The Great Leap to "X"
During its September 2017 iPhone event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the anticipated incremental upgrades to the existing form factor set in motion by the iPhone 6 and 7 before. These iPhones in particular came with home buttons like all iPhones released before them.
At the very end of the presentation, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced "one more thing" and debuted the iPhone X (pronounced "iPhone ten"), which marked a dramatic new direction for the iPhone series. The iPhone X included an edge-to-edge screen with no home button, an OLED display, an improved camera, and the debut of Face ID, among others.
During the unveiling, Cook emphasized the huge technological leap ahead of the iPhone 8, saying the iPhone X is "the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone." He also referenced the 10th anniversary of the iPhone's initial release in 2007: “The first iPhone revolutionized a decade of technology and changed the world in the process. Now, ten years later, it is only fitting that we are here in this place on this day to introduce a product that will define the technological path for the next decade.”
The press general interpreted This statement is intended to mean that the name "iPhone X" (where "X" is the Roman numeral for "10") was a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the iPhone (in accordance with rumours prior to the announcement), but Apple never specifically said so. Actually Jony Ive called The technology for the iPhone X was two years in development and the iPhone's 10th anniversary was a "wonderful coincidence".
Aside from the anniversary speech, there were some clear marketing reasons to skip the iPhone 9. The iPhone X introduced a new high-end parallel product line with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus that cost a lot more ($999 base price vs. $699 for iPhone 8). If Apple had released the "iPhone 8" and "iPhone 9" at the same time, it would have been confusing - why would the iPhone 8 be immediately obsolete? Instead, Apple positioned low-end and high-end flagship iPhone models side-by-side, clearly labeling them as distinct product categories.
That's great, but what about the iPhone 9?
That being said, Apple could easily have come back next year and released the iPhone 9 as the successor to the iPhone 8. But the company didn't. Instead, Apple dropped the iPhone X and released the iPhone XR as the low-end flagship model (after the iPhone 8) and the iPhone XS as the high-end flagship phone (which completely replaced the iPhone X). Both names didn't necessarily have to be anything but seen by Apple's Phil Schiller References to sports cars. For several years, instead of introducing the iPhone 9, Apple sold the iPhone 8, Drop in 2020.
In that sense, the second-gen iPhone SE (launched in April 2020), released shortly after Apple scrapped the iPhone 8, could be considered the "iPhone 9" in spirit. It kept the iPhone 8's form factor, including the old home button with Touch ID.
There has been speculation that Apple is avoiding the number 9 for superstitious reasons (similar to Windows 9 rumours) or using "X" as a character marketing ploy to encourage upgrades, but neither theory has been supported by evidence from authoritative sources. Ultimately, a name like "iPhone 9" is just a marketing term, and Apple never found a need for it, so it never came about.
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