IPhone 18 Pro Dark Cherry Color Confirmed, Black Finish Dropped

A SIM tray photo posted on Weibo by leaker Ice Universe offers another early look at what Apple is reportedly calling a dark cherry finish for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. The image is grainy enough that the color reads somewhere between burgundy, brown, and purple, which is either a limitation of the leak or a preview of how tricky this shade will be to market.

The color is not a surprise at this point. Multiple rumors have pointed to a deep reddish finish for the iPhone 18 Pro models, and Apple appears to be positioning it as the signature color for the 2026 cycle, the same role Cosmic Orange played for the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple has leaned on a single standout Pro finish as a demand driver for several cycles now, and dark cherry appears to be filling that slot.

The three other reported finishes round out a fairly restrained palette:

• Light Blue
• Dark Gray
• Silver

Macworld has previously claimed to have matched all four to specific Pantone codes, and dummy models have already surfaced showing the shades in physical form.

The more pointed detail buried in the same Weibo thread is that Ice Universe flatly told another user there will be no black iPhone 18 Pro this year. That is not the first time this has come up in the rumor cycle, but it confirms a real trade-off: buyers who want the darkest possible finish will have to settle for dark gray.

The Bigger Fall Picture

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will share their September window with Apple’s first foldable, a device that is reportedly arriving in a much more muted set of options, with silver, white, and indigo mentioned so far, and some rumors suggesting it may launch in as few as one or two colors. That crowded fall lineup leaves Apple managing color differentiation across more product tiers than usual, which may explain the conservative approach on the foldable side.