Should we care about a golden iPhone?

We’ve reported on this, and so has half the internet now. It’s now 99% confirmed (based on the ramblings of journalists and mystery sources) that Apple will make a gold or “champagne” coloured iPhone 5S. Techcrunch presents the most compelling evidence, or “guess” as it should really be called. The site checked with iMore who, with the help of their own expert, has said that a gold iPhone would not only be likely, but would be the easiest to produce. What none of the sites do or can, is outright confirm a gold iPhone. The case for it is promising though.

iMore’s mockup of the Gold iPhone 5SiMore’s editor of Mobile Nations, Ally Kazmucha, says that turning an iPhone gold is easy, and is in fact one of the easiest colours to anodize onto the phone. The colour that is the hardest to make is “true black”. For gold, all it takes is a “simple chemical reaction with the possible addition of dye”.

Techcrunch adds in a decent speculation. In one of its updates to the story, TC says that gold-coloured iPhone covers are a popular aftermarket addition to the smartphone in Asian markets. The gold iPhone would then entice buyers into snapping up a higher-end phone, just for the cosmetic appeal. As Apple prepares to release a cheaper “iPhone 5C” into the market, Apple may use a uniquely coloured phone to lure more fish onto the line. We’re the fish by the way.

So, should you care about a golden iPhone? Yes and no. The colouring process is easy, and a gold iPhone would not only be one of the best phones on the planet (in terms of hardware and screen), but it would simply look more desirable. What Apple does well is create chintzy products that people would die to own. Take Apple TV for instance. It’s not the most useful or powerful media player out there (for our money WD Live is a pretty fair bet), but it somehow managed to do exceptionally well and we’d like to think that it’s down to its looks. Apple TV looks great, is light and has a minuscule hardware footprint. Same for the rumoured gold iPhone. It will still be an iPhone, just one made for celebs and possibly people with low self-esteem.

Image via Flickr by Pirate_renee