McLaren Releases Special-edition Smartphone

OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition comes with 10GB of RAM, fast-charging, and Papaya Orange trim.

What do Porsche, Ferrari, and McLaren all have in common? They build amazing cars like the 911, 812 Superfast, and 720S, of course. The trio also have successful careers in racing (Ferrari and McLaren in Formula 1, all three in endurance racing). And now, all three have had their names on a phone.

Porsche Design has done a few phones in the past, the most recent being the Porsche Design Huawei Mate 20 RS, released in October 2018. Ferrari’s last foray into telephony was in 2013, when it lent its brand to Vertu Ti for a limited-edition piece inspired by the F12 Berlinetta. None of those can compare to the phone McLaren teamed up with OnePlus to build, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition.

Unveiled at the McLaren Technology Centre’s “Salute to Speed” event December 11 2018, and released to the United States on December 13, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition represents the start of the English automaker’s long-term partnership with OnePlus.

Built upon the 6T, which debuted to the world back in late October 2018, the 6T McLaren Edition comes with a ton of goodies, such as a plaque containing McLaren’s famed Speedmark composed of the same F1 AA-grade carbon fiber used by McLaren’s racing team, and a booklet chronicling the histories of McLaren and OnePlus.

As for the phone itself, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition is trimmed in McLaren’s signature Papaya Orange, the glass back features a carbon fiber pattern, and the display includes a special McLaren logo load screen and McLaren-themed wallpaper. Inside, the 6T has 10GB of RAM for handling everything from playing PUBG Mobile to editing RAW photos, 256GB of storage, and OnePlus’s new Warp Charge 30 fast-charging system, which gives the phone a full day’s worth of power in only 20 minutes.

And while Porsche Design asks for MacBook money for its phone (which is only available in Europe, anyway), not to mention the near-$7,000 price tag Ferrari and Vertu Ti wanted back for their phone in 2013, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition will only set you back $699. It also can be used on AT&T’s, T-Mobile’s, and Verizon’s networks, but not on Sprint’s.

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Cameron Aubernon

Cameron Aubernon's path to automotive journalism began in the early New '10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn't, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she's written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city's NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.

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