In one of the many interviews after the 17s were released, an Apple exec (I don’t remember which one) was asked why there was no black Pro phone. His answer, I’m paraphrasing, was something like “we have a wide variety of colors. Silver, a standby, if you want a dark color, there’s the dark blue, if you want a bright color, there’s orange.” I thought it an evasive and (typically) arrogant non-answer. Of course, the interviewer let it pass without further comment.
Yes, Apple always feels they know best.
Call me crazy, but I find it hard to believe they’ll sell more bright orange phones than they would black (space grey). Interestingly, every, single ad I’ve seen for iPhone 17 has been orange, but I’m guessing this is just to catch people’s attention. If I gave my twenty-something kids an orange phone, they’d return it.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep using my space grey 14 Pro (in a clear case) until such time as they can compel me to change.
I realize that not everybody agrees with me, but since I’m going to use a case anyway, and the front has no colored bezel, I don’t think it matters. The phone could be decorated in flower power and nobody would see it anyway, because all the painted surfaces would be covered by the case.
When it comes time for me to get a new phone, I’m going to get whatever color can ship soonest.
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When I went to the Apple Store to look at phones when I needed one earlier this year, I decided to go with black again since I didn’t really like the other colors in the Pro Max lineup. My previous phone was a 7 Plus and the battery was getting weak. I was surprised that the iPhone 16 Pro Max was not that much physically larger than the 7 Plus although the screen is. I always use leather sleeves so color is important to me when using the phone and not in the sleeve. Black is the least distracting but it is a personal choice.
My mother likes a small phone and still has the iPhone SE and likes the smaller size.
“Any customer can have an iPhone Pro in any color that he wants so long as it is not black“. – Henry Ford, if he was an Apple Exec
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I got the orange one and an orange case to match. It makes it very easy to find when I misplace it.
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I don’t care about color, which is why…
- iPhone 3GS: Black
- iPhone 4S: Black
- iPhone 5s: Space Gray
- iPhone 6s: Space Gray
- iPhone 8: Space Gray
- iPhone 12 mini: Black
- iPhone 15: Black
I don’t think too much about the color of my iPhones because I don’t notice the color when I’m looking at the screen, especially with how minimalist Apple has made its bezels, and I try not to feel too concerned about how other people, particularly people I don’t know, judge my style choices.
Anyway, given Apple’s global customer base and positioning as more of a lifestyle brand than a technology brand, the color options probably reflect Apple’s read on tastes across all of its major markets, a wider demographic than TBT users, and, possibly, forecasts from companies such as Pantone.
I always got the black/grey phones with colorful cases, until the 13 Mini. I picked blue for that one, with a clear case, matching sides and contrasting buttons.
Of course the case has finally broken and Lifeproof/Otterbox have ZERO cases for the 13 Mini anymore so I have two others on order. I think one is clear but the other is a color. Not many quality cases to pick from these days so I may keep both of them.
- iPhone 3GS case: Pebble Black
- iPhone 6s case: Wisp Black
- iPhone 8 case: Stealth Black
- iPhone 12 mini case: Black
- iPhone 15 case: Black
I’m sensing a pattern.
I get my phones in as wide a variety of colors as possible. Currently using a purple iPhone 16 and would get an orange iPhone Pro if I were ready to upgrade.
On black, Apple’s extremely good at maximizing the amount of money extracted from their customers. If black would sell massively, I doubt they would continue not to have it.
I don’t really care about the color since it’s barely seen – but I don’t want an obnoxious color or anything too noticeable.
I saw that photographer Austin Mann pointed out he wanted black as he doesn’t want people noticing he’s taking pictures with his phone. He wants to be unobtrusive, so he didn’t like the new orange color.
This makes complete sense but for me, I’d lose it if blends into the environment. I also bike/hike and want to be sure if it separates from me, I can find it easily. It’s one of the reasons I trend towards blue as it’s not as much of a “nature” color as green can be. Otherwise I’d be: “lost my green iPhone in that field of grass over there!” 
I don’t care too much about the color as long as it isn’t pink. That said, the two iPhones I’ve owned have been white/silver. The Speck grippy cases have been in quite a few color combos.
I have never cared about color. I just upgrade the phone and pick one of the colors offered, and the phone will be in a case (almost always black) that hides almost all of the color 99.9% of the time. Actually I have an alternate waterproof case from Catalyst for my 15 Pro right now that is transparent - that’s the only time someone will see the color of my phone, other than from the camera bump/mesa/plateau.
A related question: which color gets the highest resale value?
Google results for this question are mixed. Some say that the highest selling retail colors are the dark colors like grey and black. But that doesn’t answer the question, does it? Would you get a higher price if your phone was in a color that has a lower supply, but the people who want it really want that color?
I can’t imagine that would make much difference. Anyone interested in a resale phone are probably most concerned about price, so the color wouldn’t matter. And a case (or stickers) can cover up the color if you don’t like the color.
I’ve bought black, white, gold, green and blue.
I would not, under any circumstances, buy orange.
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In the rare instances I can’t find my phone, I use Ping Phone on my watch. Very handy if it slips out of my pocket and under the seat of the car.
In my case, I only replace a phone when it breaks or is too old to be useful. So my devices’ resale value will always be near-zero.
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