If you have been waiting to see what Apple’s headline colour for the iPhone 18 Pro might look like, here is your latest, slightly blurry clue. Chinese leaker Ice Universe has posted an image on Weibo showing what is claimed to be a SIM tray from the unreleased phone, finished in the dark cherry shade that has been doing the rounds for months. In this particular photo it reads somewhere between burgundy, brown and purple, which is exactly the kind of ambiguity grainy leak images are famous for.
The shade itself is not new to the rumour pile. Several reports have pointed to Apple testing a deep reddish finish for the Pro line, and the expectation is that this becomes the marquee colour for 2026, the one Apple pushes hard in its marketing. Think back to how the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro became the unofficial face of last year’s launch. Dark cherry looks set to play the same role this time around.
It is not the only finish in the mix. Light Blue and Dark Gray are both said to be on the cards, and there is a decent chance Apple offers the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in Silver as well. Macworld has previously claimed to pin down the Pantone references for all four options, and the same quartet turned up in the earliest dummy unit leaks, so there is at least some consistency across the different sources rather than wild guesswork.
There is one notable absence worth flagging. In the same Weibo thread, someone asked Ice Universe whether the iPhone 18 Pro would come in black. The reply was a flat “No.” That tracks with earlier chatter suggesting Apple is skipping a black Pro model entirely this year, which would be a slightly unusual move given how reliably black sells, but not a shocking one if Apple wants the bolder finishes doing the talking.
All of this is pointing towards a September unveiling, where the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to share the stage with Apple’s first foldable iPhone. The foldable looks like it will go in a more restrained direction on colour, with silver, white and indigo all mentioned so far. Even the number of options is unsettled, with some rumours suggesting two finishes and others claiming Apple might launch it in just one. For now, treat the SIM tray as a hint rather than a confirmation, but it is one more data point lining up behind dark cherry being the colour to watch.
