One of the most common shades we see the iPhone in is red, but with the iPhone 15 line, there’s so far no sign of it.
That’s disappointing, as the current selection of shades – particularly in the case of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – is rather lacking in color. There are only four options and they’re all rather plain and muted.
Of course, Apple never offers bright colors with its Pro phones (though I wish it would) but a dark red was rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro line. In fact, multiple different sources suggested we’d see a dark red or ‘crimson’ iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
Even as a dark shade, that would have injected a little more color into what’s an undeniably smart but quite drab line-up. So why didn’t this launch? Might it still? And will we get a red version of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus?
Too much color for 2023
We don’t have definitive answers to any of those questions, but it’s possible that a dark red shade didn’t launch simply because it would have been more colorful than the existing iPhone 15 Pro shades, and therefore not have fitted in with the color scheme Apple is going for.
Then again, I’m hopeful that it could still land. Sometimes Apple launches new shades at a later date (typically in March or April), so it could be saving a dark red iPhone 15 Pro for then. That would explain why it was leaked despite not yet emerging.
Whether or not we see a dark red iPhone 15 Pro though, I’d say it’s very likely that there will be a (PRODUCT) RED shade added to the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 colors. This all-caps shade is something we’ve seen at least one iPhone model available in every year from the iPhone 7 onwards, so it would seem surprising for Apple not to offer it with the iPhone 15 line.
This shade also sees money donated to charitable causes with every purchase, which would make it all the more surprising for Apple to skip it, and it’s a shade I’d love to see because – as well as doing a little bit of good in the world – it’s a bright, vivid color that stands out in a crowd.
Bringing some brightness to 2024
Now, perhaps bright colors don’t sell as well as the boring blacks and whites that we also see most years, but it’s nice to have the option for those of us who do want something shinier.
And given that Apple does offer this shade every year, I’d think the iPhone 15 line won’t be an exception, it’s just not a day-one option this time.
So Spring (in the northern hemisphere) is when the (PRODUCT) RED shade will probably land, following on from the yellow iPhone 14 that arrived last March. As for a dark red iPhone 15 Pro, I’m less certain we’ll see that, but there’s still a solid chance it could land alongside the (PRODUCT) RED iPhone 15, providing a darker red option for those with expensive tastes.
With all that said, there haven’t been any specific rumors of new colors landing next year, so don’t count on this happening, especially as leaker @URedditor has disputed claims that red was ever in the works for the iPhone 15 line.
But with the entire iPhone 13 line getting a green makeover in March of 2022 and the iPhone 12 going purple in April of 2021, Apple has recently made a habit of bringing new colors to its phones, so there’s little reason to think it would break this trend now.
