We mentioned this in our last story about Apple’s invites to the iPhone 5 event, but it’s worth it’s own post: Apple’s invitation to it’s “Let’s talk iPhone” event seems to sneakily confirm that Apple will only be announcing one new iPhone at next Tuesday’s event.
Let’s leave aside the fact that the invite says “Let’s talk iPhone” singular and not plural. The guys over at iDownloadBlog spotted some obvious meaning to be scrutinized out of Apple’s invite image.
From top left clockwise, we have an icon for the iOS Calendar reading October 4th, an icon for the Clock app reading 10am, an icon for Apple’s Maps app zoomed in — as always — on 1 Infinite Loop, and then, finally, the Phone app icon showing a single missed call.
It’s that red “1” badge that has everyone talking. That’s Apple telling us to only expect one new iPhone.
We’ve been hearing rumors that Apple might release both a speed bumped iPhone 4S and a radical redesign in the iPhone 5 this year, but it appears it’s not to be. The only question is, which iPhone will Apple announce? Vegas odds are with the iPhone 4S, since there’s plenty of evidence in the supply chain for it, and next to none for the iPhone 5. Still, fingers crossed!
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
252 responses to “Don’t Get Your Hopes Up For Apple To Announce Two New iPhones Next Week”
Do you seriously think the invite would have said “Let’s Talk iPhones”???
That being said, I agree with your conclusion.
The “4S” doesn’t exist except in the minds of blog writers. Even if the phone is the same as last years in appearance, they won’t call it “4S.” Why would they? iOS 5, iPhone 5.
iPhone 5 and a new iPod Touch + 3g connection…..
Wow. You seriously came to THAT conclusion? Apple would never degrade the name of one of their products by pluralizing it. I think you are right, but it’s insane to say that there won’t be talks about 2 because of what the invite says..
You could interpret the “1” as a voicemail message (and thus positive) instead of as a missed call (negative).
I think that could mean a new notification or messaging system, but probably we shouldn’t read too much into that.
The 1 could also signify one phone for both carriers… just an idea
Apple does things like this all the time, like with the 9:41 and 9:42 times on the iPhone pictures and things like that. I would be willing to be my next pay check that the 1 badge means one iPhone.
Actually, I think that the 1 could be intended to throw off the media so they can announce two iPhones much to everyones surprise.
I have but one thing to say to this, iPhone 3Gs.
If they planned to release 2 iPhones, then yes, it would say “iPhones.”
Listen, Apple CANNOT afford to wait 16 months and only ship out a “iphone 4 spec bump” this is the most competitive year of androids from Samsung and HTC. take a look at that Galaxy SII, i’m an Apple fanboy and even I want that. There stock will crater if we don’t see something new. Think of it from Apples perspective, whose gonna wait days in line for the same phone that is a little faster and shoots 1080p? Apple has the Media and bloggers rite where they want them; WITH NO FREAKIN’ CLUE WHAT TO EXPECT! Do you really think the most valuable company in the world is making us wait 16 month for a 4S? I don’t
Nope, that’s already been announced so why would they do that? Apple is not one for redundancy.
So you seriously believe that if they had 2 new iphones to announce they would say lets talk iphones and they would have 2 missed calls on the phone icon?
plz…
but if they were still planning to release 2 iPhones, do you really think they’d have let everyone know early by putting a ‘2’ instead?
Why not?
not necessarily.
The most valuable company in the world can afford to do that because people will buy their product no matter what just because.
I’ll take that bet.
tend to agree, a simple camera and speed bump in cpu, would not warrant a 16 month wait.
Please CoM, could you write your articles in a manner that you are speculating. You seem to always write articles based on rumour and speculation as fact.
because as secretive as apple is i don’t think they would spoil an unveiling that big by giving it away in the invite.
could the 4+1=5 :)
Actually it cannot, their losing market share
Apple always has their “one more thing” part to their releases. The cheaper, iPhone4S will hopefully just be a by-product of the event that will be over-shadowed by an iPhone5.
