RIP Cosmic Orange. You were too fun for this world

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

For years, Apple stuck inexplicably to the idea that rich people don’t like bright colors. Any iPhone casing that looked funky and vibrant, you could bet your bottom dollar it would be used on a cheaper and more feature-limited model, while drab and serious colors were reserved for the higher-end Pro models. It was as if Apple heard the phrase “cheap and cheerful” and decided to invent the corollary concept “expensive and miserable.”

It’s a similar price-and-vibrancy story with Apple’s other products. The standard iPad models come in pink and yellow, Airs in more muted purple and blue, and the top-end Pros in black and silver only. The MacBook Neo comes in citrus and blush, while the MacBook Pro is stuck in tedious monochrome. Even the HomePod is restricted to black and white, whereas its cheaper mini cousin gets access to glorious orange and yellow.

And as for the iPhone range, that particular pattern was set with the launch of the iPhone 5c back in 2013. It was cheap, it was low-specced… and it got access to four bright finishes that simply weren’t available to buyers of the more expensive iPhone 5s. When the first iPhone Pro came out in 2019, it was limited to black, near-black, and a couple of metallics, while the contemporaneous iPhone 11 came in red, yellow, and vivid candy green. It just seemed unfair. At least give pro buyers the option of a fun color, certain pundits implored.

Apple, somewhat uncharacteristically, heard us loud and clear and took this feedback on board. When the iPhone 17 Pro came out late last year, we were astounded to see bright orange on the menu, and customers went for this color in droves. It’s widely believed, in fact, that the orange finish was the single biggest factor behind the iPhone 17 Pro’s success in China. I guess rich people like bright colors after all, huh.

But what’s this? Goodness me, it’s an exclusive leak of the colors on the next generation of pro iPhones. Macworld’s source tells us that four finishes are in development for the iPhone 18 Pro: silver, dark gray, a relatively muted light blue, and a rich wine color dubbed Dark Cherry as the product’s signature color. Cosmic Orange, it appears, will be retired after a single year in the limelight.

Five months or so remain before launch, and one or more of these colors could yet be dropped or even replaced; but it now looks extremely likely that the age of Cosmic Orange is drawing to a close, and that of Dark Cherry is imminent. And while our mockups of the latter, based on the Pantone numbers provided by our source, look absolutely stunning, I can’t help but wonder if this is the right decision. It just seems like a shame, after so much progress was made in 2025.

I appreciate, of course, that Apple can only manufacture its phones in a limited number of finishes before things become cost-inefficient, and that it must prioritise the colors which sell over those which are championed by a few blowhards with weekly columns on beloved technology websites. But let’s be clear: Cosmic Orange was a successful experiment. There were voices raised in dissent, claiming it was garish, and of course, there were some technical issues with handsets degrading from orange to a sort of semi-pink. But it sold well, made a cultural impact, and was overall a fun, interesting, and popular choice.

As regards the future, it strikes me that if you’re going to have, say, four colors per phone (that’s roughly the average for the current generation: three for the 17e and Pros, four for the Air, and five for the baseline 17), then you can afford for at least one of them to be fun. You could go for two standard colors that are guaranteed to sell well: black and either silver or white, most likely. Then you could have something that’s classy and elegant: a navy blue, a deep sage, even Dark Cherry. But that still leaves a slot for a hot pink, or a bright sunny yellow, or an eye-catching scarlet.

That’s my view of it, anyway. And it seems to be a view that’s shared by more than a few actual iPhone customers, particularly in the all-important Chinese market. The people have spoken, Apple. They want fun. And they’re prepared to pay highly for the privilege.

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

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