Why it’s always 9:41 on iPhone product photos
It is always 9:41 on the Apple iPhone product photos. But why is that? And: What is behind the never-changing time? We explain the background
If you take a close look at the product photos of the iPhone, you will notice that it is always 9:41 a.m. on Apple smartphones. But what appears to be random time is by no means coincidental.
The fact that time on Apple iPhones gives the impression of standing still is a tradition. And like the US magazine TheAtlantic recently researched, it began in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone ever.
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That’s why it’s always 9:41 on iPhones
Anyone who deals a little with the founder of Apple quickly learns that Jobs was a perfectionist and took details very seriously. And not only during the development phase, but also when presenting the products in his famous keynotes.
When he did that in 2007 introduced the first iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, he had of course timed the moment of the unveiling exactly. At 9 a.m., Jobs took the stage and gave an introductory speech.
About 35 minutes into his presentation, he said, “Today, Apple will reinvent the phone.” And at about 9:41 a.m., the image of the first iPhone appeared on the big screen behind him.
Steve Jobs legacy
To this day, Apple has kept that memory of the big reveal moment. As opposed to Apple Manager Scott Forestall TheAtlantic explained that the company always designs its product launches so that the big reveal of the product occurs about 40 minutes after the start of the presentation.
When the big picture of the product appears on the screen, we want the time displayed to be close to the actual time on the audience’s watches.
Of course, Apple knows that it is difficult to actually meet this deadline. Nevertheless, the timing of the keynotes is the secret of the magical time on the product images.
9:41 a.m. on iPhones: A magical time as a nerve killer
However, iPhone users have had their difficulties with Apple’s constant time in the past. Like Jay1117 for example in a Apple Community Discussion reported, after updating to a new iOS version, his iPhone X’s clock was always stuck at the same time: at exactly 9:41 a.m.
The phone knows the correct time (when I try to change it in settings or on the lock screen) but I can’t get rid of that 9:41!
A total of 105 members of the community apparently had the same problem.
Apple keynotes don’t follow tradition as closely anymore
Apple is no longer quite so precise with the Keynote. The time at which the company introduces the new iPhone generation at the September keynotes varies from year to year.
The Apple Watch has a tradition of its own
And by the way: On the product photos of the Apple Watch, the time is always 10:09 a.m. And of course that’s no coincidence either. how Business Insider explains, many famous watch manufacturers have a penchant for accurate time display on their watches.
Rolex, for example, loves the time 10:10:31, TAG Heuer prefers to display 10:10:37. Only Timex deviates a little from the 10:10 norm and shows 10:09:36.
It can therefore be assumed that Apple promises to be ahead of the big time with the time display on its watch.
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