Apple in Colour.
In an age of beige, Apple went all in on colour. This is a celebration of every bright, brilliant, joyful thing they ever made.
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Picture 1998. Every computer on earth is a beige box under a desk. Apple turns up with one shaped like a giant boiled sweet, in translucent blue, named after a beach. Absolute madness. People bought 278,000 in six weeks. Then came grape, and tangerine, and one covered in actual flowers. Suddenly a computer was something you put ON the desk, to show off.
And yes, being lovely to look at made Apple money again.
The iPod started out sensibly white. That lasted about five minutes. Soon the nano, the shuffle and the mini were arriving in every colour going, baked right into the metal so they looked like sweets you probably shouldn't eat. A fresh set every autumn. This is peak Apple showing off, and honestly, good for them.
For about twenty years the Mac put on a grey suit and behaved itself. Then in 2021 the iMac strolled back in wearing seven colours, basically waving across the room at its 1998 self. Welcome home, mate.
The phone that launched in one lonely finish now shows up in the full spectrum. Product red, alpine green, sierra blue, deep purple, ultramarine, a fresh batch nearly every year like Apple's flicking through a paint chart and going 'yeah, that one.'
It's basically jewellery, so obviously it came in colours. Aluminium, gold, product red, and the bands are a whole rainbow of their own. Match it to your outfit. We won't tell anyone.
The iPad. The HomePod mini. The little AirPods case. Even the MacBook had its gold era. Once Apple got the taste for it, colour started quietly turning up in absolutely everything.
In 2006 Apple made a red iPod nano and quietly put ten dollars from every sale towards fighting AIDS. Turns out the most colourful thing they ever did was also the kindest. Over twenty years, Apple's red products raised more than any other company on the planet.
source: Apple Newsroom, 15 years fighting AIDS with (RED), 2021