TI-84 calculator reportedly being updated with a color screen

The iconic TI-84 calculator’s stark grayscale is giving way to a color screen, at least in one new model. A forum member at Cemetech posted a shot of a “TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition,” which includes a color screen similar to Texas Instruments’ existing Nspire CX. According to the poster, it’ll be coming out next spring, but his classroom received two dozen for testing. After seeing the post, Tech Powered Math reached out to an anonymous source, who confirmed that Texas Instruments was indeed developing the calculator; the company’s site also references it as an upcoming device.

The TI-84 line has long resisted color, even as it was added to the Nspire CX — and according to Tech Powered Math’s Lucas Allen, a color version would probably require other hardware upgrades. Allen also says math educators have shifted dramatically towards using the Nspire in recent years, and Texas Instruments would have two similar competing products. As anyone who spent math class surreptitiously gaming on a TI-83 or 84 can attest, a new screen could certainly open up some recreational options, but it’s also easy to be nostalgic about the experience of playing Block Dude in black and white.