*the iPhone really exploded when unleashed from AT&T around 2011.* Cingular.

xxpor · on Oct 25, 2021

Cingular was renamed to AT&T in 2006.

warning26 · on Oct 25, 2021

Exactly -- during the iPhone unveiling all the demo screenshots showed "Cingular", but by the time it had been released, Cingular had been rebranded to AT&T.

reaperducer · on Oct 26, 2021

I had (and still have) a launch day iPhone and it had "Cingular" on the carrier icon at the top of the screen.

Maybe the rollout timing was different in different markets.

hunterb123 · on Oct 25, 2021

Bit more complicated than that:

https://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/Cingular_timelin...