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10 colors I wish Apple made for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro

Christine Romero-Chan
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iPhone 15 colors.
Apple

Apple finally revealed the iPhone 15 at its “Wonderlust” event on September 12. This lineup includes the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. There were other products announced during the event as well, but the iPhone 15 series is the biggest of the bunch.

However, Apple’s really been dropping the ball lately in terms of device colors. This year is especially bad with the very pastel and muted colors of the iPhone 15 models, not to mention the various shades of gray for the iPhone 15 Pro variants.

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Here are some colors that Apple should have made for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro instead.

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iPhone 15 in mint green

Render of the iPhone 15 in a mint green color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Though the iPhone 15 comes in a very light green color option this year, I’d be hard-pressed to actually call that “green” in any way, shape, or form. It looks off-white, and you can hardly tell that there’s any green in it at all. Even if it is green, it would be closer to seafoam green rather than mint.

Apple could have done better with an actual mint green for the iPhone 15 lineup. Apple did offer a very pretty mint green with the iPhone 11 and a pastel green for the iPhone 12, so it’s not out of the question. An iPhone 15 in one of these shades of light green would have been stunning.

iPhone 15 in purple

iPhone 15 in a purple color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Purple is a beautiful color and a favorite for many, and Apple has done several variations of it in the past. We had purple color options for the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and the iPhone 14.

Though purple isn’t an option offered this year, it would have been great if Apple offered the iPhone 15 in a lilac-lavender shade, similar to what the iPhone 12 came in. After all, the colors are quite pastel and muted this year, so something like the iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 purple should have fit right in.

iPhone 15 in canary yellow

iPhone 15 in a yellow color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

I’m not a fan of yellow myself, but I know there are yellow fans out there. And halfway through the iPhone 14 cycle, Apple released a beautiful shade of canary yellow for the device. The only other time Apple had a yellow iPhone was with the slightly lighter yellow iPhone 11.

Though the iPhone 15 comes in yellow, it’s a very muted and light yellow that leans more towards just off-white. If you’re going to go with yellow, you should have gone with something that is loud and bold, just like the yellows from previous years.

iPhone 15 in forest green

Render of the iPhone 15 in a green color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

We already talked about mint green, but what about a forest green iPhone 15? Forest green is one of my favorite shades of green, and that would have been a great addition to the regular iPhone lineup of “fun” colors.

Apple previously did a dark green iPhone 13 midway through the cycle, so it isn’t a stranger to various hues of green — there was also the iPhone 11 Pro Midnight Green and iPhone 13 Pro Alpine Green. Forest green could have been a great addition to the iPhone color portfolio.

iPhone 15 in dark blue

Render of the iPhone 15 in a dark blue color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

The iPhone 15 comes in a blue shade, but again, like the rest of the colors, it’s very pale and barely noticeable. Apple could have even done a blue similar to the blue iPhone 14, and it would have looked better.

But what if we had a darker blue, like with the iPhone 13 or even the iPhone 12? Those were striking shades of blue that were gorgeous in person, and it would have been nice to see these blue hues make a return. It definitely would have been better than the barely blue we got with the iPhone 15.

iPhone 15 Pro in gold

The gold iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple

With the iPhone 15 Pro models going with an all-new titanium frame, some sacrifices had to be made with the colors. Gold, a longtime color option for the iPhone Pro, has been axed in favor of Titan Gray, and so all the gold iPhone Pro fans wept their tears of sorrow.

But how awesome would it have been to get a gold titanium iPhone 15 Pro? Not only would it have been beautiful and stunning, but also elegant and classy, as previous gold models have always been.

iPhone 15 Pro in red

iPhone 15 Pro in a red color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Early rumors of the iPhone 15 Pro hinted at a crimson red color option, but that seemed to disappear once it was revealed that Apple would use titanium and have a dark blue color instead.

But how great would a crimson red iPhone 15 Pro have been? Apple usually introduces a brand new color option in the iPhone Pro models, but this year Apple seems to have reverted back to a dark blue offering instead. A red would have been a lot more interesting and unique, but with the titanium frame, it could have been difficult to accomplish too.

iPhone 15 Pro in dusty rose

iPhone 15 Pro in a dusty rose color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Apple always seems to be under the impression that those who want the iPhone Pro models don’t want any actual colors. But it’s been a longtime dream of mine to have a pink iPhone Pro, specifically in a dusty rose hue — there’s a reason why I used this color at my wedding!

The last time Apple did a color similar to this was with the rose gold option with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7. It was one of my all-time favorite iPhone colors, and honestly, Apple needs to bring it back or do something similar.

iPhone 15 Pro in purple

iPhone 15 Pro in a purple color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

I was excited when Apple was making a purple iPhone 14 Pro, but that evaporated pretty quickly once I saw the color in person. It was definitely more of a purple-tinted gray, and you could only see the purple color in certain lighting situations.

It would have been nice to see Apple make another attempt at a purple iPhone 15 Pro, perhaps a more royal purple color, which is what I was originally expecting with the iPhone 14 Pro. Having such a saturated purple would have been great to see, but I suppose the titanium finish makes that a little difficult.

iPhone 15 Pro in green

iPhone 15 Pro in a dark green color.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

I may be one of the few people who actually liked the Midnight Green of the iPhone 11 Pro and the Alpine Green of the iPhone 13 Pro. If Apple had released Alpine Green on launch day, I would have definitely gone with that color over the Sierra Blue that I ended up purchasing.

With this in mind, I would have loved to see an iPhone 15 Pro in a green shade similar to the Midnight or Alpine Green they had before. These were green shades done elegantly and subtly — they weren’t too loud yet still made a statement.

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Christine Romero-Chan
Christine Romero-Chan
Staff Writer, Mobile
Christine Romero-Chan has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade. She graduated from California…
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