Pink Apple Watch set to land later in 2023

Following recent reports that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be available in ‘dark titanium’, we’re now hearing that the Apple Watch Series 9 will also get a new color finish later this year: pink.

The claim was made Tuesday by the Twitter leaker ShrimpApplePro (via 9to5Mac), who has a solid track record of accurate Apple predictions. “Added a pink color along with the other four colors with the same case material,” the leaker writes. Those four other colors (for the aluminum case) are Midnight, Starlight, silver, and the charity-funding (Product) Red, so it would appear that Apple isn’t planning to drop any finishes to make way for pink.

ShrimpApplePro also corroborated Bloomberg’s earlier prediction of a dark titanium (or in the leaker’s phrase, “black titanium”) Apple Watch Ultra 2 and, very briefly, forecast the imminent launch of the iPad mini 7.

Apple is well aware of the marketing power of a new color, which offers an instantly recognizable signal that a customer has the latest and greatest model in a range, and frequently tinkers with the available hues when it releases new Apple Watches. The Series 7 gained a new green aluminum option, while the Series 6 was the first to come in blue. Similarly (and for some, more annoyingly) the iPhone range often gains a new color as a sales boost midway through its refresh cycle, such as yellow in spring 2023 and purple in 2021.

For these reasons, it’s scarcely surprising that Apple would be planning new finishes for the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. But the choice of pink is surprising for two reasons. One: this won’t be the first time that Apple has offered a pinkish shade for the Apple Watch. Buyers of the first Apple Watch had the option of a rose gold Edition finish, and a rose gold aluminum finish was also an option for the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2. When Apple discontinued the rose gold option it was assumed it was due to poor sales due to its ‘pinkness’.

Two: pink is potentially a divisive color. Notoriously, some tech firms in the past have launched pink versions of their products aimed specifically and rather patronizingly at women; female editors on Macworld and its sister sites have on occasion been nonplussed to receive pink review samples without requesting that color. (I happen to love pink tech, but being a male writer find that I generally have to specify this preference.)

Apple, however, is generally quite good in its approach to diversity and gender politics, and is of course a master of the subtle marketing arts, so one would imagine that the pink Apple Watch Series 9, and the expected pink iPhone 15, will be sold less clumsily than similar products have been in the past.

The Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches are both expected to launch in the next couple of months. For all the latest news and rumors, read our Apple Watch Series 9 superguide. And if you can’t wait that long, pick up a bargain on the current range with our roundup of the best Apple Watch deals.

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