The Cosmic Orange colour had exactly one job last year: make everyone forget Apple ever loved beige. It did that job too well, apparently, emerging as the most popular. But now, it might be getting benched. Yes, with Apple, popularity may not always translate into longevity. The iPhone 18 Pro leaks suggest that Apple is tipped to swap it out for something called Dark Cherry. And no, Apple is not downgrading loud colours, in fact, if the leaks are anything to go by, the company's colour game is only getting louder before the likely September 9 2026 launch date.
Word on the street- or rather, the supply chain- is that the iPhone 18 Pro colour will come in 4 shades this time: Light Blue, Dark Cherry, Dark Gray and Silver, each apparently important enough to get its own internal Pantone code.
Dark Cherry, which has reportedly been tagged 6076, leans more wine than maroon, or closer to purple. That's one more colour than the iPhone 17 Pro managed with its three-shade lineup last year, so credit where it is due.
Apple is also expected to quietly fix its own two-tone problem. Right now, the glass back and aluminium frame on the Pro models don't quite agree on shade, and iPhone 18 Pro leaks suggest the gap is closing.
None of this is confirmed, of course, because Apple does not do confirmations till it absolutely has to and that happen only on launch day.
Mark Gurman flagged a deep red option back in February, and Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital later settled on the darker of two shades doing the rounds online. Sonny Dickson's dummy models in May gave all four colours actual physical form, for what that is worth.
However, history, has numerous examples of humbling the leakers. Cosmic Orange was rumoured gold before it arrived far more vivid, desert titanium leaked brown before shipping pink-gold. And amazingly, a black iPhone 17 Pro never made it past the rumour stages.