What Will Be the New iPhone 14 Pro’s Exclusive Color? | Purple and Orange Are Likely Possibilities

When rumors of a Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro first appeared, it became clear that Apple would be changing things up each year. Still, even then, it surprised us again with the Sierra Blue iPhone 13 Pro, which introduced a lighter shade that few expected after two years of more elegantly muted finishes.

This time around, the rumor mill is predicting that Apple will follow that trend with the iPhone 14 Pro, moving from Sierra Blue to a similar pastel purple.

The suggestion comes from Jon Prosser over at Front Page Tech, alongside a set of renders created by graphic designer Ian Zelbo.

It’s not a bad look for the new iPhone Pro, but we’d suggest taking it with a healthy dose of salt at this point. Around the same time last year, leakers were predicting a bronze-like orange finish, and some even reported that Apple was working on a deep black to replace the graphite version.

Not only did neither of those colors materialize, but Sierra Blue came right out of the blue. Nobody predicted that one, and it ended up being one of the few remaining surprises when Apple showed off the iPhone 13 Pro.

Still, Apple is running out of colors for the iPhone Pro, and purple is as good a possibility as any. Apple already resurrected green in March with a new Alpine Green finish for the iPhone 13 Pro.

The light purple shown in Zelbo’s renders would be an excellent successor to Sierra Blue, but that alone doesn’t mean that Apple will go in that direction.

A bronze-like orange finish could still be on the table, but when last year’s rumor didn’t come true, it occurred to us that Apple hasn’t used orange in years. The last time an Apple device wore that shade was in 2010 with the iPod nano and iPod shuffle; it was dropped in the 2012 iPod shuffle color refresh, never to return.

Orange is also a color that’s very hard to get right. Even Apple’s iPods used it inconsistently. There may have been some truth to the rumors that Apple was considering a bronze orange last year, but with Apple’s focus on perfection, perhaps the company’s designers just weren’t happy with the results.

Still, despite the “nano-chromatic” iPod era, Apple’s foray into colorful iPhones didn’t begin until much more recently. For years, your choices were confined mainly to neutral colors: a darker grey/black/graphite, a lighter silver/white, and a muted gold. Apple toyed with rose gold for a while, but it wasn’t until the special edition (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 showed up that we saw a real splash of color.

Nevertheless, Apple seemed to otherwise maintain the idea that premium iPhones shouldn’t be colorful. The short-lived 2013 iPhone 5c was Apple’s first attempt at a lower-end iPhone, but after that flopped, it took another five years before the company tried again with the iPhone XR. However, Apple did it right with that one, ushering in the modern two-tier iPhone family.

Unlike the iPhone 5c, a plasticky iPhone with the prior year’s specs, the iPhone XR was just as powerful as the premium iPhone XS; it merely lacked the OLED display and a better camera system.

This also allowed Apple to make things a lot more colorful, and if you’re looking for more colorful choices, it’s still Apple’s non-pro lineup where you’ll find them. However, this also inspired Apple to start dressing up its iPhone Pro family with one new exclusive color each year, as well as keeping us guessing as to precisely what that’s going to be.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]