And while I’m positive Apple has (as per usual) managed to keep a couple of exciting secrets from us, thanks to multiple leaks, we might already know exactly what the new iPhones could look like.
Underwhelming or not, the iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to resemble slightly larger versions of the iPhone 15 Pro series. But like every year, there’s one truly “new” iPhone, which only looks new due to being available in a color that wasn’t there last year.
Well, as you can see, this year seems to be the year of the good… old… and gold iPhone. Or as Apple is rumored to call it, “Desert Titanium” - which does sound healthier than “dessert titanium”.
People say the new brown-gold iPhone 16 Pro color is literally “the sh*t” - but I don’t mind that at all
Is this gold… or brown? Either way, many tech nerds think it looks like the aftermath of a Subway sandwich.
The new-old iPhone 16 Pro color is a subtle “upgrade”. My hot take? Unlike many of the phone nerds online, I don’t hate it.
I think I just realized something, and it is that I might be a fan of warmer colors on phones.
My two favorite smartphone designs (including the colorway) are the Pixel 6 Pro in “Sorta Sunny” - I used this one for about a year, and I might’ve stared at the back more than I looked at the display - the name gives away the warm, friendly look.
The second one is the “Amber Sunrise” Huawei P30 Pro, which (unfortunately) I never owned - I had the boring black model. But this is the phone that made me want more orange phones - although it looked bright red in certain lighting conditions.
With that in mind, I now know why I’m rarely excited to see a blue phone, and why the leaked brownish-gold iPhone 16 Pro seems like it might be my new daily driver.
Apple bets on nostalgic fashion notes - iPhone 16 Pro gold color looks like a throwback to the 2013 iPhone 5S
Pick your favorite gold iPhone! I'm going with the iPhone 5S.
To get one thing out of the way, the nerdy side of Twitter/X was extremely quick to make it clear that the new iPhone 16 Pro color looks… like something you might leave behind in the bathroom if you forget to flush.
But you know what - if the leaks are accurate and this is the new color of the iPhone 16 Pro, I don’t disagree - it does look kinda "crappy". But I kinda dig it.
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I was never a fan of Apple’s take on the “Rose Gold” iPhone/MacBook - I thought it looked horrible - specifically the way Rose Gold mixed with the metal chassis of the iPhone 6 and the 12-inch MacBook. For the record, I thought the pinkish iPhone 8 looked awesome - but this was “rose” on glossy glass - not metal/matte glass.
But by far my favorite take on the “gold” iPhone are the iPhone 5S (which I owned but in Silver), and the gold iPhone 14 Pro. And from what I see in the leaked renders, the iPhone 16 Pro’s version of gold more closely resembles the “old but gold” (pun intended) iPhone 5S, and I’m all for it.
You know the iPhone has become super unexciting, when a new color makes you excited about the new iPhone
Leaked iPhone 16 Pro Max dummy units.
Despite my high approval rate for the return of the gold iPhone, I must throw in a slightly different perspective on “the new iPhone color”, which hit me pretty much immediately after I saw it…
And it is one that seems to be true pretty much every year, but it’s especially relevant now, when we know Apple is sticking with a similar design for a sixth year in a row.
What I’m saying is… You know the iPhone has become quite unexciting when a single new color makes you… excited about the new iPhone.
Of course, you can totally make the counterargument that it’s so easy for Apple to get people hyped up for the new iPhone that even a single new color option is enough. But that’s not how I (the phone nerd) see it.
The Sorta Sunny Pixel 6 Pro - the bestest phone color(s) in the whole flat world.
However, when companies like Google try at least a little bit to make their new phones look fresh-ish (in the case of the Pixel 9, that’s with a new camera bar), and phone-makers like Xiaomi and Oppo literally go out of their way to make their phone look like legitimate compact cameras - with a circular camera island, and actual leather… I can’t help but think Apple is getting away with murder here.
And you just know that the only reason Tim Cook & Co can afford this luxury is because… there isn’t another iPhone. Like it or not, Apple has no (iOS) competition like Android brands have a dozen other Android brands to compete against.
But anyway… That’s a wrap on my balanced take on the new-old iPhone 16 Pro color…
Although I’m cool with the return of the gold iPhone, clearly, the wait for my ORANGE iPhone continues… When Tim… WHEN?!
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Martin, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, brings a unique blend of humor and insight to his work. His fascination with smartphones began with a Galaxy Young and evolved through a series of trades and upgrades, making him a self-proclaimed smartphone nerd. Martin's content often combines current analysis of market trends with historical references and future predictions. Whether it's a deep dive into technical issues or a first-person commentary on industry events, Martin's articles are designed to inform and engage. His critical perspective is driven by genuine curiosity and a desire to keep readers informed, not by any corporate sponsorship.
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