Step Aside Space Grey
Space Grey had its day in the sun, but now it's time for it to step aside.
The colour(s) we know as Space Grey came onto the scene in 2013 with the iPhone 5s. Previously, Apple had dabbled with an ever-changing lineup of dark hues across their products, from the Black U2 iPod & Graphite nano; to the Slate lineup featuring the iPhone 5, iPad mini, & iPods nano, mini, & touch.
While many of these colorways remained locked to one specific product, it was Space Grey that took a dominant role in Apple's ecosystem, eventually permeating across every Apple product category from the iPod shuffle to iMac Pro. Space Grey became & remains the standard second option for many of Apple's products: there was Silver & there was now Space Grey.
But unlike the Silver aluminium finish, Space Grey underwent numerous changes to the colour/saturation, resulting in a finish that never looked the same from one product to the next. Frustrating as this was, the general trend has been that Space Grey has shifted towards becoming darker, year over year, since its debut.
Will the real Space Grey please stand up?
But putting the inconsistency aside, Space Grey's signature trait was that it offered a refreshed look for Apple's devices, particularly their notebooks & iPads. Silver aluminium had taken root as the only offering for many of Apple's portables, so a new finish was a welcome addition. Space Grey was not only the new hotness; it also gave off a more understated, pro vibe that appealed to a lot of users. I myself couldn't resist the allure of Space Grey, purchasing my 13" 2016 MacBook Pro, iPhone X, and later the 2018 iPad Pro all in Space Grey.
A snapshot of some of the Space Grey products I’ve owned over the years, including the iPhone X, the 2016 MacBook Pro, and 2018 11” iPad Pro.
But nearly a decade since its introduction, I'm kind of done with Space Grey and am ready for Apple to expand into other colour offerings & finishes. I'm not saying that Apple should do away with darker colours, but I am eager for Apple to expand beyond, to borrow a line from Intel's stupid ad campaign, offering just "grey and... greyer" options. While the raw aluminium still maintains a timeless quality, Space Grey is coming to feel less appealing in its design over time.
We are beginning to see signs of this transition. The iPhone, starting with the XR, 11, & 12 lines, has done away with Space Grey in favour of Black alongside a range of seasonal colours, and the iPhone 13 continued the trend by introducing Midnight, a dark shade of blue very reminiscent of the Slate colour from 2012. Last year the iPad Air 4 & AirPods Max included a much darker Space Grey but expanded the lineup with several new aluminium finishes including Green, Sky Blue & Pink. In 2020 the Apple Watch added Blue & PRODUCT(RED) finishes for the first time, and in 2021 expanded the colour options with new Green, Midnight, and Starlight finishes while updating their shades of Blue & PRODUCT(RED). And earlier this year, we also received the striking iMac redesign, which introduced even more aluminium finishes - Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, & Purple - earning high praise. Apple struck a chord with users by being willing to infuse more colours into their product line, and the result are products that, at least to me, feel their most personal since the days of the iPod nano.
It wouldn't surprise me to see Apple continuing to offer a darker model in their lineup, particularly across their 'pro' products. Still, it wouldn't be disappointed to see a reimagined darker colour offering. In particular, the return of a colour like Slate or a matte black finish would be jaw-dropping. I also wish Apple was a little bit less allergic to infusing more colour options into their 'pro' products. It'll get old after a while, and in another decade, maybe we'll want Space Grey back in our lives, but now's the time for a little more colour and a little less grey.
External Link:
Space Grey Odyssey by Michael Steeber - 9to5Mac
