Insiders say the iPhone 18 Pro will not return in black this year

AC/DC announced they were back in the black in 1980, but if an insider is right, Apple won’t be following through on those words in 2026. According to anonymous leaker Instant DigitalThe iPhone 18 Pro, Apple’s new flagship phone, which will likely be released in September, will not be available in black. This will be the second year in a row that black will not be a shade option for the company’s flagship phone.

This information was posted on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, and was short and to the point.

“It appears that the black color option for the iPhone 18 Pro has been left out again. This is disappointing,” Instant Digital wrote, as translated by Google from Chinese to English.

Instant Digital is the name used by an insider in China who, According to MacRumorshas a track record of rumors turning out to be true. They were right about launching a yellow iPhone 14 for 2023 and the frosted glass back on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

More on CNET: Phone designs are boring, never. I see a new wave of new looks for 2026

An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Black was available on Every flagship iPhone Since the first version was released in 2007, but not for the iPhone 17 Pro released last year. Variations included space grey, graphite, space black, and titanium black.

Despite last year’s colors, this doesn’t mean Apple won’t choose bold colors sometimes. As CNET reported in FebruaryApple may be toying with a dark red iPhone 18 Pro.

In this report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that Apple may be motivated by the success of the orange color of the iPhone 17 Pro.

“So far, red is the new main color in testing for the upcoming iPhone Pro devices,” Gorman said.

We may not know what colors the iPhone 18 Pro will come in, but We know some thingsAccording to various leaks: the Dynamic Island may shrink, the cameras may have a variable aperture, and the battery may be larger.

Perhaps the main point in these difficult economic times: do not increase prices (fingers crossed).

“Batman won’t be happy.”

Some Reddit users weren’t too happy with the report that the iPhone 18 Pro won’t be available in black. on r/Apple subredditComments were directed toward criticism.

“Batman won’t be happy,” Berkules wrote in 1993.

There’s certainly a logical reason behind how Apple chooses iPhone colors, though the company doesn’t explicitly explain why it chooses certain shades over others.

“We look at things like the design of the phone itself, how it will look with color, (and) how these materials will color,” said Kayan Han-Drance, Apple’s vice president of iPhone marketing. In an interview last fall. “What do we want to express with this year’s collection?”