How dark is the Space Grey MBA M1?

[Aggedor]

I have two Space Grey iPads, and have never liked the colour as it looks to me more like a dirty gunmetal grey. My old MBP was silver, and my wife's new M1 MBA is also silver.

I was going to get myself a silver MBA, but then a friend sent me a photo of his Space Grey MBA M1, and the thing is DARK! Like, a totally different shade of dark grey to what I have seen before, veering toward the iMac Pro colour.

I know Space Grey has varied wildly in tone over time, but are the M1 MBAs really that dark? What do people who have them think? I'd love to see some photos!

Normally I'd just go to an Apple store and take a look myself, but they are all closed now in the UK for probably 3+ months.

 

[Rck1984]

Space grey is lighter than before, it creeps a lot more towards silver.
To give you an idea..

iPad Pro 2018 left, MacBook Air M1 on the right:

 

[chabig]

I don't think mine is very dark. The space grays Macs have always been lighter than the space gray iPads and phones. Apple hosts a website for checking out their products, and about halfway down this page you can use AR to view the machine in your home.

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. Up to 22 hours of battery life. The world’s best laptop display. Now in a new color: Space Black.

www.apple.com

 

[Aggedor]

Space grey is lighter than before, it creeps a lot more towards silver.
To give you an idea..

iPad Pro 2018 left, MacBook Air M1 on the right:

View attachment 1708337

Very curious. It must have been the light in my friend's photo, as his MBA looks the same colour as your iPad. My iPads look the same as your MBA.

 

[Aggedor]

I don't think mine is very dark. The space grays Macs have always been lighter than the space gray iPads and phones. Apple hosts a website for checking out their products, and about halfway down this page you can use AR to view the machine in your home.

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. Up to 22 hours of battery life. The world’s best laptop display. Now in a new color: Space Black.

www.apple.com

Thanks for the tip!

I wonder why Apple has such variance in the colour? They must have a QC procedure for finish, which means SG would have to literally be a different colour for different devices.

 

[chabig]

Yes, the colors vary by product because marketing. But I've had three space gray MacBook Pros in the past five years and they were all the same color. In my opinion, the color on the website exactly matches the color of my machine.

 

[Aggedor]

Yes, the colors vary by product because marketing. But I've had three space gray MacBook Pros in the past five years and they were all the same color. In my opinion, the color on the website exactly matches the color of my machine.

Good to know, thank you!

 

[Quackers]

I had a M1 MBP in Space Grey and I thought it was quite dark! I really liked it though. It's a bit of a change from the silver
I have an Air on its way in the same colour too!

 

[Aggedor]

My friend has sent me another picture - this is his SG MBA next to a silver one. It looks VERY dark to me. He says this is in full sunlight under a window.

 

[Quackers]

My friend has sent me another picture - this is his SG MBA next to a silver one. It looks VERY dark to me. He says this is in full sunlight under a window.

View attachment 1708373

That looks about right.

 

[thadoggfather]

My friend has sent me another picture - this is his SG MBA next to a silver one. It looks VERY dark to me. He says this is in full sunlight under a window.

View attachment 1708373

it looks very dark next to silver, but on its own I don't think its that dark in most lighting

ive had an i5 2020 Air and 12" 2015 MB in space grey, and I always get tired of it. but ymmv

this is probably as dark as it gets

 

[Aggedor]

In that picture it does look a lot darker than the image posted by @Rck1984 - much more like the iPad than the MBA.

 

[Rck1984]

In that picture it does look a lot darker than the image posted by @Rck1984 - much more like the iPad than the MBA.

It depends on the angle of the light as well, but the space grey of the MacBook Air M1 is definitely lighter than my iPad Pro 2018.

 

[MrKennedy]

It's darker than silver, but not that much darker. I've got a SG MPB and a silver Air. To me the Pro looks dull (maybe not the best descriptor).

 

[thadoggfather]

It's darker than silver, but not that much darker. I've got a SG MPB and a silver Air. To me the Pro looks dull (maybe not the best descriptor).

SG isn't horrible but at the same time its MASSIVELY overrated imo

though I am happy most are SG in the wild, makes me appreciate my silver even more

Now if they went with a solid, thick hue of black like the keys almost, I would be MUCH more interested and sustained interested

 

[Quackers]

SG isn't horrible but at the same time its MASSIVELY overrated imo

though I am happy most are SG in the wild, makes me appreciate my silver even more

Now if they went with a solid, thick hue of black like the keys almost, I would be MUCH more interested and sustained interested

SG is a bit different after 8 years of a silver rMBP.
Apple have patented some kind of black finish.

 

[Apple_Robert]

It isn't very dark at all. In my opinion, Apple seems to be blurring the line between space gray and silver more and more each release. The space gray still looks good but the difference in shading is noticeable.

 

[thadoggfather]

SG is a bit different after 8 years of a silver rMBP.
Apple have patented some kind of black finish.

that's true. I've taken a breather from silver when I got the 12" and my air earlier this year but I quickly realized silver is still 'it' for me

and even after a bit of time off from it, silver feels novel again to me haha

especially for how ubiquitous Space Grey is in public for 'modern' Macs

 

[Anonyic]

I know this is an old forum, but thought I’ll message anyway as I was thinking the same thing! I just bought the 2019 i9 16” Mac Pro and this thing is DARK! Even in natural light. They deffo changed the colour, not sure about the M1 version though.