14 DAY TRIAL // Now that the cat’s out of the bag (regarding Apple’s plans to ship a golden iPhone this year), people are beginning to wonder whether thieves will be more enticed to steal the new handsets.
The question is almost a rhetorical one. The iPhone is already one of the hottest targets for thieves, so a golden one will be even more flashy. Literally.
Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York City Police officer who now teaches police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is quoted in a report by the Huffington Post as saying this much.
“There might be some perception that the gold one is the gold standard for somebody who is either planning or instantaneously decides to [steal a phone].”
He tells the paper that iPhone thefts are “opportunistic,” not premeditated acts.
He adds, “The reality is that crime tends to mirror fashion trends. Any flashy, new, fashionable trend-setting device is going to elicit attention from consumers and criminals.”
Mat Mullen, the founder of a company that makes security software to track stolen iPhones, agrees.
The iHound Software boss also opines that a golden iPhone would also act as the perfect indicator that the phone is of the newest generation, and therefore will fetch the most cash.
“If you're a smart thief you know that gold is the newest version,” Mullen says. “There's going to be a higher market value for gold one if you can immediately tell it's the newest version,” he believes.
Finally, the paper quotes a public information officer with the San Francisco Police Department who believes history will repeat itself, likening the golden iPhone to the original iPhone, which thieves used to spot based on the white headphones (which weren’t mainstream in 2007).
“I imagine it'll be the same thing,” Toomer said. “A gold phone is pretty unique to other phones.”
Then again, this theory is also (partially) based on the general misconception that Apple will actually release a golden ingot with a shiny Apple logo stamped on it (like shown in the first image above). The actual color of the phone, as described by several sources with knowledge of the matter, is “champagne” (as depicted in the second image).
