The latest models of the iPhone 5S were available in space grey, silver and gold. The latter of the three is proving the most elusive to get your hands on.
There has been a shortage of the gold models after Apple didn’t produce enough of the champagne coloured handsets to meet demand, leaving fans clamouring for a model.
It has resulted in the gold handsets being sold on eBay for staggering prices. Bidding is mounting to over $4,600 on some models. On the US marketplace site, one gold iPhone 5S sold for $10,100.
To provide an alternative option to the trend, a company called Gold Genie is selling a real gold-plated version of the iPhone, starting at $2,850. Considering that the official Apple gold iPhones are just coloured aluminium and they are currently selling for more than four times the price of the karat-coated handsets, these are actually quite a steal. Well, if you have three grand to spare.
There are conspiracy theories that Apple limited the release of the gold model with the anticipation that they would be popular, thus making them a rare and coveted item.
Reportedly, the flagship Apple store in San Francisco only had 20 gold models for the grand release last week, which were snapped up in a matter of minutes.
There were rumours that Apple had a shortage of the materials necessary to make the gold models of the phone, but this is highly unlikely as the price of aluminium declined during the past couple of years as Apple would have been gearing up for the release. So it is highly unlikely there is a shortage of the gold-hued aluminium.
The previous iPhone models were only available in black or white. The silver and space grey (aka black) models are available in abundance. But seeing as many other phones are available in silver, it is unsurprising that the gold models have been popular.
Following London Fashion Week, gold is very on-trend. One of my friends commented that the best thing about his new gold iPhone is that it co-ordinates with his Michael Kors watch.