Meh. Sounds like clutching at straws to me. If they named an event “let’s talk Mac”, would it be reasonable to assume that only a single model would be discussed, for the omission of a plural “Macs”? Indeed, they could just as easily used plural here on the basis that there will be more than one single iPhone in circulation. But singular to refer to a product line is not unheard of.
They either will launch two or they will not (my money is on not) but I doubt this tells us anything.
I don’t care. I have the 3G. I’m buying whatever they’re selling because iOS 4.2 on the 3G is painful, performance-wise.
but that’s assuming they want you to actually know that they will be announcing two phones. Look at us, all the blogs, all the comments, all about what the 1 represents.
Apple marketing is loving this.
because they spent the last 6-7 months on the best cover up of their products in the industry.
Think about it , no one knows what they are announcing . We knew about the iphone 4 2 months before they announced it and about the ipad 2 at least 2 weeks before.
I dont think they did all that only to partially reveal their plans one week before the actual event.
I am not saying there is going to be a 4gs and 5 model. I am saying we cant tell from the invitation mail.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t just cater to fanbois like us. With the original iPhone 4 still selling at an unprecedented rate, do you really think Apple’s stock will take a huge hit if they only introduce a spec-bumped iPhone 4S? I seriously doubt it. For the most part, all Apple needs to do to keep up with current technology is speed up the iPhone with an A5 chip, give it a better 8 mp camera, and possibly make it LTE-enabled (as the big surprise). Apple is selling to these phones to the masses, to people who only want reliable products that look good and work well.
Unfortunately, Apple is not out to just satisfy our own fanboi-blogging, tech-geek whims.
I highly doubt Apple will release only a speed bumped device and make suck a big deal about it. I’m guessing a brand spanking new iPhone 5 and a quick briefing on the new iPod line.
Maybe the one missed call is a play on the fact that there was no June iPhone unveiling. Like, “One Missed Event.” It’s them being cheeky.
I think fanbois like us love the idea of the rumored spec-bumped internal specs, we’re just not happy with the same body as the iPhone 4. A redesigned iPhone would have been much more preferable. Apple always has tons of backup plans. According to a lot of reports, many suppliers were having trouble with sourcing components for a redesigned iPhone. It kind of makes sense to keep the same phone body as the iPhone 4, since it is in plentiful supply. How else to explain the lack of leaked evidence supporting a newly redesigned iPhone 5?
Coming up w/ 5 and 4s does not make sense.
Why would apple make 2 phones and have one phone be closed to iphone 4 and have the other one radically improved? So that they can kill their own line?
Take my word. There will be a single phone. That’s it. At least upon launch.
By “Let’s talk iPhone” I bet they are referring to the new “Assistant”-feature in iOS 5.
And iOS 5 = iPhone 5
And I don’t think it matters to them. Apple never set out to become the most powerful company on the United States that sells one of the most popular phones globally. They were the best niche computer company in the world only up to a few years ago. Then the iPhone and iPad changed everything. I still think Apple could stand to lose market share (it’s inevitable) but still post huge yearly gains.
the one stands for one week to go till the event
I bought the iPhone 4 the day it came out and I am hoping it’s a iPhone 5 released so I can buy that one and hopefully not an “iPhone 4s.”
Why would that make sense on the phone icon? My personal interpretation was that it was a representation of Apple leaving a “voicemail” for the invites.
The problem with that logic is that Apple HASN’T been making a big deal about it. We, the fans and bloggers, are the ones who’ve been going on about the phone for months.
HELLO?????
Isn’t it OBVIOUS? The “1” stands for “There’s 1 MORE THING….” !!!
Agreed. That’s what I was thinking. It makes a lot of sense given the context.
Yes, and I will call it KIT
I think the “1” signifies that they’re ONLY talking about the iPHONE.
Also, they say “Let’s Talk iPhone” in their usual wawy of refering to a product directly, no “the iPhone” or “an iPhone” or “some iPhones.” I don’t think the phrasing or the badge has anything to do with how many products they’re introducing. It coincidentally could be just one iPhone, but it just as easily could be 3 or 10. My guess is that it signifies the focus on the iPhone product and nothing else. No iPad, no iPods.
