Apple will reportedly introduce a new color to its iPhone 8 and 8 Plus lineup this week. . The new color is part of the company’s partnership with (RED), an advocacy group dedicated to combating HIV/AIDS in Africa. MacRumors reports that it has viewed a memo from Virgin Mobile, which says that Apple will announce the phone option on Monday, April 9th.
The memo reportedly notes that the phone will be available for preorder, but that it doesn’t specify if this will include an iPhone X edition.
Product Red was founded in 2006 by U2 frontman Bono and ONE Campaign activist Bobby Shriver, and licenses its name to other private companies to highlight efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in eight African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia.
Apple has released a number of special (RED) edition iPods, iPads, and cases over the years, and last year, released an iPhone 7 for the first time last year.
If the leak is accurate, Apple is pursuing a familiar strategy for device makers: it's rolling out new color options to put its hardware back in the spotlight and entice buyers who wanted livelier options.
It's not going to have the same effect as introducing a brand new iPhone, but it might rekindle enough interest to keep sales steady until the usual fall refresh.
