What is Apple Going to Name its Forthcoming Tablet?

27 January 2010 UPDATE: Apple has announced that their tablet will be called the iPad.

Apple's ~~rumored~~ upcoming tablet has been getting significant press coverage recently, and most people seem to be referring to it as the "iTablet."

Google Trends Graph for "iTablet"

Apple's forthcoming tablet is NOT going to be called the "iTablet"

Product	Release
iMac	1998
iBook	1999
iPod	2001
iTunes	2001
iLife	2003
iSight	2003
iWork	2005
iPhone	2007

When you consider the history of Apple's major "i" family of products, it is clear that a trend has been established. The table on the left is a list of all major Apple products with the "i" prefix. You can see that all of the names following the "i" have a single syllable. Some exceptions include iMovie and iPhoto but these are, of course, not major products.

Other minor single-syllable Apple products include: iCal, iWeb and iChat.

When you consider this single syllable limitation, there is a significantly smaller set of names that can capture the essence of the device.

Best Guess: iPad, iTab

Possible: iSlate, iSlab

Unlikely: iBlock, iReam, iSee, iSheet

Update: There are lots of great ideas in the comments section below. Many of you are saying that Apple's tablet may not deserve a new "i" family name. Some great suggestions include: iPage, Pad Pro, iMac Tablet, iMac Tab, iMac Pad, MacBook Touch, iBook Tablet

Have any other ideas? Let us know in the comments below.

comments


	You have 50 words left!

iSlate is probably the most technically correct, because these types of devices are called "slate computers." But it just sounds a little too stark. iPad is a little too similar to iPod, so they might steer away from that to avoid confusion. Will be fun to see what they choose!

posted by philosophy (222)

i just read that apply owns the domain islate. com - the plot thickens.
posted by Cubberley (55)

11 votes

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iScribe

posted by Anonymous

10 votes

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I dont' think it'll be i anything. I think it'll be Macbook something or other. Macbook Tablet or Macbook Flat.

posted by Anonymous

9 votes

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Only 4 of the 8 products in the table are what I could consider big (i.e., mainstream): iMac, iPod, iTunes, and iPhone. My guess is iTab or iMac Tablet will be big too.

posted by hefito (153)

I think you are right about the big four, but they are all still single syllable, and I am in the camp that believes that Apple will continue to use single-syllable names for its big guns.
posted by DulceDeLeche (204)

9 votes

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Macbook Touch

posted by Anonymous

8 votes

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iPage

posted by Anonymous

8 votes

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I like iSlate and iSlab (those are clever), but I don't think it'll be that. My bet is on iPad too.

posted by greysquirrel (201)

8 votes

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I believe it will be called "iDifference Engine"

posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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MacBook "whatever" is not going to happen. How confusing to have "book" anywhere near a device that doesn't open and close. I wouldn't be surprised if they avoided the term "tablet" altogether, as tablet PCs have been a bust. iSlate sounds like a failure waiting to happen. We'll see...

posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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iPad -hackjackal-

posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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iMeMine "... eveyone's saying it... All through the day, iMeMine, iMeMine, iMeMine... "

posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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ibook. this is obvious

posted by Anonymous

They already used that
posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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iTouch. One syllable. The name tells you exactly how it works.

posted by Anonymous

I think you might be on to something here... the only downside of this one is that it is confusing with the iPod Touch... but I wouldn't be surprised if they went for this one.
posted by tschebyshev (222)

7 votes

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I've read it will be called a "Pad Pro"

posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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Seeing the the original 13" MacBooks are being phased out, i'd stab a guess at "MacBook Touch" perhaps?

posted by Anonymous

Maybe... but I think that this device is definitively flat like a tablet or a slate, so I am not sure if they would go with a book metaphor... books have two halves that open up and are therefore better suited for clamshell-type laptops/notebooks.
posted by onecrore (175)
to onecrore what if they have a lid or cover that you have to open and then it will fit with teh book metaphor again because i seriously dont expect a flat touchscreen device that size to be sold without as litte as a thin plastic door
posted by Anonymous

7 votes

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No other ideas, really. I suspect iPad would be the right choice. For one thing, it sounds a bit like iPod and, for another, it "looks like" a pad a paper -- not to mention that consumers probably want to use it much as they have a clip board and pad of paper, in the past.

posted by mixedup (21)

7 votes

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I have a Touch and I always call it the iTouch but it's technically an iPod Touch. I wonder if the tablet might be named in that style -- something like the iMac Tablet, or iMac Tab, or iMac Pad.

posted by sunny83 (109)

7 votes

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I vote Macbook Touch if it includes a disc drive and Atom processor and HDD and such, but I vote Touch Pro if there's no disc drive or HDD just heavy amounts of flash memory.

posted by Anonymous

6 votes

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I think it will be called the MacBook because they will get rid of the white macbook and have the term macbook free. Then all their notebooks (laptops) will have the "Pro" moniker. Macbook because its like a book (slate, tablet)

posted by werty1432k (6)

They also have the iBook name available now.
posted by Anonymous

6 votes

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iWrite? it seems like they could use this name based in the fact if it is like a pad of paper you can use it for notes and writing, maybe a hand wrote to typed app?

posted by Fast1195 (6)

6 votes

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I dont think it will be prefixed with an "i"...I see it going more to MacSlate, MacTab, MacPad; mainly to be more inline with their Mac Comupters (e.g. MacBook, MacBookPro, MacMini, etc.)

posted by nickbenuska (6)

6 votes

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It'll be MacBook :)

posted by Anonymous

6 votes

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Honestly, I believe that the iPad would be a terrible name. Although pad can mean many things, when women think pad, it is a much different. WANNA SEE MY PAD? has a very different meaning. It sounds more like some futuristic period device.

posted by Anonymous

6 votes

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I'm going with iMac Tablet to follow the same method as the iPod Touch. The "Tablet" -- like the "Touch" -- is a subset of a larger category, namely, iMac and iPod, respectively.

posted by shalom (185)

Don't you think that a tablet is in its own category? It is substantially different than a laptop, and it is equally different from the iPod/iPhone lines.
posted by calcutta (159)
@calcutta: totally agree... even if this has the same os as their laptops or uses the iPhone os, the size itself is a game changer. It is an iPhone that you can use for serious work including writing long emails and web browsing.
posted by SriLanka (236)

6 votes

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As long as it comes out, I don't care much what they call it. I just want one!

posted by altos (144)

I am excited about this too... I have been thinking about this ever since the iPod Touch... It is really great, but just too small to be very useful (especially on the web). But, I am probably going to wait until the 2nd generation of the device to be safe.
posted by udaipur (186)

6 votes

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I think iTab is more likely than iPad, especially if Apple notices that most people think it's gonna be called the iTablet.

posted by benicio (185)

I know that apple likes to have twists, but I don't think they would make such a major decision just to fake everyone out... I am sure they have long meetings about the naming of their products; and i'm sure the marketing department is heavily involved.
posted by andaman (202)