Making a keynote for a product is a pretty big deal. If it was nothing special, the online store would have been updated. I’m not referring to the months of pondering and waiting we’ve all been doing.
Did you read what you just wrote? Apple wouldn’t kill their own product line by introducing an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5. Obviously the iPhone 4 would no longer be sold or it would be relegated to a free or $49.99 with 2 year contract fire sale on the remaining inventory. If there are two models introduced, one would be at the normal $199/$299 price points and the other would take the $99 price point.
It’s the same reason they kept the 3GS around after the 4 was introduced. This time, they might spec bump the low end one slightly in order to keep an extra leg up on low cost Android handsets.
I took it in as “one additional iPhone”… Who knows?!?!?!?! Tim does.
And… the 280 in the shield means there’ll be a 2nd iPhone with 8Gb storage and will cost $0 on a monthly plan. ;-)
Apple are not going to put a 1 on the Phone icon unless it will actually be a part of the new phone’s functions. So what could it be?
Maybe the 1 tells you how many voicemails you have?
You are dumb. Do you not remember what came out after the iPhone 3G? I believe that phone was called um……. iPhone 3GS. Its definitely possible
I think it is referring to the Voice Recognition software built in. “Let’s TALK iPhone”…..pretty plain and simple to me….
I agree. I just believe that Apple is conveying the point of topic when saying “let’s talk iPhone”, not quantity..
I thing Apple made the correct moves, before they launched the new iphone, they decided to put a new CEO, so the new CEO could present the new iphone, that will be a major release, even bigger than the ones before. by this i mean the new CEO would begin to gain respect and credibility. they think all of this so meticulously that we don´t even think about it we just go with it! it´s obvious if you see it from the inside.
I guess it’s possibility at this point. It could go either way.
So perhaps I will take back on saying it does not make sense.
But I still believe only one phone will come out of all this.
Well, whatever that means, I just hope it’s an updated iphone with a bigger screen and a dual core processor. Those are the only features I highly care about.
You thing so? ;-)
I totally agree. If it would have just been a minor speed bump then they would have released it in June/July how they always do. A minor change like that wouldn’t take this long, it’s just not logical. Releasing it in October gives them like 4-5 more months to work on the new iPhone, thats almost half a year. If redesigning the antenna for the Verizon iPhone only took like 2 months I don’t think an internal enhancement would take this much time.
Also I think there will be a 4S and a 5. Just think about this. Apple has been producing the iPhone 4 for more than a year now. The longer a company produces something the more efficient they become and it becomes cheaper for them to produce it. They obviously have millions of extra parts from the iPhone 4, so why not use those same parts and just add a speed bump and sell the phone cheaper. This would completely eliminate the iPhone 3G and 3GS, because they most likely can’t support iOS 5 since they don’t have enough memory. They did the exact same thing when the iPhone 4 was released.
Uhm, it already does this?
I agree and with Apple beginning to streamline all of their products, I guarantee that the next iPhone will look like the iPad 2; thinner, rounded edges, maybe tear drop.
With that said, they redesigned the iPad in a year, why would they wait longer than 16 months to redesign their bread and butter?
Yeah, and maybe they’re just making fun of what I’m experiencing all the time on the 3GS: that the phone doesn’t actually ring, instead I get notified that I have a missed call or a new voice mail. So the “1” on the phone icon is pretty normal on my iPhone, they basically belong together.
if they introduce the iPhone 5 and keep the iPhone 4 (even if in a slightly changed form), that’s not really a big unveiling. That’s just a regular iPhone unveiling.
yeah but then what would that suggest? voice mail is nothing new, so why include it in the icon?
sure, but they kinda had to do this in order to be able to name the fourth phone iPhone 4. because if they hadn’t named the 3GS “3GS”, it would have been the iPhone 3, which would have been strange after the iPhone 3G. so 3GS implied “like the 3G, but faster”, and now they can name the phones iPhone 4, iPhone 5, etc.
