In a move that isn’t entirely unexpected but is still somewhat shocking considering that the company is typically a creature of habit, Apple on Tuesday morning added new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models to its smartphone lineup.
The Apple store was taken offline early on Tuesday morning, as we all expected. Apple warned on its system status website that the store would be taken offline beginning around midnight EDT on Tuesday morning, though the reason for the outage was unclear. Rumors suggested that several new iPad models might be announced on Tuesday morning, and that indeed turned out to be the case. Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad wasn’t the only new product unveiled on Tuesday morning, however.
Alongside a refreshed entry-level 9.7-inch iPad model, Apple on Tuesday announced a brand new version of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. This marks the first time in many years that Apple has updated a flagship iPhone mid-cycle — the last time was all the way back in 2011, when Apple released a new white version of its iPhone 4 in April after having initially released the black model in 2010.
Today, Apple once again focused its mid-cycle iPhone refresh on adding a new color to its flagship iPhone lineup, but this time around it’s an entirely new color that has never before been seen on an iPhone: Red.
Apple’s new Product Red iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models are identical to the new iPhones Apple released in September 2016 in every way except for the color, which is a glossy red. This is now the third brand new color Apple has introduced during this iPhone cycle; Space Gray was eliminated from Apple’s flagship iPhone lineup last year, paving the way for new matte black and “Jet Black” color options.
Apple’s new red iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are available to order from Apple’s online store and they start shipping on Friday, March 24th, and they’re priced in line with the rest of Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus lineup.
