One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when choosing an iPhone is the color you buy it in. After all, you’ll probably be keeping this phone for at least a year – and maybe way longer – and you’ll likely be looking at it many times each day.
So if you’re considering upgrading to an iPhone 16, an iPhone 16 Plus, an iPhone 16 Pro, or an iPhone 16 Pro Max later this year, you might want to start thinking about what color you want the phone in already.
Of course, Apple hasn’t confirmed the colors yet, but thanks to leaks and rumors we have a good idea of the likely shades, all of which you’ll find below.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus rumored colors
Based on past form, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will probably be available in the same shades as each other, with the rumored options being as follows:
Black
We’ve heard from multiple sources that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus might be available in black, with both reputable leaker Ming-Chi Kuo and another less well-known source pointing to a black iPhone 16 model. A leaked photo of iPhone 16 dummy units also shows a black shade, which you can see above.
Black is an extremely popular and common smartphone shade, and it’s one that the iPhone 15 is available in, so we may well see a similar option for the iPhone 16.
Green
Green is a shade that has also been mentioned by the three sources above, with one adding that the green iPhone 16 could use color-infused glass, much like the iPhone 15’s colors do.
That will likely leave it quite a matte, pale color, perhaps like the green iPhone 15 that you can see above.
That said, a leaked image which you can see further up shows a darker green. In any case though, green is a slightly unusual smartphone color choice, and one that we’d be happy to see Apple offer again.
Pink
We’ve also heard talk of a pink iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus from the same three sources, and this once again is a color that you can get the iPhone 15 in, as you can see above.
There’s no guarantee that we’ll see the same shade of pink this year of course, and indeed a leaked image (further up) shows a slightly different shade, but there’s a chance it will be similar.
Blue
Blue has been mentioned by the same set of sources too, and is also a color you can get the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus in.
If it’s a similar shade this year then it will be very pale, but it’s possible we’ll instead see a much brighter or darker shade of blue. Depending on the shade, this could either be a smart alternative to black, or a fun, playful option.
White
The final iPhone 16 shade mentioned by all of these sources is white, which as with black is a very common, popular choice for a smartphone – if perhaps a bit uninteresting.
However, you can’t get the iPhone 15 in white, so this would be a new shade for the year if it is offered – though some past iPhones have come in white or off white shades, such as the iPhone 14 in Starlight, pictured above.
Yellow
Yellow was also mentioned by one of the sources above as a possible shade, but we’re less convinced we’ll see this than the options above.
Aside from the fact that only one source has mentioned it, they also don’t have much of a track record, and they mentioned seven shades, which is more than Apple would usually offer.
In any case though, there is a yellow iPhone 15, which you can see above. Here it’s a pale yellow, though it remains to be seen whether the same will be true of the iPhone 16’s yellow shade – if it exists.
Purple
Finally for the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus there’s the possibility of a purple shade, but as with yellow this has only been mentioned by a single source, and they don’t have much of a track record.
So we wouldn’t count on seeing this, but it could make for an interesting option. You can’t get the iPhone 15 in purple, but the iPhone 14 is available in a purple shade, shown above.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max rumored colors
As with the standard models, the Pro models will probably also be available in the same shades as each other, but the selection will likely differ from that of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, as you can see below.
Space Black
Reputable leaker Ming-Chi Kuo and @VNchocoTaco have both mentioned a black shade for the iPhone 16 Pro line, which might be marketed as Space Black according to one of these sources. More recently we've also heard black mentioned by multiple other sources.
This may perhaps look like the iPhone 15 Pro in Black Titanium, or like the Space Black iPhone 14 Pro, both of which are pictured above. Or it could look like the leaked iPhone 16 Pro Max image above, but whatever shade of black this is, it’s likely to be a smart, understated option.
White or silver
All of the sources that mentioned black have also mentioned a white iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, though Ming-Chi Kuo adds that it might instead be silver. That said, a leaked photo of iPhone 16 Pro Max dummy units (which you can see further up) shows a distinctly white shade.
You can see the iPhone 15 Pro in White Titanium and the iPhone 14 Pro in silver above, and this new shade – if it exists – may well be similar to one of these.
As with black shade, white and silver shades are commonplace and seemingly very popular, so this option is likely to be a hit.
Gray / Natural Titanium
The same sources also mention a gray shade, which might be marketed as Natural Titanium. If so, it might resemble the iPhone 15 Pro in Natural Titanium, which you can see above.
That’s a quite light gray, which makes sense, since the line’s Black Titanium is more of a dark gray, so Apple would want to keep the two options distinct. However, a leaked iPhone 16 Pro Max photo (further up) does show a slightly darker option.
Gold / Desert Titanium
We've also heard talk of color which might be a brown or bronze as you can see in the image of dummy units above, or might instead be dark gold, possibly dubbed 'Desert Titanium' or 'Gold Titanium' as you can see in a leaked image of the housing of one of the iPhone 16 Pro cameras above.
Not every source of iPhone 16 Pro Max color leaks has mentioned this shade, with some instead pointing to a 'rose' option (detailed below). But more leaks and more recent ones mention this than rose, including Mark Gurman, who has a great track record for Apple leaks, and seems very confident we'll see a gold model of the iPhone 16 Pro.
It's a somewhat interesting shade though, and a bit different to the colors Apple usually uses.
Rose
Of all the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max’s rumored shades, with the arguable exception of gold above, rose is the only one that might actually offer a bit of color.
This isn’t a color that you can get the iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max in, so it’s a bit different on that front too.
You can however get some iPhones in pink or rose gold shades, such as the pink iPhone 15 above. We’d expect the rose shade leaked here to look a bit different though, since it has a different name.
However, we probably won't get both gold and rose, as some sources mention one and some the other.
And if we had to guess, we predict we'll see gold rather than rose, since leaks surrounding gold are more recent, and since one of the sources that pointed to a rose option actually showed an example image that looked more gold.
You might also like:
- iPhone 16 specs predictions: everything we expect to see from every model
- iPhone 16 design predictions: expected designs for all four models
- iPhone 16 release date predictions: when is the iPhone 16 likely to launch?