I think that is Apple giving us the finger “1” for all these @#$@#$ rumors. And I just hope my case that I bought fits. ROTFL.
interesting… my mom has been complaining about this FOREVER and I’ve basically ignored her because, she’s just not that techy and i’m like, you probably had it on vibrate or you didn’t have a signal. sounds like she’s right… is this a known issue with the 3GS?
i think if apple releases an updated version of the 4, at this point in the game, a lot of people will not be happy. if they had kept the normal release cycle for the phone in june, i think people would be ok with the whole 3G—>3GS scenario. But now?! After the release of the new Galaxy phone and so forth? I’m not so sure… I am fine with my iPhone 4, have no intention of upgrading either way to a 4S or a 5. I just want iOS 5 and I want it yesterday!
The “1” has always been a symbolism for ONE Infinite Loop which has become a prophetic word given the stature Apple has become – the number ONE tech company in the world that produces the number ONE smartphone (iPhone), the number ONE tablet (iPad) and the number ONE music player (iPod).
It better not be the 4S. If you’re telling me everybody waited more than a year a 4S, Apple must be getting cocky. Release the iPhone 5 now and the lowbudget 4S later next year as a budget option. It makes no sense for people who waited this long for the iPhone to get the 4S and then release the iPhone 5 when they have new contracts for the 4S.
There’s a 4.
There’s a + sign signified by the space between the icons.
Then there’s a 1.
4 + 1 = 5.
I agree with you about the phrase “Let’s talk iPhone”. In my opinion it’s just a new slogan to bring a new reality to the smartphones. From now on, you don’t have to use your fingers to communicate. That’s the idea. In the other hand, i think the 4 icons are talking about the event itself, and not about specifications of the new iPhone. Think about it, 3 icons pointing day, time and local and the other one pointing something else makes no sense.
The phrase “Let’s talk iPhone”, in my opinion it’s just a new slogan to bring a new reality to the smartphones. From now on, you don’t have to use your fingers to communicate. That’s the idea. In the other hand, i think the 4 icons are talking about the event itself, and not about specifications of the new iPhone. Think about it, 3 icons pointing day, hour and local and the other one pointing something else makes no sense.
“Back to Mac” implies one Mac, yet the even was about all Macs. Apple makes up their own way of writing, remeber that.
It could be a moniker for “we’re number 1”, or maybe just “one more thing”…
The new iphone will look like the Samsung Galaxy S2, then people will call it magical just because apple released it!
Uhhh…. Xouldn’t it also simply mean that you have one new message to join Apple in this event? It’s a pretty big leap of faith to assume that the “1” has special significance regarding the number of phone(s) to be released.
I think TALK has to do with the voice feature
As far as 1 is concerned it could be the miss call (chance) – when it was not realished when it was supposed to be (june/july) and now its time to see what that missed call was.
They don’t care about market share
“Poor poor pitiful” i was reading your comment and i remember this song.
Everybody on here is talking about the iphone. Yes they will unveil it whatever it is to be called, but the center of the show will be this assistance crap! Apple will make a big deal out of this and the iphone will play the background to it.
By the way Google has thee best voice controls on a smartphone!!
Everybody on here is talking about the iphone. Yes they will unveil it whatever it is to be called, but the center of the show will be this assistance crap! Apple will make a big deal out of this and the iphone will play the background to it.
By the way Google has thee best voice controls on a smartphone!!
A brand new phone with the same small screen and a new feature is a fail
Right, Mac can refer to one product or to the product line, including all current and many past Apple computers. Similarly, iPhone can also refer to one or to the range. So I believe it would be a bad idea to draw too many conclusions from this way of writing.
That means it will look like the iPhone 4 as the GS ll looks like the iPhone.
The 3GS had its own keynote and it was still just a speed bump.
That said, I’m betting it will be a completely new iPhone 5. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking, but I like the evidence for that claim better than the “4S” one. Only time will tell.
Yup. Agreed.
OK, cool. We get it. You like the Android Samesong Galaxy S2. So, tell me. What kind of loser wastes their time hanging around the comment board of the competition? LOL!
