Does Apple's rumoured iPhone rebrand reveal a company in crisis?

Three years ago we got the iPhone 14, two years ago we got the iPhone 15, and last year we got the iPhone 16. Who knows what we're getting this year? Well, actually, for the first time in a long while, that joke might not be applicable in 2025, with Apple heavily rumoured to be jettisoning its naming conventions for iOS, and potentially the iPhone itself.

Somewhat confusingly, Apple has been strongly rumoured to be ditching skipping straight from iOS 18 to iOS 26 when revealing the next generation of its mobile software at WWDC today. After nearly 20 years of consecutive numbers, the company has allegedly decided to name it after the coming year. And some have suggested the same change could hit the iPhone, with the iPhone 16 being followed by the iPhone 26. As one Redditor succinctly puts it, "This both makes a lot of sense and makes no sense at the same time."

This potential major rebrand comes at a curious time for Apple, one in which the company is arguably on the defensive. Apple Intelligence, announced to much fanfare at last year's WWDC, is fast approaching 'disaster' status, with several features yet to materialise and the whole debacle allegedly causing tension in the company.

And then there are the more existential questions facing the brand. As the iPhone approaches its twentieth birthday, the whole thing feels less and less innovative every year – to the point that the iPhone 16 launch left us unusually underwhelmed. The tech world seems all too aware that the world is ready for the next 'iPhone moment' to come along and transform the landscape, which might explain the ridiculous amount of hype that met the news of Jony Ive joining OpenAI, with a supposedly revolutionary new device imminent.

Apple might have hoped the advent of Vision Pro might provide that next 'iPhone moment', but alas, it wasn't to be. The hugely expensive headset has already been declared a flop by several corners of the internet after Apple sharply cut back production at the end of last year.

All of which to say is that Apple isn't exactly feeling its freshest in 2025, and the iOS and potential iPhone rebrand seems to confirm that the company knows it. Apple is hardly known for simple naming conventions, but it's notable that it has chosen now to cut the iOS title's ties with the original iPhone launch in 2007, as though the company is eager to show that it's looking forward, not back.

Time will tell what Apple is planning to reveal at WWDC tonight, but for my money, it'll take more than a new name and a refreshed design for Apple to get people excited about the future of the iPhone. With its rivals circling and its AI efforts flailing, perhaps the next 'iPhone moment' won't come from Apple at all.