The iPhone 17 Pro launch feels like it was yesterday (it was actually two months ago) and we already have rumors about the iPhone 18 Pro — the most significant of which concerns the colors it might come in. After the 17 Pro debuted in cosmic orange, deep blue and silver, scuttlebutt suggests Apple could release the iPhone 18 Pro in a strikingly different trio of hues: purple, burgundy and coffee.
Yep, you could be rocking a brown iPhone in 2026. And while I can imagine a lot of people not opting for a possible poop-colored phone, I’m for it — albeit with one condition.
The iPhone 17 Pro has a new aluminum unibody design, a change-up from the titanium frames of previous Pro models. Instead of a glass back, there’s a rectangular panel made from Apple’s Ceramic Shield, a material used on the iPhone’s display since 2020. Visualizing a coffee-colored anodized coating and coffee-tinted Ceramic Glass might not be easy, so I got help.
CNET creative director Viva Tung created a mock-up of a coffee iPhone Pro, which you can see above. Yes, it resembles coffee ice cream or a latte. Definitely not as flashy as a cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro and not as “meh” as the titanium iPhone 16 Pro.
While the rumor specifically mentions a coffee color, the “chocolate” brown version here has its own appeal and is more bold (well, as bold as brown can be).
Tung also made a version with the Apple phone in chocolate brown. This definitely puts the iPhone into poop emoji color territory, but I’m also getting some strong LG Chocolate vibes. In his 2007 LG Chocolate review for CNET, Ken German wrote, “We were eager to find out just what type of chocolate the Chocolate really is. Is it Hershey’s or Godiva? The answer seems to lie somewhere in between. By all means, it’s beautiful.”
So here’s my condition. What if Apple were to mix up its glass and metal materials recipe and take a page out of Motorola’s book
Over the past few years, Motorola has released phones made with materials such as vegan leather, wood and Alcantara fabric. The different materials, especially on Motorola Razr models, add to its appeal. There is a wide choice of colors and textures that make the Razr comfortable to hold and satisfying to touch — compared to the cold metal and glass on other phones. Another advantage? Fabric doesn’t crack when you drop it.
Here is a Motorola Razr Ultra’s back when closed. The fabric’s texture reminds me of the material used for a seatbelt in a car,
So what if Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro had a light-brown or coffee-toned vegan leather back? I could even envision them replacing the Ceramic Shield cutout on the back of the 17 Pro with a similarly shaped cutout made of vegan leather. It would be like the iPhone had its own built-in case. The contrast between the light-brown faux leather and the aluminum body would make it visually pop.
It would certainly alleviate any concerns people had about the iPhone 17 Pro being prone to scratches. It would bring a warmth to an Apple product that has been lacking over the years. More importantly, an iPhone 18 Pro with a coffee-colored vegan leather back could be a way to make a brown iPhone that doesn’t make people think of poop.
