iPhone X, one of three new iPhones Apple unveiled, stands out from all prior iPhones in many ways. There's the edge to edge screen, Face ID, and no home button — as well as the fact that Apple is calling X the "future of the smartphone." That's quite a claim to live up to.
But iPhone X also differs from all the other iPhones in one very simple way: Its name. With the exception of the original iPhone, which was just iPhone, all successive iPhones have had numerical names. iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and so on, with some "Plus" and "S" versions thrown in. But iPhone X is causing a bit of confusion. How exactly do you pronounce it? Is it iPhone "X" or iPhone "Ten"?
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In the keynote Tim Cook delivered onstage earlier today at the Steve Jobs Theatre, he went with the latter. This fits with the fact that 2017 is the original iPhone's ten-year anniversary. But as much as Cook may want the pinnacle of all iPhones to be called "Ten," you can bet this is not how most people will refer to it.
Some Twitter users are advising name sticklers to accept this now.
Pro tip for a happier and healthier life: decide, right now, not to get upset when people call it iPhone Ex.
— Jessie Char (@jessiechar) September 12, 2017
I can't be the only one saying iPhone "ex" in their head instead of iPhone "ten" right?
— Shimmery Avocado ?✨ (@IvyKungu) September 12, 2017
Others have taken to making jokes that, should you invest in the $999 iPhone X, you may encounter.
The new iPhone eX drunk texts you at 2am and SLEEPS WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND WHO KNOWS YOU STILL HAD FEELINGS FOR HER
— Danny Gonzalez (@dannygonzalez) September 12, 2017
"I am buying a new iPhone!"
— Tareque Laskar (@tarequelaskar) September 12, 2017
"Woah! Which one?"
"iPhone X"
"What will happen to your current iPhone?"
"iPhone Ex"
I apologize in advance.
Of course, at the end of the day, if a little name mispronunciation is the biggest problem the iPhone X has — that's not too bad in the great scheme of things. Though the number 10 does invite larger speculation about Apple's future iPhone naming: If this is "Ten," are we skipping iPhone 9? Is Apple going the Roman numeral route? If so, will iPhone 11 be iPhone XI?
You can avoid having to answer these questions if you take the easier, and far less expensive path: Buy the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.
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