Apple’s rejected iPhone names: ‘Telepod,’ ‘Mobi,’ ‘Tripod,’ and ‘iPad’

Before settling on the name “iPhone,” Apple considered some hilarious monikers for its smartphone.

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Apple’s former advertising head, Ken Segall, offered some insight into the company’s naming process at a University of Arizona event last night, reports 9to5Mac.

Segall revealed that Apple also considered calling the iPhone the “Telepod,” “Tripod,” “Mobi,” and “iPad.”Of those names, only “iPad” seems like it would have had as much impact as “iPhone,” but that may be because we’ve seen the iPad take the tablet market by storm (and many of us thought iPad was a silly name at first, too).

As he explained, “Telepod” was a logical twist between “telephone” and “iPod,” “Mobi” was a shortened form of mobile, and “Tripod” referred to the iPhone’s triple functionality (phone, media device, portable Internet viewer). All of the names lack the simplicity of “iPhone,” though some may have been better at describing how little we actually use our smartphones as phones these days.

Segall also featured the name “MicroMac” on a slide, but he noted that as never under consideration by Apple — he just wanted to see what the crowd thought of that potential name.