You’ve seen it every single day for years. It’s on the back of your phone, etched into the lid of your laptop, and appearing in those sleek commercials that make you want to spend a thousand dollars. The apple i phone symbol is arguably the most recognizable piece of branding on the planet, but honestly, it’s also the most misunderstood.
Most people think it’s some deep, cryptic tribute to a dead genius or a biblical reference to original sin. It’s not. In fact, the real story is way more practical—and kinda boring, if I'm being real. But then there’s the "Back Tap" thing. Did you know that logo on your iPhone isn't just a decoration? It’s a secret button.
The Mystery of the Bite
Let’s kill the myths first. You’ve probably heard that the bite in the apple is a tribute to Alan Turing, the father of modern computing who died after eating a cyanide-laced apple. It’s a poetic, beautiful story. It’s also completely fake. Rob Janoff, the man who actually sat down and drew the thing in 1977, has said multiple times that he didn't even know who Turing was back then.
📖 Related: Finding a 32 4k smart tv: The Honest Truth About Why They (Mostly) Don't Exist
Then there’s the "byte" pun. People love to say the bite represents a data "byte." Janoff’s creative director pointed out the pun after the logo was finished. It was a happy accident, not the grand plan.
So why the bite?
Scale. That’s it. Janoff realized that if he drew a simple silhouette of an apple and shrunk it down—like on the side of a computer or a small icon—it looked like a cherry. Or a tomato. By adding the bite, it became unmistakably an apple. It gave the shape a sense of proportion.
The original logo from 1976 was a mess. Ronald Wayne (Apple's third co-founder who famously sold his shares for a few hundred bucks) drew Isaac Newton sitting under a tree. It looked like a 19th-century woodcut. Steve Jobs hated it. He wanted something "not cute" and modern. Janoff delivered the bitten apple, originally with rainbow stripes to show off that the Apple II could display color.
That Logo is Actually a Button
If you’re holding an iPhone 8 or newer, the apple i phone symbol on the back isn't just a shiny piece of glass. It’s a sensor. Well, technically, the whole back of the phone is the sensor, but we all just tap the logo because it’s the target.
This feature is called Back Tap. It’s buried in the accessibility settings, and most people never find it.
I use it to take screenshots because I hate fumbling with the side buttons. You can set a double-tap to open your camera, turn on the flashlight, or even run a custom Shortcut. Honestly, once you set it up, you’ll feel like a power user. To find it, go to:
- Settings
- Accessibility
- Touch
- Scroll all the way down to Back Tap
You can choose "Double Tap" or "Triple Tap." A lot of people complain it triggers by accident in their pocket, so I usually recommend sticking to the Triple Tap for the important stuff.
Typing the Apple Symbol (The Secret Shortcut)
Have you ever seen someone tweet or text the actual symbol? You look for it in the emoji keyboard and it’s just... not there.
That’s because it’s not a standard Emoji. It’s a Private Use Area (PUA) character in the Unicode system. If you’re on a Mac, you can type it by hitting Option + Shift + K. But on an iPhone? There’s no key combo for it.
Here is the workaround most of us experts use. You basically have to "steal" it.
- Find the symbol online (like in this article: ).
- Copy it.
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Hit the + icon.
- Paste the logo into the "Phrase" box.
- For the "Shortcut," type something like "aapl" or "applelogo."
Now, every time you type that shortcut, your iPhone will offer to swap it for the official apple i phone symbol. Just keep in mind that if you send it to a friend on Android, they’ll probably just see a weird empty box or a "X" symbol. It’s an Apple-to-Apple perk only.
Why It Still Matters
The logo has changed colors—from rainbow to translucent "Bondi Blue," to solid black, to the "brushed metal" look, and finally to the minimalist flat design we see today. But the shape has stayed almost identical for nearly 50 years.
That’s unheard of in tech.
It works because it’s friendly. Steve Jobs chose the name Apple because he had just come back from an apple farm and thought the name was "fun, spirited, and not intimidating." In a world where computers were called "IBM 5150" or "Altair 8800," a piece of fruit was a revolution. The apple i phone symbol isn't just a corporate ID; it’s a signal that the tech inside is meant for humans, not just scientists.
Actionable Steps for You
If you want to make the most of that little icon on your gear, do these three things right now:
- Enable Back Tap: Set your double-tap to "Flashlight" or "Screenshot." It’s a game changer when you're using your phone one-handed.
- Set the Text Shortcut: Copy the symbol and save it in your Text Replacements. It’s a fun way to flex in your iMessage group chats.
- Clean It Carefully: If you have a Pro model with the matte glass, that logo is actually polished glass. Use a slightly damp microfiber cloth. Don't use window cleaner; you'll strip the oleophobic coating that keeps fingerprints off.
The logo is a tool, not just a brand. Use it.