The black iPhone Pro returns

Apple has added a black finish back to its iPhone Pro family, undoing last year’s departure from darker tones. The change was highlighted in a Verge piece noting that the previous iPhone 17 Pro lineup featured brighter and lighter colors but omitted black or dark gray. The absence of a black option in that release was notable because the iPhone Pro range has typically included darker finishes since it first appeared in September 2019 with the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max. Last year’s palette—highlighted by orange, shiny silver, and dark blue—marked the first time a Pro model lacked a black alternative. The Verge reporter Jay Peters framed the return of black through his own preference: he says he consistently buys black iPhones after regretting a gold iPhone 6, opting for matte black on the iPhone 7 and choosing black or gray models thereafter. Peters also mentions his current device, a black titanium iPhone 16 Pro housed in a black Torras case, and says he isn’t shopping for a new phone now. Still, Peters expects to check out Apple’s new phones in person when he visits an Apple Store in mid-September and says he’ll head straight for the black iPhone 18 Pro rather than the burgundy, blue, or silver variants. The piece also includes photography by Nilay Patel and closes with a light request for Apple to offer a black iPhone Duo.