If you've been wondering what the "R" stands for in the iPhone XR name, then you are not the only one who's confused about Apple's new iPhone names because even Apple itself doesn't know what the "R" stands for.
Back in 2009 when Apple released the iPhone 3GS, the company said the 'S' in the 3GS stood for speed, which at that time the company described it as the fastest and most powerful iPhone ever made. Since then, the 'S' in iPhone titles have been understood to signify under-the-hood performance upgrades over a previous model. However, Apple's new set of iPhones doesn't have any meaning attached to the last letter after the 'X'.
According to Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, who spoke to Engadget, the letters in the new iPhones (iPhone XS, XS Max and XR) doesn't stand for anything. Though we all know that the 'X' stands for the number 10, the other letter attached means nothing.
Schiller went on to use cars to explain what the letters meant to him; " I love cars and things that go fast, and R and S are both letters used to denote sport cars that are likely extra special," Schiller said, referring to fast vehicles like Porsche which like attaching letters to its model. The mercedez Benz too is known to have both the R and S-class .
During the release of the iPhone 4S, at that time Apple explained that the 'S' stood for Siri. However, when the iPhone 5S and 5C were introduced in 2013, Apple had stopped giving meaning or explanation for the letters attached to the iPhones.
The iPhone 6S followed suite and there wasn't any meaning attached to what the 'S' meant. However, Apple gave the iPhone SE meaning attached to it. The company said the 'SE' alphabets meant Special Edition.