Apple nearly launched AirPods in 5 colors

Apple nearly launched AirPods in 5 colors

That's a pink AirPods case. Though the earbuds inside were still white, apparently.
Photo: [email protected]

Everyone knows AirPods come only in white. If you want a set of Apple earbuds in another color, you have to turn to subsidiary Beats.

But white almost wasn’t the only case, so to speak. Apple prototyped AirPods cases in five colors to match iPhone 7 colors in 2016, according to a source who displayed some images Tuesday.

Apple almost released AirPods in 5 colors matching iPhone 7 colors

The source who tweeted the images is known on Twitter as Kosutami (@KosutamiSan). They said Apple planned to release AirPods (1st generation) in “Pink, ProductRED, Purple, Black and Blonde colors.”

“Reason of that: they wanted to match the color with iPhone 7,” they wrote. “(Purple version of iPhone 7 cancelled at last) And it’s been cancelled.”

Apple used to release color version of 1st gen AirPods, they planned to make Pink, ProductRED, Purple, Black, Blonde.
Reason of that: they wanted to match the color with iPhone 7. (Purple version of iPhone 7 cancelled at last)
And it’s been cancelled. #appleinternal #Apple pic.twitter.com/AaQqrJZbSr

— Kosutami (@KosutamiSan) May 30, 2023

So the lineup might’ve included purple, but it was canceled for iPhone 7 and hence for AirPods. The other 5 colors aren’t the same names as iPhone 7‘s lineup of hues, but they are similar: Jet Black, Black, Gold, Rose Gold, and (PRODUCT)RED.

No one appears to know why Apple canceled the AirPods colors. But that might’ve been the moment Cupertino decided to make white iconic. And indeed, as AirPods hit it big, the then-distinctive white earbuds were everywhere.

It appears the five AirPods colors actually came quite close to launching because their cancellation came late in the normal development process.

“It [wasn’t] cancelled until DVT or PVT Stage, which means they didn’t cancel the plan until they were close to the launch,” Kosutami wrote.

Kosutami also posted imagery showing a colorful Apple MagSafe charging puck last week.

Recently got some prototype and informations. It shows that the MagSafe charger used to have colored version, just like their's MagSafe MacBook Charging cable-but with more saturation. （Also tried on the unreleased Magic Charger) pic.twitter.com/n5wi18jYhX

— Kosutami (@KosutamiSan) May 27, 2023