What’s the Special Color for this year’s iPhone 17 Pro?
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While this year’s iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a noticeable redesign, one thing that may not change is Apple’s penchant for releasing each new pro model in a unique colorway. Apple’s potential choices leave pundits guessing each year as to which shade the company might pick, and this year is no exception.
In April, leaker Majin Bu suggested the new color could be Sky Blue. While that struck us as a bit too close to the iPhone 13 Pro’s Sierra Blue, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility, considering Apple has reused subtly different shades in the past, such as the Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro (one of the few colors that accurately leaked early in 2020) and the Blue Titanium iPhone 15 Pro. Green also made an encore on the iPhone 13 Pro in the form of Alpine Green, but that was also a noticeably different shade from the Midnight Green iPhone 11 Pro.
Although the rumor mill got the iPhone 12 Pro’s Pacific Blue right on the money, they completely botched it for the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021; the prevailing wisdom was that we’d see an orange or bronze shade — nobody saw Sierra Blue coming.
The idea of a bronzy-orange shade seemed to fall by the wayside after that, at least until the months leading up to last year’s iPhone 16 Pro release, when rumors pointed to a bronze finish. However, most of those leaned toward gold or brown. In principle, they weren’t far off from what we ended up with, which was Desert Titanium. However, the actual shade turned out to be somewhat lighter than expected, to the point of almost looking like a champagne finish in the right lighting conditions.
Now, with only a few weeks to go before Apple unveils its new iPhone 17 lineup, the colorful rumors are once again heating up. The odds seem to be against Sky Blue after reports surfaced that this shade will be featured on the “iPhone 17 Air.” Presumably, Apple will do something different with its pro models to set them apart, like it always does.
Instead, it seems orange has once again pulled into the lead, but Apple may take things a step further this year with two color options joining the usual collection of neutrals, for a total of five.
That’s the word from Sonny Dickson, who shared images of purported rear lens covers from the iPhone 17 lineup.
If accurate, these would point to six colors for the iPhone 17, four for the iPhone 17 Air, and five for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Interestingly, there’s no direct sign of the rumored Sky Blue for the iPhone 17 Air, although the blue-grey ring could be intended to correspond to that, as there’s no reason to believe these represent the actual marketing color names. There’s also light gold alongside the more basic black and silver. The iPhone 17 also appears to be less colorful, with light blue, light green, and light purple as the only non-neutral shades.
However, it’s the iPhone 17 Pro models that are the most intriguing, as it appears Apple may opt for both a dark blue and an orangish shade, possibly complemented by dark gold or copper. Again, these aren’t marketing names, and the rings may complement the overall finish rather than being an exact match.
For instance, the black, gray, and silver likely correspond to the Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, and White Titanium finishes of ht iPhone 16 Pro models. At the same time, the dark blue could mean a reintroduction of Blue Titanium from the iPhone 15 Pro. That’s assuming Apple sticks with Titanium, which it may not.
However, orange is something we haven’t seen on an Apple product since 2010, when it was used with the iPod nano and iPod shuffle. Seeing it show up on this year’s iPhone 17 Pro would be significant.
Shortly after Dickson’s tweet, Majin Bu weighed in, claiming the Sky Blue iPhone 17 Pro had been a real thing when they heard about it in April, but that Apple had decided to go with “a more refined palette for the Pro” and give Sky Blue to the iPhone 17 Air, instead. Bu has also promised that they’ll have more to share about the iPhone 17 Pro colors.
Sonny Dickson has frequently shared images of dummy units and other components for future iPhone models, presumably sourced from within Apple’s supply chain or its accessory partners. However, dummy units are fabricated by companies like case makers based on CAD specifications, and don’t always accurately reflect aspects such as colors. It’s unclear if the images of these lens covers are authentic or if they’re the finalized versions. As always, these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt.
[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.]
