On: Apple Store leaks 4.7-inch ‘iPhone SE’ name

[s1t5]

> Back then it was just the iPhone with an incrementing number afterwards.

I just had to look this up - the only actual increment in version numbers was iPhone 8 following iPhone 7. And even that counts just barely considering that they released iPhone X a month after 8.

I agree with your feeling on the confusing product line though - it mostly comes from very similar models being released at the same time which wasn't the case in the past.

[jorvi → s1t5]

That's just patently false.

You have iPhone 3G > iPhone 3GS > iPhone 4 > iPhone 4S > iPhone 5 > iPhone 5S > iPhone 6 & Plus > iPhone 6S & 6S Plus > iPhone 7 & 7 Plus so the naming scheme was consistent for a very long time. The iPhone 8 & 8 Plus actually broke the $N > $NS cadence.

[s1t5 → jorvi]

Incrementing a number means increasing it, usually by a fixed amount (in this case 1). That's the context in which 7 to 8 is the only increment.