My real introduction to Titleist clubs. The original 2008 AP2. Found this great article that best described THE club designed for forgiveness and feel that was not strictly catered to single-digit handicap golfers.

The very first AP2 iron was one of the most hyped Titleist irons ever—full stop. Titleist engineers called the multi-material design “a total process breakthrough for constructing an iron,” saying, “never has a back piece with that kind of function or complicated geometry been welded to a forged body.” The back piece was a tungsten nickel box that placed more mass low in the head to boost forgiveness and launch in a compact head. This use of multi-materials is commonplace now, but in 2008 it was not.

When the AP2 originally arrived on the scene in 2008, it took Titleist’s already solid reputation for producing great irons and sent it through the stratosphere. The entire 2008 Titleist AP series, including the AP1, reintroduced Titleist as an iron company to many golfers who overlooked them because of their reputation for being a company that strictly catered to single-digit handicaps.

It changed my game. Thank you Titleist.
It’s not that the previous-generation Titleist irons totally stunk either. The 755 and 775CB were still nice clubs (just ask Steve Stricker—he used them for over a decade), but in reality, they lacked the technology other companies at the time were beginning to introduce to the market for both forgiveness and feel. The AP2 entirely changed Titleist’s reputation and single-handedly created a completely new category of iron: players technology.

I would say yes and I would also say that the first generation Titleist DCI’s were a time where Titleist became seriously focus on building high quality and forgiving (game improvement) irons for the mid to high handicap golfers. That has carried over ever since then all all subsequent models.