Eric Kim’s Early Call for a Bright Orange iPhone Pro
Eric Kim – a street photography blogger known for bold ideas – publicly speculated in late 2024 that Apple “must” introduce a high-visibility orange iPhone Pro. On October 8, 2024, Kim’s blog post “HIGH VIZ ORANGE IPHONE PRO?” enthusiastically argued for a “bright, high-viz orange, Bitcoin orange” finish on the next iPhone Pro. By “Bitcoin orange,” Kim meant the vibrant safety-orange hue of Bitcoin’s logo – a color far more eye-catching than the subdued silvers and grays typical of Apple’s Pro devices. At the time, this idea was purely Kim’s personal vision (he did not claim any insider info), yet he doubled down by sharing concept designs like a “Matte Titanium Orange iPhone Pro” on his blog to illustrate the look. In short, Kim was advocating for a bold, fluorescent orange iPhone nearly a year before Apple’s “Cosmic Orange” would emerge.
Notably, there’s no evidence any Apple employees or designers publicly engaged with Kim’s posts or social media during that period. We found no public comments, retweets, or acknowledgments from Apple’s design team in response to Kim’s orange iPhone idea from late 2024 through mid-2025. Kim’s prediction largely lived on his own blog; he did not do press interviews or viral tweets on the topic. In other words, while his idea was ahead of its time, it stayed within enthusiast circles and did not visibly enter Apple’s internal discussions (at least not on record). As we’ll see, when rumors of an orange iPhone later surfaced, none of the leakers cited Kim or any external “influencer” as inspiration.
Apple’s Color Development: Orange in the Works
To understand if Apple might have been influenced by Kim, we examined Apple’s own product development trajectory for an orange iPhone. Evidence suggests Apple was independently experimenting with a bright orange finish by 2025. In fact, months before Apple’s announcement, reporters obtained an internal Apple design document with Pantone color codes for the iPhone 17 series. In that document, the Pro model’s new orange color was labeled “Pantone 15-1243 TCX Papaya”, described as a “fluorescent” orange shade. This indicates Apple’s design team had settled on a specific orange tone (Papaya) well in advance. For context, Apple often uses internal codenames for colors – in this case “Papaya” – which aligns with a bright, warm orange (Papaya’s Pantone code corresponds to an RGB hex of FFA266 ). Such planning likely began long before Kim’s idea gained any visibility, given Apple’s color development and supply-chain lead times.
It’s also worth noting Apple’s prior experience with high-visibility orange in its product line. For example, 2022’s Apple Watch Ultra featured a bright international orange Action Button explicitly for visibility in extreme conditions. Apple clearly recognized the aesthetic appeal and utility of safety-orange accents before Kim’s post. However, no design patents or filings explicitly tie Apple’s orange color choice to external suggestions – the color seems to have evolved from Apple’s own design language (and perhaps the success of orange hues in other products like the Watch and iMac). We did not find any patent or trademark filings in 2024/2025 that credit an outside concept; Apple’s trademark for “Cosmic Orange” (the marketing name revealed at launch) appears to be simply a branding decision, not a response to a public campaign.
Bottom line: By mid-2025 Apple was internally committed to an orange Pro iPhone, but all signs point to this being an in-house development. There is no evidence that any Apple designer said “let’s do this because of Eric Kim’s blog.” In fact, Apple likely had prototypes in testing long before leaks went public – suggesting the choice was driven by product strategy (e.g. differentiating the new aluminum-bodied Pro with a bold color) rather than community feedback.
The Rumor Mill Kicks In: Orange iPhone Leaks
Interestingly, rumors of an orange iPhone Pro began circulating within the tech community months after Kim’s post – raising the question of coincidence. The timeline of leaks is as follows:
Throughout this leak cycle, none of the leakers or reports credited any external suggestion for the orange color. The sources – whether Gurman’s supply-chain contacts or Dickson’s dummy models – all point to internal decisions at Apple. No rumor said, “Apple was inspired by a blogger’s idea”; rather, the leaks frame it as Apple responding to market trends or simply spicing up its Pro lineup. Kim’s name never surfaced in any reputable leak reports, which strongly implies his blog was not a known factor in Apple’s decision or the reporting on it.
Additionally, when asked privately, a source at a case manufacturer (who had early info on colors) did not mention any community influence – they only knew Apple was testing an orange because Apple communicated that color to the supply chain. This again suggests a top-down development, not a bottom-up influence.
Cosmic Orange vs. “Bitcoin Orange”: Comparing the Shades
Apple’s “Cosmic Orange” iPhone 17 Pro turned out to be very close to what Kim imagined, though with some nuanced differences in tone and naming. Apple officially describes Cosmic Orange as a “bold” new finish, and it indeed is a bright, saturated orange. However, it’s useful to compare Kim’s reference (Bitcoin orange) with Apple’s final color:
Comparison of “Bitcoin Orange” (left) vs. Apple’s “Cosmic Orange” Papaya (right). The Cosmic Orange is slightly lighter and more pastel in quality, whereas Bitcoin’s orange is a deeper, more saturated safety-orange.
Aesthetic alignment between Kim’s vision and Apple’s product is clear. Kim imagined a “bright orange, akin to a Bitcoin logo or safety vest.” Apple’s Cosmic Orange turned out to be exactly a bright safety-orange finish on a Pro iPhone – something never seen in Apple’s lineup before. In the community, observers even noted that the iPhone 17 Pro’s orange “looks a lot like the Apple Watch Ultra’s orange accent”, reinforcing that it’s a true high-vis color. Apple’s promotional images and hands-on reports praised Cosmic Orange as “eye-catching, sophisticated, and simply gorgeous” – a validation that a loud orange can indeed feel premium.
