iPhone 5 Release Date: Get Your iPhone 4S Customized for $250
ColorWare offers customizing options for the artistically inclined wealthy
Apple’s newly released iPhone 4S will follow in the glamorous footsteps of its predecessor, the iPhone 4, with its Colorware option, which allows iPhone owners to customize their new gadgets with fresh paint jobs averaging $1,500-$1,700.
The price of beauty is high if ordered directly from ColorWare, but the makeover is only $250 if the customer chooses to send their already owned iPhone 4S to Colorware by mail.
The high price is primarily because Colorware is not an authorized reseller of Apple products, but rather a privately held company.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Our focus is to continue to create and transform our products beyond what the original manufacturers intended," said the ColorWare's website.
Blogger Technabob compares ColorWare’s custom paint jobs to having “Apple-ish prices.”
Users can go onto the Colorware Design studio, which allows them to paint their iPhone in glossy, SoftTouch, or original finish bases with options ranging the color spectrum, from yellow to red to blue to green.
According to the ColorWare website, customers are at their artistic liberty in picking a color. The basic primaries are represented, but customers can also employ the more modern colors of Cotton Candy pink, Glacier Blue, Coffee brown and Lilac purple.
Customizing the iPhone in a pearl finish is also available, with Diamond White and Stardust yellow being two of the four pearl options.
ColorWare decorates other Apple products, such as iPads. Similarly to the iPhone 4s, if customers choose to send in their already purchased iPad, the décor costs $400, but to purchase an iPad directly from Colorware, it costs $900 for a 16GB iPad 2.
Although some tech blogs praise Colorware for its aesthetic innovation, many contend that the extra gloss isn’t worth the extra price tag, especially because the wait time for iPhone detailing is approximately three weeks.
“Personally I think the iPad 2 looks better as Apple designed it, and I could think of a lot better things to spend $400 on,” wrote geeky-gadgets.
Still others argue that compared to the alternatives, the Colorware choice grants a significant deal:
“Given how much that white iPhone 4 bumper is about to cost you on eBay, it seems as if the ColorWare’d alternative has never been a better bargain,” wrote engadget.
Although the company does not garnish the front of your product, it does accent the frame, back, earbuds, SIM card tray, and front button.
