An old email from the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, dating back to 2021, confirms that the company was working on, or at least thinking about, a so-called “iPhone nano.”
As early as 2011, there were rumors that Apple was developing a smaller and cheaper iPhone, possibly called "nano." The name was used for the iPod models at the time. Now, emails collected during the legal dispute between Epic Games and Apple and obtained by The Verge It has been revealed that these rumors were based on actual Apple ideas. A specific email sent by Jobs—a sort of meeting agenda—outlines the company's overall strategy for 2011. One of the items in the email lists the "iPhone nano Plan," with two subheadings: "Cost Target" and "Show Model (and/or Renderings) - Jony." Jony, of course, is Apple's then-design chief, Jony Ive.
What would the “iPhone nano” have looked like?
Furthermore, another point in the email suggests that Apple was planning a low-cost iPhone model based on the iPod touch to replace the 3GS. It remains unclear whether this referred to the "iPhone nano" or a separate device. Around the time Jobs sent the email agenda, Apple had just introduced the sixth generation of the iPod nano. The "nano" branding was still present at that time. What the "iPhone nano" would have looked like remains unclear. As a reminder, at that time, the iPhone 4 was the most current model. It featured a 3.5-inch display, which is incredibly small by today's standards. Apple has since completely dropped the "nano" branding. These days, the company refers to its smaller devices as "mini" models—such as the iPhone 12 mini, iPad mini, and HomePod mini. (Image: Apple)