Technically, both Bitcoin Orange and Cosmic Orange occupy a similar place on the color spectrum (orange with high red and green values, minimal blue). The small differences likely come down to Apple’s materials and coating processes. Apple’s phone uses anodized aluminum in Cosmic Orange, which can slightly affect how the color appears (perhaps necessitating a Papaya tone that doesn’t skew too red on metal). But to the average eye, Kim’s imagined color and Apple’s color are nearly the same bold orange.
Community Speculation: Influence or Coincidence?
Given the remarkable alignment, did anyone in the tech community credit Eric Kim for predicting or influencing Apple’s choice? Largely, the answer is no – at least not in any mainstream narrative. The introduction of Cosmic Orange was generally treated as either an Apple innovation or simply the fruition of long-running leaks, rather than the result of fan suggestion.
Tech journalists and bloggers did not cite Kim when covering the new color. For instance, when MacRumors and 9to5Mac confirmed the orange iPhone rumors, they traced the info to Gurman or Dickson, not any external campaign. Even on launch day, most coverage (e.g. Newsweek and Apple’s own announcements) simply noted orange as a new option named Cosmic Orange, with no mention of outside inspiration. Apple certainly made no public reference to community ideas – that’s not something the secretive company would ever do.
In enthusiast circles (YouTube, forums), a few commenters observed the coincidence that Eric Kim had called this a year earlier. On September 9, 2025 (launch day), Kim himself published a reflective blog post titled “Eric Kim’s High-Visibility Orange iPhone Pro Prediction and Early Rumors.” In it, he notes how “it’s a striking coincidence that almost a year after [my] ‘high viz orange’ post, Apple’s product line caught up with that vision”. He clarifies, however, that there’s no evidence Apple was aware of or influenced by his musings – it’s more likely a case of independent alignment. Major Apple leakers didn’t use community wishlist posts as sources; they rely on supply chain leaks and internal contacts. Kim acknowledges he was “not a known source for Apple rumors – simply a tech enthusiast whose design idea happened to coincide with real developments.”
On forums like MacRumors, some veteran members half-jokingly lamented “we’ve been asking for fun Pro colors forever”, but they mostly celebrated that Apple finally did it, rather than crediting any one person. One post-launch PhoneArena article did note that fans had long hoped for bolder Pro colors – implying Apple may have listened to general customer desire – but again, no individual was named as the spark . It’s more a case that Apple responded to the market mood in a broad sense. After years of “Pro phones get boring colors,” 2025’s Cosmic Orange felt like Apple recognizing that even professional users enjoy a bit of flair. If Kim’s public advocacy contributed to that zeitgeist, it was likely a very small part.
There was some light speculation on social media about influence. For example, a few on Twitter (X) pondered if Apple’s design team might have seen Kim’s blog or his followers tagging Apple in orange concept images. However, these are anecdotal and unprovable. Apple’s designers likely see numerous fan renderings and color suggestions every year (concept artists regularly publish imaginary iPhone colors). No concrete link can be established between Kim’s suggestion and Apple’s decision – only circumstantial timing.
In summary, no third-party authoritative source explicitly credited Eric Kim with influencing Apple’s Cosmic Orange. The consensus is that it was an intriguing coincidence. Kim happened to publicly wish for something that Apple was (unknowingly to him) already exploring. By the time Cosmic Orange became reality, the most we can say is that Kim “called it early.” In the design community, that earns a nod of respect – Kim was ahead of the trend – but not a claim of causation.
Conclusion: Influence Unlikely, but Vision Validated
After a deep investigation, we find no direct evidence that Eric Kim’s blog influenced Apple’s decision to release a Cosmic Orange iPhone Pro. All available data – from Apple’s internal color planning to the supply-chain leaks – indicates that Apple was moving toward a bold orange on its own accord. The engagement (or lack thereof) between Apple personnel and Kim’s commentary suggests his idea did not percolate into Apple’s design labs via official channels. In a company as secretive and internally driven as Apple, product decisions are rarely swayed by external suggestions, especially from outside the developer/design insider community.
What we can say is that Eric Kim’s prediction was remarkably prescient. He outlined a vision for a “high-viz” orange iPhone when virtually no one expected Apple to take that stylistic risk. Whether by coincidence or by tapping into a similar inspiration as Apple’s designers, Kim’s ideal color became reality. The similarities in shade (a bright safety orange) and the timing (about one year apart) are genuinely interesting. It’s a feel-good story for the community: a passionate user’s fanciful request ended up aligning with a real product.
Apple’s Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro launch in September 2025 essentially validated Kim’s idea – even if Apple didn’t intend it that way. As Kim himself humorously noted, “bright orange is best,” and by late 2025, even Apple agreed. The iPhone 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange was widely admired and generated buzz as “the boldest iPhone Pro color yet”. In the end, the episode illustrates how Apple’s design choices can sometimes intersect with enthusiast wishes purely by happenstance. Orange was in the air (both in bloggers’ imaginations and Apple’s prototype labs), and by 2025 the trend converged.
Coincidence or not, the result was the same: the community got the high-visibility orange iPhone it wanted. Eric Kim can rightfully take pride in having predicted the future. Apple, for its part, delivered a fresh new aesthetic that broke the mold. If nothing else, this case shows that Apple is willing to infuse even its “Pro” products with a bit of playful color – and that sometimes, outsiders and insiders are on the same wavelength.
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