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Two days before Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event, Korean tipster yeux1122 has posted a brief video to Naver that gives color-curious buyers their clearest look yet at what Dark Cherry and Sky Blue actually look like on physical iPhone 18 Pro hardware. The clip appears to show two demo units sitting in a retail display — one iPhone 18 Pro Max finished in a deep wine-red, the other an iPhone 18 Pro in a pale, luminous blue — alongside a dark-blue iPhone 17 Pro Max held up for direct comparison. For anyone who has spent months staring at renders and trying to picture how these colors will look in hand, it is the most useful data point yet — and it comes with a key caveat: Dark Cherry in real life appears noticeably darker and more purple-toned than the lighter, brighter renders that dominated early coverage.

Apple will officially unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the company's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Ultra, at its "Surprise and Shine" keynote, scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, September 9, at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders are expected to open at midnight PT on Saturday, September 12 (3:00 a.m. ET). If the colors are the deciding factor in which model you choose, here is what the video actually shows — and what it still cannot tell you.

What the yeux1122 Video Actually Shows

The clip is short and unassuming — a hand holds the iPhone 18 Pro Max in Dark Cherry against the Dark Cherry model, while an iPhone 18 Pro in the pale blue sits on a stand beside it, both surrounded by security cables and retail display labels consistent with a pre-launch setup. The headline of the Macworld analysis by David Price, translated from the original Naver post, reads: "iPhone 18 Pro Max Dark Cherry & 18 Pro Blue demo devices exposed."

According to Macworld's David Price, who analyzed the footage, the Dark Cherry unit reads as "dark red/burgundy" and the companion unit as "light blue." Crucially, the video includes the iPhone 17 Pro Max in Deep Blue for side-by-side comparison — which makes the new Sky Blue finish's dramatically lighter, more washed-out character immediately apparent.

What the video cannot do is resolve Apple's color to pixel-level accuracy. Demo unit coatings sometimes differ subtly from final retail production. But taken together with months of supply chain reporting, dummy unit photography, and leaker descriptions, the video elevates "almost certain" to "as certain as anything gets before a keynote."

Dark Cherry: Wine-Red, Not Fruit Punch — and the Shade Debate Is Real

Dark Cherry has attracted more discussion than any iPhone Pro color since Cosmic Orange debuted on the iPhone 17 Pro. And a genuine dispute has played out among the people who have seen physical hardware: is it a deep, dark burgundy-purple, or a brighter, more saturated pink-red?

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman was among the first to describe the color, calling it a deep red in February 2026. Macworld followed in April with the "Dark Cherry" name and a more specific description: a wine-like red, described internally using Pantone code 6076, closer to burgundy than fruit punch. That April report characterized it as "not as bright and striking as Cosmic Orange" — which will be discontinued — but distinctive enough to anchor the 2026 Pro lineup's visual identity.

Then Sonny Dickson released photos of physical dummy units in May, and the Macworld render and the physical samples did not quite match. Where the digital render suggested a subdued, almost merlot-like finish, the dummy units appeared — per Macworld's own analysis — to have a brighter pink hue than the Macworld render. Tipster Instant Digital, for their part, described Dark Cherry as a blend of "burgundy, coffee, and deep purple."

In August, Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital weighed in to settle the dispute — explicitly — claiming the darker purplish-red was accurate, not the brighter alternative. MacRumors' own color analysis concluded that Dark Cherry sits somewhere between burgundy and deep purple — "more of a wine or a plum color" — with the exact shade shifting by lighting between red and purple depending on ambient conditions.

The yeux1122 video is consistent with the darker reading: the footage shows a deep, wine-red device, not a vivid maraschino. But because demo unit PVD coatings can differ slightly from final production finishes, and because video color reproduction varies by camera and display, the video does not fully close the debate. What it confirms is that this is not a bright red. Buyers who were hoping for something close to (Product)RED or the original iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED should look elsewhere. Buyers who want something understated but still unmistakably bold — a color that reads as "dark" rather than "vivid" in most indoor lighting — are looking at exactly what they ordered.

Apple's Pro lineup uses Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating on Grade 5 titanium alloy, a process that deposits a thin metallic film over the chassis to produce the target color. Pantone's code 6076 specifies the target reflective properties — but render artists translating a 2D spectral reference into a 3D visual model under simulated lighting introduce variability that physical hardware does not. That gap between digital render and physical object is precisely why the Sonny Dickson photos and the yeux1122 video matter more than any previously published artwork. They show actual light reflecting off an actual coated surface.

Sky Blue: The Sleeper Color of the 2026 Lineup

Sky Blue — alternately described in earlier reports as "Light Blue" — has attracted less discussion than Dark Cherry, but the yeux1122 video makes a strong case that it deserves more attention. Held against the iPhone 17 Pro Max's Deep Blue for comparison, the difference is immediate and stark: where Deep Blue was a rich, saturated navy, Sky Blue is almost the opposite — an airy, pale finish closer in character to the iPhone 13 Pro's Sierra Blue than anything Apple has shipped on a Pro model since 2021.

Macworld, whose supply chain sources first identified the color in April, described it as resembling the iPhone 17 Mist Blue. The internal Pantone code is reported as 2121, which MacRumors characterizes as "more saturated" than Sierra Blue but without the red and green undertones that softened it. The iPhone Air, launched in September 2025, also carried a Sky Blue option — making this a color Apple has developed across multiple product lines.

