The 5 top iPhone colours ever

It’s the eve of Apple’s September launch event, where the iPhone 18 range as well as the highly anticipated iPhone Ultra (or iPhone Fold) will debut.

While the firm’s first-ever foldable phone is super interesting, much of the news leading up to the event has been about the colourways. In particular, those of the iPhone 18 Pro models.

Although the design and colour of phones have always been important, they’re particularly pertinent in current times. Hardware development has slowed dramatically and there needs to be a way to distinguish (or show off) if you have the latest model.

The trend-setter that it is, all eyes are on what Apple will choose this year.

While the iPhone Ultra is due to come in a fairly plain set of white/silver and very dark blue, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will feature a new hero colour: Deep Cherry.

Get set for this to be a top seller and sweep the tech industry over the next 12 months, with only Google and Samsung likely to avoid stealing the paint pot.

As this is such a significant part of an Apple event, it got us thinking about the best iPhone colourways of all time, so here they are (in no particular order, plus some shoutouts to other classics at the end).

iPhone 17 Pro – Cosmic Orange

Apple spent far too many years equating ‘Pro’ with ‘boring’, leaving the regular numbered iPhone range to have all the primary-coloured fun. The iPhone 17 Pro came along in late 2025 and changed all that, with its almost alarmingly vivid punch of Cosmic Orange.

The best thing is that it still looks decidedly ‘Pro’ – just the kind of professional that works on the side of a mountain rather than in an office.

iPhone 13 – Green

If you want to talk about the perfect unity of form and function, look no further than the iPhone 13/13 mini in Green. Changing the camera placement to a diagonal design helped to give the phone a sense of identity, but it was the forest-green hue that really grabbed attention.

The fact that you could pair it with the Apple Watch Series 7, also in green, was the cherry on top.

Various – (PRODUCT)RED

It really wouldn’t be a list of the best iPhone colours without mentioning (PRODUCT)RED. This started with the iPhone 7 series to celebrate 10 years of partnership with (RED).

I’ve (Chris, Managing Editor) always liked red phones – particularly since the HTC One (M8) – and it’s looked fantastic every time Apple has used it on the iPhone with its bold but not garish tones (though I prefer the darker editions). Plus, it’s all been for a charitable cause, so what’s not to love?

iPhone 14 Pro – Deep Purple

As a recent convert to bold phone colouring, I’d have never bought the iPhone 14 Pro in Deep Purple when it came out back in 2022. Four years later, I’ve been well and truly won over by its dark, moody hues.

For me (Anyron, Mobile Editor), Deep Purple strikes the perfect balance between eye-catching design and realistic everyday use – especially with a matt finish to hide those fingerprint smudges. I’m just sad Apple didn’t keep it around for more than one generation.

iPhone 17 – Sage

Phones mostly come in two varieties of colour as far as I’m (Emma, Deputy Editor) concerned: boring (silver, black, blue, blah), and I wouldn’t be caught dead with it (Cosmic Orange, wood effect etc). But the iPhone 17 base model comes in one genuinely covetable shade: sage green. It’s muted, modern and safely distanced from bathroom suite avocado, which is where some phone manufacturers go wrong.

Special mentions

Of course, it was hard to pick just five between us (we picked one each), meaning there were plenty left on the board, which no doubt you’ll be shouting “how could you not include…” at your screen about.

So here are some of the other best and iconic iPhone colourways from history:

• iPhone 5c in Pink
• iPhone 6s in Rose Gold
• iPhone 7 in Jet Black
• iPhone XR in Yellow
• iPhone 12 Pro in Pacific Blue
• iPhone 16 in Ultramarine

Check out Macworld’s live blog of the Apple ‘Surprise and Shine’ event