Many iPhone users have been wondering what the “I” stands for. Though there have been multiple potential answers, the only person who knew the true meaning was Steve Jobs.
Since the first iPhone, back in 2007, the phone has remained one of the most popular gadgets in human history. Even before it was launched, there were already iMac, iTunes, and iPod.
That’s why many users assumed it was a brand name, something the company Apple wanted to be connected to all their products.
But legendary Steve Jobs actually came up with that “I” in 1998, and it stands for five words linked to Apple’s philosophy.
Behind the “i” in iPhone
The “I” stands for five words: “Internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire,” Readers Digest reported.
But that’s not all. Steve Jobs pointed out that “I” can be used as “instruction” and a personal pronoun.
It implies that it could be anything you want it to be, with many quickly wanting to choose “intelligent” as the word behind the most popular phone.
It makes sense that Jobs first linked “I” to the internet in 1998 when the iMac was launched, the internet was pretty new.
Jobs said to Business Insider: “‘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 standalone product. We are also targeting it for education. They want to buy these. And it is perfect for most of the things they do in instruction.”
The Apple logo’s mystery
The revelation came a year after Apple stated that the logo was not an apple but a series of circles.
As for the “I,” connecting the dots only became possible last year.
The company’s new updates provided new features, as they explained: “Live Activities is a new feature that helps users stay on top of things that are happening in real-time, such as a sports game, workout, ride-share, or food delivery order, right from the Lock Screen.”
They added: “Notifications have been redesigned to roll up from the bottom, ensuring that users have a clear view of their personalized Lock Screen.”
Apple said at the time that the update was a part of the new iOS 16 technology inspired by the Apple Watch’s widgets.
The company explained that the thinking behind this was that users get access to vital information, like calendars and to-do lists, at a glance.
What did you think “I” stands for?