I think there will be an iPhone 5. As everyone else has said, this year has been the most competitive with mobile devices from Android and Apple, and is apple just puts out a small update from the iPhone for, Android will definitely overcome Apple. I think apple has been keeping the iPhone 5 very secret so people wait to see the specs. If one spec like a part of the new camera that shows it only has 5.7 megapixels was leaked, the person waiting for it would just get an android right away without considering other specs it may have.
They didn’t the new 8Gb 3Gs Last year in the iPhone event either so lets just wait and see!
They didnt “Announce” the new 8Gb…
There’s an “T” in Tuesday that stands for three, so therefore they will release three iPhones on the 8th, because you see, there is an 8 in the clock. Then we have number 280/4=70, that’s the length of the queue, 4 hours before the event starts. And I almost forgot, 10 and 12 (the time on the clock) is the number of the 10th and the 12th chair on row 1 (the badge).
Morans…
Does anyone even care for the possibility of a revamped iPod line?
There’s an “T” in Tuesday that stands for three, so therefore they will release three iPhones on the 8th, because you see, there is an 8 in the clock. Then we have number 280/4=70, that’s the length of the queue, 4 hours before the event starts. And I almost forgot, 10 and 12 (the time on the clock) is the number of the 10th and the 12th chair on row 1 (the badge).
Morans…
Have you stopped to consider that the “1” missed call or voicemail… the “you have a message waiting” would be a cute way of saying, “there’s something waiting for you”like “we have a new phone ready for you.” Maybe it doesn’t necessarily mean only one phone.
Although, they’ve never released two different models of anything at the same time except for a lower-capacity version of the existing model.
Why would the new galaxy phone make any difference? I think you’ve been reading the press announcements too much.
Even if this is just a spec bump, the new iPhone will be faster than the galaxy, have more memory than the galaxy, have a better OS than the Galaxy, and be pretty much better than it in every way except for the ridiculous large screen.
Lots of folks don’t like the giant screen phones. In fact the majority of people don’t care for the large screen phones. The Galaxy is no threat to the iPhone.
Would it be too much to ask you to learn the difference between “it’s” and “its”?
no
Why? Because it’s competition. I think you’re right in the sense that people who are die hard Apple fans will not switch regardless or if they’ve invested money in apps, they won’t switch platforms. But for people like my brother for instance, who is not brand loyal or only downloads free apps, he’s free game for competition to pick up. I also agree with you that I hate large screens, I’m fine with the 3.5 screen, 4 would be fine but anything above that is too much. but thats me personally.
People do care about screen size, they’re consuming more and more media, i.e videos, music videos, netflix, hulu and hbogo on their phones and they want larger screens.
If the next iPhone has the a5, which I’m sure it will, you’re also right that it’ll be tons more faster, I saw the speed test as well. But people are also starting to clamor for 4G and if the next iPhone doesn’t have it… we’ll see what happens I guess. Funny thing is, these networks don’t even have decent 4G coverage or true 4G speeds and people are like “gotta have 4G”, not to mention it’s shit for your battery.
But hey, what do most people know? We read this shit everyday all day but again, people like my brother… well, he doesn’t know shit.
Your mistaken. The Samsung phone is a big threat to the iPhone. And that’s because it’s good enough for a smartphone (it’s way beyond the Samsung star with it’s failing touch control, small screen and crappy software) because lots of people compare it to the previous – non smartphone – they had and android is feature complete with – and nearly feels like – the iPhone.
It’s also a lot cheaper to own, with almost no upfront costs and about 20 or 25€ per month for unlimited data and lots of talk/SMS time; at least in Holland that is.
And several people I know of bought one in the past month.
J.
I see it as an iPhone 4s plus ane ipod with a bigger camera. That is why the thick top
Anyone curious if the 1 just means “one infinite loop” where the event is being held vs. the idea of just 1 new iphone?
Thats how I’d read into it.
If iPhones offer only 3.5 inches screen….bye bye iPhone…. Samsung Galaxy S2 will be my next phone…..
I like and agree with your argument. But if you want to call others morons, you might want to learn how to spell it first.
