Gold iPhone Makes Ad Debut, Once Nicknamed 'The Kardashian Phone'
Apple has a long history of whimsical product nicknames before their release.
Oct. 21, 2013— -- Apple may be playing favorites among its iPhone 5s models, featuring only the gold phone in its latest commercial. The popular phone may not be as retina-searing as the $15 million gold iPhone, but that didn't stop Apple employees from giving it a nickname associated with flashiness.
According to New York Times columnist Nick Bilton, the phone was originally nicknamed "The Kardashian Phone."
Operating systems are often given whimsical names (see Android's love of sweets like Kit-Kat or Apple's love of big cats like Mountain Lion), but hardware nicknames are often just as fancy-free. Apple employees have been giving their own nicknames to Apple hardware as far back as Apple II in the 1980s. The iPhone itself was codenamed "Purple 2" to maintain its secrecy.
Gold is a big change from purple, but the newest color may be one of Apple's most valuable yet. The phones fetch a high price on eBay, and may have also inspired a copycat design in Samsung. One of Apple's biggest rivals teased a gold smartphone of its own, though only to customers in the Middle East.
It wasn't specified whether the gold iPhone's nickname referred to the Kardashian family as a whole or to just a single member. However, Kim in particular is no stranger to Apple or Apple products. Last year, she snapped a photo of her own gold iPhone 5, though unlike the iPhone 5s' muted champgne hue, it looked like a solid block of gold with a camera attached. In addition, Steve Wozniak, one of Apple's co-founders, was one of the first people to catch a glimpse of her baby.