Let’s talk iPhone: What the invite tells us

Apple has just made it official. After rumours upon rumours upon rumours, Apple pundits now have a date to work with. On October 4, 1000hrs Pacific Standard Time, 0100hrs Malaysian time (October 5), newly appointed CEO, Tim Cook, will reveal to the world Apple’s latest creation. A new iPhone, that for the first time, will be shown with a crucial piece missing – Steve Jobs.

Jobs has been pivotal to Apple’s success that’s obvious, but also his presentations has mesmerized and captivated millions, and as much as the iPhone is or was a wonderful product, its success is directly in relation to Steve Jobs’ involvement both on and off the stage.

However, things are different now. Faced with tougher competition from Android devices and the growing threat from Windows Phone looming in the horizon, iPhone exists in a much changed environment today. It is no longer cosy and much more hostile. Android has reached a maturation point where the platform is presenting a compelling case to more and more users who are looking for a capable smartphone making it much more unnecessary to simply choose an iPhone. Realistically for Apple, things are not what it used to be.

So what will Apple reveal come October 4? Our guess is as good as yours but that’s not going to stop people from guessing and speculating. One main source of speculation right now is the iPhone press invite itself.

No doubt, there will be numerous symbologists and numerologists out there who are cracking their heads trying to decipher the hidden meanings behind the icons that make up the invitation – if any exists at all. No matter, it is still fun to contemplate what those four very familiar icons mean.

In our case, the first three are pretty much given. The first icon (read from top left to bottom right) says that the iPhone event is happening on Tuesday, October 4. The second, tells us that the event starts at 1000hrs. The third gives us the location of the event, in this case Apple’s Campus at Cupertino, California.

It is the fourth icon that is presenting a major mystery to observers. The phone icon is simple enough to understand but what do we make of that number one? The number stands out, almost offensively obvious, but what is its purpose there? We know that with Apple, not many things are left to chance. There is a reason and purpose behind everything that company does, and for something as important as a press invite, even the seemingly unimportant number one has purpose. Perhaps even an important one. But what is its purpose? What is it trying to tell us?

That number one could mean many things or it could mean just one thing, no one really knows. But to us – and this is still speculation at this point – that lone digit points to an obvious answer to a very important question. Will the October 4 announcement yield one or two iPhones? From the invite, the answer is clear.