Historically, Apple has attempted to boost iPhone sales by releasing a new colour halfway through their first year — and right around the release of Samsung’s newest flagship. This was a green hue for the iPhone 13 last March, while the iPhone 12 received a vibrant purple shade in April 2021.
According to Macotakara (opens in new tab), Apple will refresh the iPhone 14 this week with a new colour.
So, what will join the current five iPhone 14 colours? It’s reportedly going yellow, the first time Apple has done so since the iPhone 11 in 2019.
While the green colour appeared on both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro (the latter with the fancier sounding ‘Alpine Green’ moniker), the report suggests that this new colour is only available on the regular iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
We’ll find out soon enough: according to the site, a briefing will be held this week to introduce the new colour. Given that the iPhone 14 was released 170 days ago, we’re nearly halfway between the current model and the upcoming iPhone 15, so it seems like a good time to give it another sales push.
Plus, we’re sure Apple would be delighted to try to steal at least a little thunder from Samsung’s launch.
What about the iPhone 14 Pro?
True, few people will be compelled to purchase an iPhone because of a new colour — after all, iPhone 14 cases will most likely conceal the design. However, sprucing up the lineup is still useful in generating interest for a handset six months into its life, after the sheen has worn off a little.
If it is true that the iPhone 14 Pro series will not receive a new colour to match, it may be an indication of Apple’s two handset tiers’ contrasting fortunes.
According to display analyst Ross Young, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max accounted for 64% of iPhone 14 units sold in November, up from 51% in the iPhone 13 era. To put it another way, they only accounted for 36% of sales this time around, compared to 49% the previous time.
Perhaps this is unsurprising given how limited an upgrade the iPhone 14 is — as I’ve previously stated, it makes more sense to simply purchase a discounted iPhone 13 Pro instead.
In short, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max handsets are unlikely to require any additional sales assistance. But it remains to be seen whether a yellow colour will give the iPhone 14 Plus a much-needed boost.
