The Most Exciting Rumor About the iPhone 5S Is That It Will Be Gold

With just a little under a month until Apple's yet-to-be-announced iPhone event in mid-September, the rumor mill is approaching hyper-speed, with the latest and most notable rumor predicting an exciting (or maybe "tacky") new color for the 5S: Gold.

With just a little under a month until Apple's yet-to-be-announced iPhone event in mid-September, the rumor mill is approaching hyper-speed, with the latest and most notable rumor predicting an exciting (or maybe "tacky") new color for the 5S: Gold. Multiple rumor mongers have sources citing the existence of a new hue which could like some like C-3PO gold or champaign, like the old gold iPod mini. Update: Now even AllThingsD has its sources confirming the "gold-tone" device.

There are all sorts of reasons this rumor is believable. The likes of the The Wall Street Journal has had its sources talking up color options for the new iPhone. Gold is popular in India and China, says TechCrunch's MG Siegler, where Apple's trying to expand its influence. And, it's technically possible with the current way Apple makes the iPhone 5S. "According to our own Ally Kazmucha, who's no stranger to the process, gold is among the easiest colors to anodize onto an iPhone," notes iMore's Rene Ritchie. Gizmodo's Spanish affiliate even thinks it spotted the shiny new toy in a photo from Apple's own website. Besides the fact that this still falls in rumor territory, there's no reason not to believe the report.

Of course, not everyone wants to believe the new color choice. Upon hearing the latest rumor, Business Insider's Jay Yarow declared "May the freakout continue!" And it did: Siegler called it "tacky"; The Street's Rocco Pendola says it's "awful for Apple." He continues: "Never thought I would see this sort of gimmicky, short-term pathetic attempt at stealing low-hanging market share from this company."

Even if the phone comes out ugly, the choice is not that big of a deal — Apple has made some heinous products. Lots of people thought the white iPhone 5 looked ugly, and that hasn't had much of a problem selling. More disconcerting, however, is that this is the first detail the rumor mill has mentioned about the 5S. So far, the reports have discussed an updated iPhone 5 alongside the supposed cheap iPhone — but not much else. Like all iPhone updates it will likely look the same and work better. But beyond that conventional wisdom, it's unclear how the iPhone 5S — if that's even its name — will impress. The 5S at least had Siri. As of right now, the rumorers leave us with little to desire.

Then again, maybe this time the Apple mill has no idea what's going on and the 5S will impress with something not even the tech bloggers have yet imagined. Or, maybe it's true, and Apple has run out of ideas. We won't really know until September 10, or so say the rumorers.