The yellow iPhone 14 is here – and we can't decide if it's awesome or awful

The yellow Apple iPhone 14 on a grey background

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple is welcoming back a yellow iPhone into the smartphone color spectrum fold. On Tuesday, Apple surprised no one by unveiling its new yellow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, adding a bright color spectrum to our list of best smartphones.

The canary yellow frame is reminiscent of the yellow last seen on the iPhone 11 and even that iconic iPhone 5c. It's bold but not necessarily brash. It's also not coming to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

As I wrote in my reviews of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, these are a pair of excellent iOS devices that didn't move the bar on design. Both phones still have the notch instead of the new Dynamic Island. They're also running the previous generation A15 Bionic CPU. They're still excellent handsets with a solid 12MP dual camera array and the excellent 12MP TrueDepth camera on the front.

Perhaps this new color, which joins midnight, starlight, (Product)RED, blue, and purple as a color variation, is the extra spark the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus need to be just a little more inspiring.

You can pre-order a yellow iPhone starting Friday, March 10 at 9AM ET in the US, UK, and Australia. The iPhone 14 still starts at $799 / £849 / AU$1,339 (with 128GB of storage) and the iPhone 14 Plus runs for $899 / £949 / AU$1,579. Apple will start shipping the yellow iPhones on March 14.

Apple iPhone 14 color lineup (Image credit: Apple)

Do we care about yellow?

People love choice and can be quite passionate about color, even when it comes to technology. For a time, Apple's Rose Gold-colored devices were the must-have device. The Rose Gold iPhone 6, which launched in 2016, was a sensation and a must-have device for fans of the slightly pink-ish iPhone.

There are not a lot of yellow gadgets unless you look at kid tech. And while we've known for a while that Apple was probably producing this, the rabid, fever-pitch interest is not necessary there.

Plus, the yellow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus do nothing different than the blue, purple, or midnight handsets. At least with (Product)RED, you know that when you buy the phone Apple is also donating to charity.

In any case, it's just another option to help you match your iPhone 14 with your other, ahem, yellow accessories.

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A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.