Marco ArmentWe make fun of other companies' poor product-naming choices, but are we really doing that much better over here in Apple-land?
This glorious paragraph had to be in a product announcement's press release — in the main body text!
Chris Owens@marcoarment I'm still hung up on iPhone 3G, personally.
Matt Bonney@ocell @marcoarment it was all downhill from there
Yury Molodtsov@marcoarment Apple hasn’t been great at naming since “the new iPad”
shac ron ₪@marcoarment It’s so bad, and nobody knows which one they have.
Dogzilla@shac @marcoarment I think that might be purposeful. They really try to reinforce the iPad, Apple Watch, iPhone etc. “Call it what it is” instead of, say, a “Mac Quadra 840av”.
While does cause a bit of confusion, it constantly reinforces a single product name instead of many model names. Apple hates specs - they want to compete on overall experience, not specific device model internals.
Stephen Shankland@marcoarment keep going back to this: version numbered product names are the worst names except for all the others.
Karl Baron@stshank @marcoarment If they called it the “iPad 10” like they did with the iPhones it would be at least something
Michael Gemar@marcoarment I’d really like to know the thinking behind keeping some product names undifferentiated across updates (especially as Apple happily differentiates in other domains, to the point of branding different macOS releases).
Rich@marcoarment it’s so bad.
Emiel Efdée@marcoarment Yes, why not just name these products Apple Pencil Lightning, MagSafe and USB-C?
Matt Stocum@marcoarment the entire iPad line is terrible when it comes to names. iPhone is the easiest, higher number better, pro better than not pro, max bigger than not max. Macs in the M-era are a lot easier than they used to be. iPads who the eff knows?
Ferrichrome@mattstocum @marcoarment Yeah. I believe we have iPad, Pro, Mini, and Air. All of which have different compromises to their designs. I really think they should slim down their lineup and make each iPad less weirdly compromising.
@Ferrichrome @marcoarment I was looking to buy one for my kids recently and really could not figure out which model to look at. Once you rule out the Pro, the line-up and pricing is extremely confusing.
Richard2001@marcoarment Naming aside, would love to know how and why this new USB C pencil got delayed for nearly a year (I’m assuming the iPad 10th gen was designed with this pencil in mind)
FreediverX@marcoarment
Apple is slowly turning into their caricature of the PC guy in those old ads. Product names, security warnings…
Mac Vs PC commercials - Cancel or Allow?
@freediverx @marcoarment I mean…it would be really weird if Apple hadn’t changed at all in 25 years
@Dogzilla @marcoarment
It's not a matter of change but a transformation into that which they mocked in the past.
It's not a matter of change but a transformation into that which they mocked in the past.
Curt Krone@marcoarment it must have been physically painful for the poor soul who had to write that.
Tobias Horvath@marcoarment With Apple Watch naming being stellar—or at least easy for everyone to understand—since the introduction of “Series”, it’s truly baffling to me what’s happening with the iPad lineup. The Pencil naming would be off-brand if it made any sense.
Leon Cowle@tobyx
Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 1 AND 2 (so everyone comically refers to the original as Series 0 now, because you can't use "1" twice)
... Series 3
... Series 4
... Series 5
… Series 6 and SE (1st gen)
... Series 7
… Series 8 and SE (2nd gen)
... Ultra
... Series 9 and Ultra 2
Maybe not the best ever, no. Which SE do I have? Is it better or worse than the Series NN? When you say Apple Watch 1, do you mean SERIES 1 or the FIRST one? Wait, you're saying there was an Apple Watch Zero?!
😂😉
@leoncowle Well I did say after the “Series” naming came along :D
To me, Series, SE, and Ultra are three lines.
If you want the best normal Apple Watch, get the Series. And it’s numbered.
If you are budget-conscious, get the SE. And it’s numbered.
If you want the best active outdoorsy sturdiest Apple Watch, get the Ultra. And it’s numbered.
Those are not to be compared with each other anyway.
@tobyx Very fair, sir. I only quibble (and in good, lighthearted spirits, fyi 😂) that if an explanation of “lines” and/or “after the Series naming” caveats are needed, it’s not named quite as cleanly as postulated.
@leoncowle People say Steve Jobs would not let such a mess continue, but then we need to remember skipping iPhone “2”, and instead having an iPhone 3G as the 2nd one, the suddenly going to 4... ahhh (I guess there was a 3GS snuck in there).
For iPads, now that the regular iPad has the shape of an iPad Air or iPad Pro, I am totally confused. I actually need to look at the chart if anyone asks me a question about the lineup. :D
@tobyx Bbbbbut the ‘S' was for speeeeeeed, Tobias!! 😂
LOL. Indeed. I wouldn't let kindergarteners learn counting from Apple product lines 😂
kccqzy@tobyx @leoncowle I remember at that time they originally announced something called "iPhone 3G S" but after a few days which coincided that Steve Jobs returning they renamed it to "iPhone 3GS" (removing the space). They even retroactively changed their press releases.
