Apple's budget iPhone cometh and every man and his dog is weighing in with rumours, predictions, speculation and badly mocked up Chinese fakes.
Specs are one thing, but what the people really want to know is what Apple will call the thing - will it be the iPhone nano? The iPhone mini? The iPhone 5C? Or simply just the iPhone to confound casual Googlers?
The TechRadar team has had a little think about all the possible monickers and weighed in with their two cents. What do you mean, slow news day?
Gareth - Phones and Tablets Editor
I'd be gobsmacked if the new phone was called the iPhone 5C, as it would need a really strong and obvious reason from Apple to make it that way. I think there's an outside chance the C could reference a variant of the phone for certain Chinese networks, such are Apple's efforts to make it in that vast nation. In truth, I just think the iPhone 5C is another blatant copy of other internet rumours that are being sold from street stalls – if Apple was (and it will) to launch a cheaper iPhone, I think something along the lines of iPhone Colo(u)r would make sense, as it wouldn't make the new handset sound cheap or nasty.
Crap. That's the iPhone C, isn't it?
Dan - Associate Editor
Just like one of Apple's overblown launches I'm here to disappoint! If Apple is going to do a cheap iPhone, it will surely inhabit the same nameosphere as the iPad mini and be called the iPhone Mini. Despite its shiny reputation, the reality of Apple's naming conventions is really rather dull - with the possible exception of the new OS X Mavericks. After all, in iPhone Land so far we've had the iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the 3GS, the iPhone 4, the 4S and the iPhone 5 - so sorry, but a cheaper iPhone isn't likely to have an inspired title.
Kate - News Editor
As someone whose name is technically Catherine, I think C is a very strong letter and Apple could do a lot worse. That said, I'd be surprised if Apple goes with the iPhone 5C as a product name for two reasons: 1. C is also the first letter of the word cheap and, even when it releases a cheap-ish product, Apple doesn't want you to think of it as anything less than the best of the best. 2. It kind of sounds like a bra size. That said, iPhone 5K? I'm into that in a big way.
Patrick - UK Editor in Chief
After failing to guess the name of the new iPad and the Xbox One I'm going to hedge my bets and say none of the touted names seems all that likely. Mini/Lite and Nano all feel a bit 2010, iPhone 5C would beg the question for many consumers as to what the iPhone 5B is like and iPhone Color is going to annoy us Brits (not that that would necessarily stop Apple). iPhone AwesomeS perhaps?
Hugh - Staff Writer
Remember when the iPhone 3GS was announced? Nobody really knew what that S business was all about. We all assumed it stood for "speed" but Apple hasn't been crystal clear about it – even with the 4S. It's because of this that I don't think the 5C name is absurd. While Apple will probably expect us to think of it as the "iPhone Colour", it might also hope that by leaving us guessing, we'll subconsciously read it as the "iPhone Cheap". That could be subliminal advertising at its finest, folks. I call conspiracy.
Marc - Deputy Editor
Apple won't want to mention anything about price or cheapness when it comes to the new budget-friendly iPhone, so I reckon it will go with something vanilla like iPhone Color or iPhone mini. It would be nice to see them go a little crazy and use something new like iPhone U or iPhone Pure (given that seems to be its iOS 7 ethos) but Apple is all about simplicity and usually that means going down the obvious route.
Wil - US Editor in Chief
As a recent convert to the iPhone 5 (sorry Windows Phone and Android) I'm finally coming up to speed with this whole iOS thing. That said, having been a Windows Phone and Android user in the past, I do appreciate the variety of styles and colors that the iPhone's competitors boast. And while Gareth seems to think that the "C" in the iPhone 5C's name implies either "color" or "cheapness" I don't see why those two have to be mutually exclusive. Maybe the iPhone 5C is both cheap and colorful!
When we're not busy predicting, the TechRadar team amuses itself by reacting. Check out our knee-jerk opinions on the latest tech:
