Some Customers Unhappy With Apple Watch Series 7 Color Options

With pre-orders for the Apple Watch Series 7 opening today, dissatisfaction with Apple's new color options has been expressed by some customers and pundits on social media.

apple watch series 7 aluminum colors
The aluminum Apple Watch Series 6 was available in Space Gray, Silver, Gold, Blue, and (PRODUCT)RED aluminum color options, while the aluminum ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ overhauled the lineup of colors, and is available in Midnight, Starlight, Green, Blue, and (PRODUCT)RED.

These are the same colors offered with the iPhone 13 mini and ‌iPhone 13‌, except there is a Pink option instead of Green. The new iPad mini is also available in a mix of colors, mirroring Starlight and Pink from the Apple Watch Series 7 and ‌iPhone 13‌, carrying over Space Gray, and introducing a new Purple color.

The Apple Watch's Blue and Red tones have been slightly tweaked from last year's offerings, while Green is a totally new option. Midnight replaces Space Gray with a very dark navy, while Starlight replaces Silver and Gold with a subtle champagne color.

With such significant changes coming to the Apple Watch's color options this year, some customers have expressed confusion and irritation with the new hues. The replacement of Silver and Gold with Starlight has attracted particular ire, with some fans of the previous options being disappointed with the single new champagne-style color. Some fans of Silver have criticized Starlight for being too warm, while some fans of Gold have found it to be too desaturated.

While there are still Silver and Gold stainless steel Apple Watch options this year, Space Black has been replaced by Graphite, except on the Hermés models.

Stainless steel Link Bracelet users have also noted incongruity with some Series 7 models. This is particularly evident with the Graphite Stainless Steel Apple Watch, which no longer matches its accompanying Link Bracelet.

Although the Link Bracelet is a stainless steel band designed to twin with a stainless steel Apple Watch, some users have enjoyed using the band with the Silver aluminum Apple Watch in previous years. With Starlight replacing Silver, some users have noted that the cool silver of the Link bracelet now clashes with the warm tone of Starlight.

Other mismatching band and casing combinations have been noted by users across various social media platforms and websites, with some claiming that the Series 7's colors mismatch with more bands, more severely compared to the color options offered in previous years.

There is now an unprecedented level of fragmentation with Apple's color options across its product lines. The ‌iPhone 13‌ and Apple Watch Series 7 now contrast with the iPad Air and AirPods Max models, as well as the 24-inch iMac and iPhone 12, with other devices like the ‌iPad mini‌ overlapping the divide.

Apple effectively now has three separate color palettes for its devices, in addition to the pre-existing tonal differences with the same shade that was common to see with the likes of Space Gray. Other product lines, such as the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and HomePod mini, also no longer have any matching colors with the aluminum Apple Watch Series 7 or standard ‌iPhone 13‌ models. This appears to have irked some users who like to have matching colors across multiple Apple devices.

As yet, there are no rumors about what colors Apple's redesigned MacBook Pro and Mac mini machines could be available in. When they do arrive, likely at an event later this month, there may be some more clarity about Apple's plans for color options going forward.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Top Rated Comments

4jasontv Avatar
32 months ago
Some people are always unhappy.
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DerfBWH Avatar
32 months ago

Some people are always unhappy.
Having no neutral colors in the midrange models of the line seems like a big oversight, not a picky thing.
Score: 62 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azentropy Avatar
32 months ago
Not having a standard silver or space gray/black aluminum model is strange. Starlight is too yellowish/beige and midnight is dark blue. Going to turn off a lot of people.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
32 months ago
One of the luckiest numbers, one of the s****est launches
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
32 months ago
I don't really like any of the Apple colors this year -- on any of the new products..

An exceptionally "meh" round of colors
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
james2538 Avatar
32 months ago
The fact that colors and hues are different across products lines is an embarrassment.

This is not what the Apple of the past 20 years was about. I feel like we’ve gotten closer and closer to the sloppy Apple from the 90s.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...