I have my own theory. I don't think the "C" stands for any of the words that have been bandied about. I think it's more abstract than an simple adjective, a word or words that speak to the iPhone 5c's importance and what it represents to Apple, something far more personal to its namers than appearance or price.
Think back to the iMac for a moment. When it was introduced in 1998, it was a lot like the 5c. It used a previous-generation processor. It was targeted at the mid-range market. It came in a colorful plastic shell. And it had a curious letter attached to it.
Of course, the iMac's letter stood for something (five somethings, actually) very specific: internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire. The lowercase "I" literally defined the iMac, a simple character that somehow managed to encompass the machine's stunning design and originality. It's guided generations of products to come, signaling fun and ease of use, and representing a split between the more professional products that had come before.
But while the iMac may have been Jony Ive's first big breakthrough, the iPhone 5c might be his finest work, with or without a defined "C."
There's always been a certain synergy between Apple's hardware and software. Back when the OS X transition was in full swing, design cues began to overlap it and the hardware it ran on: The stripes in the menubar mirrored the ones on the studio displays; the graphite accents matched the machines that powered it. The colors were gone, replaced with white, sophisticated enclosures that paired nicely with the uncluttered desktop.
But Jony Ive never got his hands on Aqua. He may have done his best to echo OS X's stylings while designing PowerMac Cube prototypes in his laboratory, but it wasn't exactly a collaboration.
It's different with iOS 7 and the iPhone 5c. In many ways, they are the ultimate Ive creations, a pair of products so closely intertwined it's hard to tell which inspired the other. iOS 7 looks fantastic on any screen it's on, but it feels more at home on the 5c than it does anywhere else. There's a clarity and cohesion that make it unlike any Ive product we've ever used. It's Ive's philosophy boiled down into a sole product:
"I think that designs with a real coherence are the results of developing form, material and color in unison. Each element informing and in many ways defining the other, creating a significant and a meaningful design."
Holding an iPhone 5c feels nothing like a 5s. It may be the same size and relative shape, but there's a slickness unmatched by any other model. It's smoother than the 5, sturdier than the 3GS and more playful than the 4. Ive describes it as "a distillation of what people love about the iPhone 5. It's simpler, more essential, yet it's more capable and certainly more colorful."
And when you turn it on, everything comes together. The matching wallpapers make it seem like you're literally looking through to the back of the device (enhanced further by the parallax effect). The hint of color peeking through the edges of the front glass add whimsy to the home screen, even when its matching icon isn't visible. It all just makes sense.
You can practically see Ive's signature on each one. As much as he's made gorgeous industrial products out of metal and glass, he clearly enjoys working with color. But it's more than the enclosure; the iPhone 5C is the first time he's got to play on the entire playground, and the results are stellar. Apple is smartly highlighting this synergy in its new "Designed Together" ad, which playfully weaves the various hardware and software design elements as a singular package, as if was built from the inside out.
The 5c may have last year's guts, but Ive has never cared much about specs. Instead of shuffling the deck like usual to make room for the latest and greatest, Ive has essentially made a stale iPhone fresh all over again, creating a desirable new product out of an aging one.
It's the ultimate design challenge, especially when the 5s offers so much more at an equally attainable price. But the "C" is such a success, it's already started to tempt its share of would-be iPhone 5s buyers. (During a visit to my local Apple Store this weekend, I watched several shoppers walk out with a 5c when they came in looking for a 5s.) It'll be interesting to see how it matures, particularly in its naming, but the iPhone 5c is a clearly defining moment for the iPhone and iOS. It will certainly have its share of detractors — much like iOS 7 — who are resistant to another design shift for Apple.
But then again, so did the iMac.
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