iPhone XC: New leak points at Apple’s entry-level phone

The unveiling of new iPhones has always been a marked day each year, and with Apple being famously tight-lipped about their products, people have been looking everywhere for tidbits just to satisfy their lust for clues.
On Monday, a new supposed 'leak' crept up the Web, purported to shed light on what the new iPhones will be called.
This is but one of the few nibbles of information people are feasting on ahead of the device's launch on Wednesday. And it only gets juicier going forward.
The leak, found on a post on microblogging site Weibo, was of a slide during a presentation at an alleged internal meeting at telecom firm China Mobile, showing details on what the next iPhones will be called.
The post, reported by a number of media outlets, says that, apparently, the upcoming 5.8-inch iPhone with an OLED screen will be named 'iPhone XS', while its 6.5-inch version will be the 'iPhone XS Plus'. The entry-level 6.1-inch LED model, meanwhile, is to be called the 'iPhone XC'.
Khaleej Times independently verified the content of the slide. It was, indeed, about the iPhones' release dates, model names and capacities.
Naming the next iPhones has been a rather fun guessing game. The 'S' suffix has been the most popular 'guess', given that Apple has been known to use this cycle every two years - though this streak was broken during the transition from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone 8.
However, visually speaking, an 'XS' name could be misleading, since those initials could be alluded to as 'extra small'. Nevertheless, since 'X' - the Roman numeral - is read as 'ten', an 'XS' name would still serve the purpose.
Meanwhile, the 6.1-inch model has been the subject of much speculation as well. Initial theories had it being called the 'iPhone 9'. If Apple does push through with the purported designs, it may not make sense to name it '9'; the iPhone X has been tabbed to be a new generation of Apple devices, so having a X design with that name could be a step back of sorts.
The 'C' suffix is more sensible: remember, in 2013, Apple launched the iPhone 5c, which came in five colours. Given that the upcoming 6.1-inch iPhone will also reportedly come in the same number of hues, 'C' is a viable choice.
All of these, though, point to Apple doing away with a '9' device, much similar to what Samsung did when it jumped from the Note5 to the Note7. If Apple does go on with '9', then it could be just for the purpose of continuity.
Other names that have been put out are 'iPhone X1' and 'iPhone XI', a direct jump to 'eleven'. 'iPhone X2' was also floated, but this is far-fetched since that Roman-and-regular-numbers value doesn't translate to 'twelve'.
With inputs from Nur Suhaimi
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com