iPhone XR: Apple finally explains latest handset's strange name

'I love cars and things that go fast'

Apple has finally explained its strange iPhone naming system this year.

That complicated set of designations – the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR – means basically nothing, according to Apple's marketing chief.

When the new phones came out, the XS felt fairly natural. It was merely the traditional S applied to last year's iPhone X.

But the XR was more confusing. Apple had never used the letter before, and it wasn't clear why they'd chosen the name – whether it was simply the letter before S, or referred to something else entirely.

Now Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing boss, has said that the name doesn't mean very much at all. He told Engadget that the letters after an iPhone's name don't stand for anything specific officially – but they do mean something to him.

"I love cars and things that go fast, and R and S are both letters used to denote sport cars that are really extra special," he told the website. He appeared to be referencing car manufactuers like Porsche, which likes to stick the letters on the end of the names of its cars.

The interview and explanation came as Apple opened pre-orders on the new, cheaper iPhone. The XR includes most of the same features as the much more expensive iPhone XS, swapping out aluminium for steel in its body and including different screen and camera technologies.

The strange S and R letters are just one part of the mystery over the names of the new phone: Apple is adamant that the X is pronounced "ten" despite many people not doing so, and it also chose to change the name of the bigger model to "Max" when it has favoured "Plus" in recent years.

Years before both the iPhone XS and XR came the iPhone SE, which Apple would eventually confirm referred to "special edition". And Apple has used the "S" naming system all the way back to the iPhone 3GS, at various times suggesting that it meant speed, Siri – and nothing at all.