@kccqzy @leoncowle lol I don’t remember that. :D
mORA@marcoarment I would like to know who decided that the iPhone 15 can be named iPhone 15, but iPad should have generations, the Pencil the editions, the mouse the seasons, the Watch the series the Mac the issue and the MacBook the volume.
It's iPad 8 too much fucking simple?!
It's iPad 8 too much fucking simple?!
Jack Wellborn@marcoarment The problem is that they probably didn't know they wanted to bifurcate the line when the second generation came out. If they did, they would have called it “Apple Pencil Pro” and then you could at least have something like…
Apple Pencil Pro
Apple Pencil (USB-C)
Apple Pencil (Lightening)
Still not perfect, but way better than what they have now.
@marcoarment Sometimes nobody parodies Apple better than Apple themselves!
GQB@marcoarment
1) Does “no pressure sensitivity” also mean no ‘tilt sensitivity’? (wider stroke on tilt)
2) USB-C male or female?
1) Does “no pressure sensitivity” also mean no ‘tilt sensitivity’? (wider stroke on tilt)
2) USB-C male or female?
Jacob Andersen@GQB @marcoarment No, it doesn’t mean that. Tilt sensitivity is specifically mentioned. It’s the same as the Logitech Crayon in that respect.
Steve BarnesPerhaps if it were the "Apple Pencil *Series* (1st generation)."
James Dempsey@marcoarment Yes, they say accountants hide things in the footnotes. Apple product naming tries to be simple but hides a lot of complexity and nuance between the parenthesis.
I wouldn't be surprised if they release Apple Pencil Pro with the next round of pro iPads, which would have USB-C charging and the features missing from what they announced today.
Jan@jamesdempsey @marcoarment question is: why announce this new Pencil now and add so much confusion?! Why not wait until there are new iPads and tell a coherent story. Was anybody missing this third option?
@marcoarment @siracusa Apple has a very clear strategy with their product names, but I’m not entirely sure it’s a good one
Drew Breunig@marcoarment Geeeeeez. iPad naming has been broken for years. By "simplifying" it to just iPad they offloaded so much confusion elsewhere.
Tim McGreger@marcoarment true, but thankfully, you can parse this even if it is unruly at best…still way better than the ‘Model 3A2112020’
Alex@marcoarment This is going to be awesome for trying to explain to relatives asking for tech advice. The AppleTV conversation is bad enough!
Jorge Rosas@marcoarment Apple Pencil, Apple Pencil Pro. That should be it. Add a year to it to differentiate models like the Mac.
Jim Luther@marcoarment Apple has always had problems with names and when I worked there, we knew it. Plus, Pro, gs, fx, av, Super, Max, etc. and don’t even try to figure out the numbering schemes used on the all-in-one systems in the 90s.
nate boateng@marcoarment This reads like one of my emails to my boss when I'm overly stressed out.
Evan Freeze@marcoarment people joked when they were numbering iPhones “oh that’ll be so weird when the numbers get really big” but surely it’s better than littering “Product (Nth generation)” everywhere
Siguza@marcoarment "This is iPhone SE, the successor to iPhone SE, which is itself the successor to iPhone SE. Oh, and we don't call it 'the' iPhone. It's just 'iPhone', uncountable. We also have some iPad Pros over here, both featuring an M1 chip, but while the 12.9-inch one is the 5th generation, the 11.0-inch is the 3rd generation because we version them by display size, not by device iteration."
Max Gallagher@marcoarment Apple is straight up bad a naming products about half of the time, but other tech companies are so much worse, especially Microsoft.
pavo@marcoarment god why can't they just do iPad ($year). All of their different lines have different generation counts
Trifster 
@marcoarment I’m convinced Amazon stylus offerings at $30 make more sense. Wireless Charging Apple Pencil 2nd Generation - iPad Stylus Pen with Palm Rejection Compatible with Apple iPad 10/9/8, iPad Mini 6, iPad Air 5/4, iPad Pro 11" 3/2/1, iPad Pro 12.9" 6/5/4/3 (Black) https://a.co/d/2MZGBp4
jquilty3@marcoarment use (Brackets 10) for drawing landscapes and fruit but only with ( Brackets 5)
Paul Salzman 
@marcoarment Agree. Why can’t Apple just adopt the car company system? 2021-2023 iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro, etc. They already use internal model numbers, why not simply use those for the enthusiasts? “Oh that’s an iPad A2696.”
It gets especially screwy with iPad Pro because the 12.9” is two generations ahead. It’s so confusing when trying to buy/sell one of these things in the aftermarket. I don’t understand why Apple continues this madness yet calls iPhone by number.
Stephane Ruscher@marcoarment I’m TRULY hoping Apple releases an Apple Pencil (USB-C) (2nd Generation) in a couple of years.
@marcoarment and it gets pressure sensitivity but no magnets anymore. And the first one stays in the lineup as well as the Apple Pencil (1st Generation).
Chad C.@marcoarment @film_girl And they put “generation" instead of a year the model was released because it would not look good selling a iPad Mini (2021) new in the store anymore.
ravi
Cassidy James 
@marcoarment and I still have no clue which Pencil is the new one and why three have to exist…