The rumored iPhone 17 colors are nothing special – but an old Apple strategy could set things right

Something to look forward to

Features By Jamie Richards published 8 September 2025

(Image credit: Apple)

The iPhone 17 series is right around the corner – barring any super-last-minute rumors, we’ve pretty much heard everything we’re likely to hear about Apple’s next-generation handsets before the company's “Awe Dropping” event kicks off on September 9.

As such, we’ve seen some reasonably likely rumored colors for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I’ve got to say I’m a bit underwhelmed. We’ve seen the usual black, white, grey, and silver options for each handset, but for want of better phrasing, the other choices just aren’t doing it for me.

Now, these upcoming iPhones are likely to be the best iPhones ever released and some of the best phones on the market. But aesthetics matter, and they go a long way in making an iPhone fashionable in the short term and memorable over the years.

The rumored iPhone 17 Air, for example, seems to be getting an off-white or gold-tinged color that looks similar to the iPhone 16 Pro’s Desert Titanium finish, as well as some sort of blue colorway. Neither gives the first new iPhone variant in three years as much pop as you might expect.

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As for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the only really notable color is the orange finish floated by various online tipsters. It’s… fine. The new orange color is neither as audacious as the glowing gold iPhone Pros of years past, or as beautifully subtle as something like the iPhone 14 Pro’s Midnight Purple finish.

Things are slightly better for the base-model iPhone 17, which could be getting a blue, purple, and green option alongside the typical black and white. By the looks of supposedly leaked images, these hues strike a mid-point between the pastels of the iPhone 15 and the near-neon tinge of the iPhone 16. These do have a bit more pizzazz than the higher-tier models, but that raises its own question (more on that later).

So, none of these colors are leaping out at me. What’s a tech fan to do?

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