16 instead of the usual 12 mos. wait for the next iPhone and you think Apple will just introduce a mild upgrade on the 4?
Its That “One more thing” at the end of the keynote
when the iPads were released.
when the iPad was released.
when the iPods were released.
when the iPod was released.
makes no sense to me.
iPhone could be plural.
lets “talk” iPhone sounds more like that voice thing they will integrate into the iPhone.
ahhh… you are dumb. “Lets talk iphone” in essence points that this event will be mainly focused on their phone product line (the iphone). There will be no new versions of mac’s, imac’s, ipads, appleTv’s and so on. And yes i agree with most of the comments here that the second meaning of the phrase is related and also referring to the new “Assistant” feature.
Would they seriously try to be telling the world ahead of time not to expect much? My first guess is that the “1” is to say that they are going to release one iPhone, but an iPhone 5, not a 4S. They wouldn’t want to brag to the world a couple of weeks early that after 16 months it’s just a speed bump-up. My second guess is that 1 means absolutely nothing and that people are getting way too paranoid over their next cellphone. Guys, chill.
One Infinite Loop is represented by the Maps iOS icon. The pin in the icon is placed in the relative location of the campus.
Nah. While obviously the voice recognition features will be part of the presentation, I think that if Apple wanted to be clever with their title, they could have at least put a comma in:
“Let’s Talk iPhone” to me sounds generic. That could have been the slug for the first iPhone launch. Now….
“Let’s Talk, iPhone” brings on a whole new implication of talking WITH the iPhone… which would more support your idea.
But the motto for the event is “Let’s Talk iPhone.” Don’t you think they would have chosen a motto a little less exclusive if they intended on talking about other products too?
Seems like no more than two posts can go by before one gets Brownlee’d.
>> cute way of saying, “there’s something waiting for you”like “we have a>> new phone ready for you.”
This isn’t Oprah. Though I bet all the journalists there wish it were.
He spelt it right. You gotta catch up on your internet memes :P
Nope.
Let’s be clear on the difference between “threat” and “competition.” Yeah, the Galaxy is big competition for the iPhone, but it’s not going to knock the iPhone off any pedestals… in the ways that the iPhone is “the best” it will continue to be the best, and the galaxy will not be the phone to change that.
I said it in another post as well, but I thought it would have been more clever of them to make the slogan “Let’s Talk, iPhone.” I love subtle shifts like that that create completely different implications.
I’ve got a 4 and where I live… in the middle of a freaking CITY… I get between 1 and 2 bars in my house. Oh, outside, I get 4 bars. But inside, where, you know, I want to be, I get 1. And a bunch of those 1 Missed Call notifiers you’re talking about.
“Apple makes up their own way of writing, remeber that.”
So do you, apparently!! :P
If there are two iPhones then it would be a blunder!
It’s not an Alex Jones show either. The conspiracy theories are ridiculous.
sorry my bad.
it sounds generic, but they included the word “talk” which pretty much gives it away.
it could also mean like “iPhone” as a language,
“lets talk iPhone” like “lets talk english”…….ok, no that doesn’t work. xD haha
HERE”S THE DEAL!!!
THE “1” DOES mean ONE iPhone…… BECAUSE the iPhone 4S isn’t really a new phone, it’s just an iPhone 4 without Antennaegate!
Therefore the ONE iPhone will absolutely be an iPhone 5.
I say it again, Apple would not be stupid enough to bring out ONLY a “3GS”-like model with such competition out there.
:) can’t wait!
as much of a fan boy as i am…. you’re right.
still thinks that it will be mini iphone. Quick mockup (sorry for old ios)
http://n3.sk/iphone5Lite.jpg
If Apple only gives us a iPhone “4S” after making us wait MORE than a year, I will upgrade to a Droid. No joke. It better be an iPhone 5. Or I’ll stick with my iPhone 4.
They don’t need the extra money…
Hey guys, the 1 badge of missed call notification is just saying one thing to each of us and it is: “we missed YOU”. Apple likes it’s customers, so it is just a sign to call them back and get their attention back once again ;)