that the letter i in iPhone does not represent just 1 word but 5 words.

In fact, the first product to feature this lowercase i was the iMac, released in 1998. Back then, computers with internet access were rare, let alone phones. So the “i” originally stood for internet, to highlight the Mac’s revolutionary internet capabilities.

When the iMac was in development, Jobs initially wanted to call it “MacMan,” similar to the terms “Walkman” and “Pac-Man” that were popular at the time. But Ken Segall, an Apple associate from an advertising agency, suggested the name “iMac.”

But when the first iMac was released, the “i” also had a number of other meanings. When Steve Jobs introduced the iMac, he said that the “i” stood for “internet,” “individual,” “instruct,” “inform,” and “inspire.” However, Jobs also said that the “i” had no official meaning.

Not to mention, while the “i” started out as “internet,” and internet access was the iPhone’s biggest feature when it launched in 2007, some Apple products with the “i” in their name didn’t even have internet access (like the original iPod). So the “i” isn’t just a shorthand for a word, it’s become a memorable, almost iconic, brand identifier.