Skip to main content

ColorWare’s $1,600 iPhone 6s Retro recalls the Apple IIe

colorware iphone 6s retro
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Bought an iPhone but finding its rose gold or space gray finish just too mainstream and pedestrian these days? ColorWare, the prolific Minnesota-based company perhaps best known for its splashy Mac and iPhone outer skins, is all to happy to help you stand out from the hemogony (but not inexpensively).

ColorWare offers aftermarket makeovers of all degrees of ostentation, but its latest design for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Retro, is an understated throwback. It’s a matte mix of beige and brown based on the angular outer shell of the 1983 Apple IIe, and as such features a few unique design touches. Ridges on the left and right sides that mimic airflow vents, and in place of the iPhone’s typically nondescript iconography is the Apple rainbow logo of ’80s and ’90s fame. And also just like a few of Apple’s early computers, the Retro models are rather exclusive: ColorWare’s restricting orders to 50 total (25 for the iPhone 6s and 25 for the iPhone 6s Plus).

Recommended Videos

Sticking out from the iPhone proletariat doesn’t come cheap, though. The unlocked iPhone 6s Retro starts at $1,600; the 6S Plus is $1,700. For ColorWare, that’s about par for the exorbitant course — the company’s last throwback Apple item, the 2014 MacBook Air Retro, was priced at $3,499 (and limited to a 10-model run).

Please enable Javascript to view this content

ColorWare textures more than computers, but its other customizations don’t come any cheaper. A stylized PS4 controller runs upwards of $165. One red pair of wireless Beats headphones costs $749. But ColorWare says its manufacturing process is what justifies the premium: Instead of relying on the types of adhesive skins you see in, for example, the checkout line at Best Buy, it applies several layers of custom paint.

Be that as it may, more than a grand for a disco-era iPhone design seems a bit excessive. But if you simply can’t standing bearing the monotony of Apple’s colloquial iPhones, then the Retro edition might be your best bet. After all, what are the chances of running into any of those 24 other equally discerning buyers?

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
iOS 18 is official. Here’s how it’s going to change your iPhone forever
Screenshots of new features in iOS 18.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here: iOS 18 has just been announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote. And, like the rumors have been saying, this is a very big, juicy update for your iPhone.

There's been a lot of anticipation for iOS 18. Rumors and leaks for the new update have been particularly intense this year, more so than iOS 17 rumors last year. So, was the hype worth it? Here's what's coming to your iPhone with iOS 18.
Home screen changes

Read more
Apple offers peek at how it stress tests the iPhone
Apple testing the water resistance of an iPhone.

Apple tests the water resistance of an iPhone. MKBHD

Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee visited an Apple lab recently to see up close how the company tests the durability of new iPhone handsets.

Read more
The OnePlus 13 is coming on January 7 — along with a surprise
The OnePlus logo on the back of the OnePlus Open Apex Edition.

It's official: the OnePlus 13 will launch on January 7, 2025. Preempting the anticipated event by several weeks, OnePlus has officially confirmed the date we’ll see its next major smartphone release outside of China. Additionally, it has revealed some key features and news of a surprise new launch to go along with the phone.

OnePlus will release the OnePlus 13 in three different colors — Black Eclipse, Arctic Dawn, and Midnight Ocean. It’s the latter that is likely to be the model to have, as it is wrapped in a material called micro-fiber vegan leather, which is apparently corrosion and scratch-resistant but still luxurious to the touch. For the Arctic Dawn phone, the glass will have a special coating to give it a silky-smooth finish. It’s likely these are the same colors offered in China, where the phone has already been announced, just with different names.

Read more