For buyers fatigued by dark-toned Pro iPhones — Deep Blue, Desert Titanium, Space Gray, Black Titanium — Sky Blue offers something genuinely different: lightness. If Dark Cherry is the bold choice, Sky Blue is the quiet one. Both are departures from the subdued near-neutrals that dominated Pro lineups from 2022 through 2024.

What the Full Lineup Looks Like Right Now

The complete color lineup for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max remains subject to one area of ongoing uncertainty. The most consistent picture from multiple leakers as of this weekend: Dark Cherry (confirmed), Sky Blue (confirmed), and a third option that is most likely either Dark Gray or Silver — but not both.

Macworld's original April report listed Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver as the three companions to Dark Cherry. In a later report based on mass production intelligence, Fixed Focus Digital said the lineup would include Dark Cherry, Sky Blue, and Black — with Silver likely absent. MacRumors, which reviewed SIM tray leaks, reported Sky Blue, Dark Cherry, and Silver as the most consistent evidence, with Black uncertain. The iPhone 17 Pro's Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue are expected to be discontinued — Apple has not repeated a Pro signature color since the practice began with Desert Titanium, and the pattern is consistent.

Both Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue will be gone. Whatever the third and fourth colors are, they will be new.

What Buyers Should Know Before Pre-Orders Open

If you are planning to pre-order an iPhone 18 Pro on Saturday, September 12 at midnight PT (3:00 a.m. ET), a few practical considerations specific to color choice:

Demo units — and dummy units of the kind Sonny Dickson photographed — use production-representative coatings, but not necessarily identical coatings to final retail hardware. Apple's final PVD finish may look subtly different from either the renders or the demo footage. The safest approach is to reserve judgment until you can see the color in a retail environment, or until professional reviews with consistent lighting conditions are published after the September 9 keynote.

Dark Cherry's exact shade also shifts meaningfully under different lighting. MacRumors' analysis notes that the Pantone 6076 reference produces "purple or red tones depending on the lighting" — which means a Dark Cherry iPhone 18 Pro Max can look distinctly different on a bright sunny afternoon than it does under warm indoor light. If you are accustomed to a phone that reads the same color in every room, this one may surprise you in the best or worst way depending on your expectations.

Sky Blue, by contrast, appears to read more consistently across lighting conditions — a pale, luminous finish that shows up as blue-white in bright conditions and as soft blue indoors. If you want a color that stays legible as "blue" without demanding attention, the evidence points to Sky Blue as the more predictable choice.

Pre-orders are expected to open at midnight PT on Saturday, September 12 (3:00 a.m. ET). First-wave pre-orders placed in the opening hour have historically resulted in delivery on the first availability date, expected to be Friday, September 18.

How to Watch the September 9 Reveal

Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event will begin at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, September 9, at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. A live stream will be available on Apple's website, YouTube via the official Apple channel, and in the Apple TV app on any supported device. The event will mark the first keynote under Apple CEO John Ternus, who officially assumed the role on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook.

Beyond color confirmations, the keynote is expected to reveal official specifications for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max (including confirmation of the variable aperture camera as a Pro Max-exclusive feature), official pricing, the iPhone Ultra foldable, and new Apple Watch and AirPods models.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Dark Cherry actually look like on an iPhone, and will it match the renders I've been seeing?

Probably not exactly. Dark Cherry is almost certainly darker and more purple-toned than the lighter, brighter renders that appeared in much of the early leak coverage. Supply chain leaker Fixed Focus Digital, writing in August, explicitly confirmed the darker purplish-red as the accurate version — not the lighter alternative. MacRumors' analysis described it as a wine or plum color that shifts between red and purple depending on ambient lighting — not a vivid or saturated red. The yeux1122 video is consistent with this darker reading. That said, even demo units may differ slightly from final retail production, and Apple's official reveal on September 9 remains the only fully reliable reference point.

How does Sky Blue compare to previous iPhone blue options?

Sky Blue is the lightest blue Apple has placed on an iPhone Pro since the Sierra Blue of the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021 — and possibly lighter than that. The iPhone 17 Pro's Deep Blue was a rich, saturated navy; the iPhone Air's Sky Blue and this year's Pro version describe a category of finish that reads as pale, airy, and almost white-adjacent in bright conditions. MacRumors characterizes Pantone 2121 as more saturated than Sierra Blue but without the red and green undertones that softened it. The yeux1122 video makes this contrast immediately legible — the Sky Blue iPhone 18 Pro next to a Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro Max looks like an entirely different philosophy of blue. If you want a light, understated blue rather than a statement blue, this generation is the one to consider.

When do iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders open, and does color availability vary by model?

Pre-orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to open at midnight PT on Saturday, September 12 — 3:00 a.m. ET. All expected color options (Dark Cherry, Sky Blue, and the third option still to be confirmed as Dark Gray, Silver, or Black) are anticipated to be available across both the 6.3-inch Pro and 6.9-inch Pro Max at launch. Color availability for specific storage configurations is not yet confirmed. Apple has not officially announced colors, pricing, or pre-order timing; those details will be confirmed at the September 9 keynote.

Is the video enough to confirm the colors are final, or could Apple still change them?

The video is strong evidence that these finishes exist as real, physical, retail-ready units — which is meaningfully stronger than renders, dummy units, or supply chain tipsters describing colors in text. Retail demo units are typically produced very close to the final production run, and Apple would have little reason to change a color scheme two days before an announcement. That said, Apple has occasionally adjusted colors between demo units and final retail — the two are not guaranteed to be identical at the coating level. The September 9 keynote is the only fully authoritative source. Until then, the colors shown in the yeux1122 video represent the best available evidence — not a certainty.