Apple is not done experimenting with bold colours on its Pro iPhones. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, writing in his weekly Power On newsletter on February 22, 2026, Apple is actively testing a deep red finish for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the two flagship models expected to launch in September 2026.
This is one of the most talked-about colour rumours in recent iPhone history, and it makes a lot of strategic sense when you understand what drove Apple here in the first place.
How Cosmic Orange Started This Conversation
To understand where iPhone 18 Pro colours are headed, you need to look at what happened with the iPhone 17 Pro.
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 17 Pro in September 2025, it made a significant design shift, moving from a titanium frame to an all-aluminium unibody chassis. That change was more than just structural. Aluminium accepts colour far more naturally than titanium through a process called anodization, which bonds colour directly into the metal surface. For the first time, Apple had genuine flexibility to offer vivid, rich colours on a Pro-tier device. If you want to see how that design shift played out across the full lineup, our iPhone 17 vs iPhone 16 comparison breaks down every hardware difference in detail.
Apple used that flexibility to introduce Cosmic Orange, a bold, glossy hue that immediately drew comparisons to Hermès Orange in terms of its premium warmth and visual appeal. The result was striking. Cosmic Orange became a standout success, particularly in China, where bold and auspicious colours carry strong cultural weight. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple achieved 8% year-on-year sales growth in China for January 2026, making it the only major smartphone brand to post growth in a market that contracted 23% overall. Every major Chinese rival, including Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo, recorded double-digit declines during the same period.
That context is exactly why Gurman’s report carries weight. Apple does not change course without data, and the Cosmic Orange data told a clear story.
What We Know About Deep Red
As reported by MacRumors citing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is considering a deep red finish for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. The colour has also been described as burgundy across multiple sources. Think of it as a rich, wine-toned red rather than a bright or primary red. It is designed to feel premium, not playful, consistent with Apple’s Pro aesthetic.
Alongside deep red, earlier rumours had floated purple and chocolate brown as potential colour options for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. However, Gurman believes these are likely not separate directions but rather variants of the same red idea, noting that the tones are closely related. In other words, Apple is probably testing a range of red-adjacent hues internally before committing to one final shade for mass production.
The deep red’s cultural relevance also matters strategically. In China, red is the colour of good fortune, prosperity, and vitality, one of the most auspicious colours in the culture. In India, red symbolises happiness, celebration, and strength. For Apple, which is competing aggressively in both markets, choosing deep red is not just a design decision. It is a market strategy.
Will Cosmic Orange Survive?
This is one of the more interesting questions raised in Gurman’s report. If deep red becomes the new flagship colour for iPhone 18 Pro, does Cosmic Orange get retired?
Gurman suggests it might not. Given how well orange has performed, especially in China, he noted that Apple could keep Cosmic Orange as an option and simply add deep red alongside it. At the same time, he acknowledges that red and orange sit close on the colour wheel, which could make offering both feel redundant from a design standpoint. The final decision will likely come down to internal testing and market feedback between now and the September 2026 announcement.
iPhone Fold Takes the Opposite Direction
While the iPhone 18 Pro leans into bold colour, Apple’s first foldable iPhone, widely referred to as the iPhone Fold, is expected to go the opposite route entirely.
According to Gurman, Apple plans to stay away from fun colours for the foldable device. The expected colour range for the iPhone Fold includes space gray, black, white, and silver, conventional, understated options that align with the device’s likely positioning as a productivity-first, business-oriented product.
The iPhone Fold is anticipated to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup in September 2026, reportedly running on the same A20 Pro chip built on TSMC’s 2nm process, paired with Apple’s second-generation C2 modem. The device is expected to feature a 7.8-inch inner folding display and a 5.3-inch cover screen, with a mixed aluminium and titanium chassis. Unlike current flagship iPhones, it may also rely on Touch ID rather than Face ID for biometric authentication.
A Brief History: Apple and Red iPhones
Deep red is not without precedent in Apple’s lineup. The company has a long history with red iPhones through its (PRODUCT)RED programme, a partnership with the HIV/AIDS advocacy organisation RED that has, by Apple’s own account, raised over $250 million to support global HIV/AIDS programmes. (PRODUCT)RED iPhones have appeared across multiple generations, typically as limited variants of the standard model.
Whether the iPhone 18 Pro’s deep red will be connected to that initiative or simply exist as a standalone flagship colour option remains unclear. The tone described, deep and burgundy-leaning, differs from the brighter, more saturated red historically used for (PRODUCT)RED models, which suggests these may be two separate directions.
What Else to Expect from iPhone 18 Pro
Beyond colour, the iPhone 18 Pro is shaping up to be a meaningful upgrade. We have covered all the confirmed and rumoured hardware details in our full iPhone 18 Pro series leaks roundup, but the highlights include a variable aperture camera system, a slimmer Dynamic Island, a potential partial under-screen Face ID for a more immersive display, and the A20 Pro chip on TSMC’s 2nm node. Apple’s enhanced satellite connectivity via the next-generation modem is also expected, continuing the company’s push into non-cellular communication scenarios.
The device’s design is not expected to change dramatically from the iPhone 17 Pro, reportedly because the 17 Pro’s all-aluminium redesign was so well received that Apple sees no reason to overhaul it just one generation later. The focus for 2026 is refinement, not reinvention.
The Bigger Picture
Apple’s colour strategy is evolving. For years, Pro iPhones were defined by muted, understated finishes, deep blacks, cool silvers, slate grays. The aluminium shift with iPhone 17 Pro changed that, and the commercial success of Cosmic Orange has given Apple the confidence to double down. Deep red, if confirmed, would signal that bold colour is no longer a privilege of the standard iPhone lineup but a permanent feature of the Pro identity.
Gurman’s report makes clear that the colour is still in the testing phase and nothing is final. Apple typically experiments with multiple directions years in advance before locking in decisions ahead of mass production. But given the data from 2025’s Cosmic Orange experiment, the momentum behind deep red is hard to ignore.
We will know for certain when Apple takes the stage in September 2026.
