Steve Jobs' reaction after reporter accidentally names the iPhone before it was even announced
Published on Sep 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 23, 2025 at 11:58 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs managed to keep his cool when a reporter questioned him about when the company might be ‘able to buy an iPhone’ a year before the phone had been announced.
The original Apple iPhone was officially unveiled by Jobs on January 9, 2007, at Macworld 2007.
It was released the following year, and since then more than three billion iPhones have been sold across the globe.
But before the iPhone had even been confirmed, a reporter on CNBC managed to correctly guess its name during a live interview with Jobs.
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What happened when Steve Jobs was asked about the upcoming ‘iPhone’ before it was announced
In the clip, the reporter was chatting to Steve Jobs when, just before wrapping up, she asked him one last question.
“I have an iPod Shuffle and I am very curious, and eager to know, when I might be able to buy an iPhone,” the reporter asked.
Which seems like fairly simple question, until you learn that the interview took place in 2006 – a whole year before the iPhone had been officially announced.
Of course, rumors about an upcoming phone from the tech giant had been flying around for some time, and it was assumed by many that when it came to naming the new product, Apple would opt for a lower-case i, in-keeping with the wildly popular iPod.
But it seemed as though Jobs wasn’t about to let the cat out of the bag just yet.
In the clip, he initially appeared to be taken aback by the question, before quickly glancing down, gaining his composure and replying.
“You know, we never talk about unaccounted products, so if we ever do announce something like that, I’d love to talk to you about it then,” he calmly told her.
As it happened, the reporter wouldn’t have too long to wait, with the first-generation iPhone officially going on sale June 2007.
What does the i stand for in iPhone?
The reporter being able to correctly assume the phone would be launched as the iPhone is partly because since the introduction of the iMac range of computers launched back in 1998, Apple has consistently used a lower case i when naming its products.
Alongside the iPhone and the iPad, we’ve also had the iPod and services such as iTunes and iMessage – but why the i?
Back in the late 1990s, Jobs explained that i didn’t actually represent one thing, but several.
In an interview with the Reader’s Digest in 1998, Jobs revealed the ‘i’ stood for ‘internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire’ and that none of the words take priority over the others.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
