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An annoying characteristic of all Apple trackpads is the slightly different colour; it’s especially noticeable on the silver version
Great review. Just now really noticed on my 13 yr old Silver MBP, the trackpad being a darker silver/ grey-ish after reading your article.

Funny how one gets used to things until they're completely filtered out.
 
I'm typically a Space Gray / Graphite kind of person when it comes to devices except the laptops (went with a starlight iPhone this year because I actually despise the Midnight Color). Had a space grey MBP a few years back but returned it for several reasons. One of the main takeaways was the darker color laptops show dust much easier. Constantly wiping it down and the color seems to wear.

If iPhones go back to a true black or grey color, I'm all about it. But with every MacBook I'll ever purchase, silver is the way to go. As far as your color scheme goes, I admire it. Something about having something that's dark blue would irk me ... haha. Just a personal opinion.
 
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For some reason, there aren’t many silver pictures online, so when I wrote a review of my silver M2, I took lots of pictures comparing it to space grey:


If this were my first MacBook, I’d get space grey. It always looks stunning. However, after five space grey MacBooks in a row, I went silver and I absolutely love the retro vibe!
I’ve seen your review, very well done and appreciated the pictures and angles. You’re right, hard to find a lot of pictures of the silver model
 
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Silver is easily the 'cleanest' looking MacBook colour. I know a few top, top designers who all have silver for a reason.

I don't personally jump on the new Apple trends for colours, such as Midnight, because one can soon tire of them.

I think Midnight will get 'nicks' and show the silver underneath the paint.
 
I think Midnight will get 'nicks' and show the silver underneath the paint.
I think it is inevitable that the Midnight will get minor scratches and chips. I already have a couple of nicks around one of my USB-C ports. If that sort of thing bothers you, don't get the Midnight color.
 
I don't have the Air, but I have a 14" M1 Pro in silver. Personally, I love this color and have found it to be very durable. No fingerprints or scuffs. Mine is a launch day device and still looks like it did on day one. I keep it in a sleeve, but don't baby it and use it every day. Almost a year old and looks great!
This is me too, and I feel the same
 
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This is me too, and I feel the same
I feel like I would greatly appreciate it just for that. Won’t show any marks or slight imperfections. While I don’t find it as nice as midnight, I think I’ll appreciate it later on when I see the posts popping up of the midnights scuffing and wearing lol
 
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I wish I didn’t have as much ocd and just enjoy the device. The hinge is off by less than a millimetre but the gap is there, the finish missing isn’t noticeable unless you’re looking for it in the hinge.

My biggest worry is I’ll get a unit with worse backlight bleed then what I have now lol. Seems quite a few have complained about that with this generation air.
 
I feel like I would greatly appreciate it just for that. Won’t show any marks or slight imperfections. While I don’t find it as nice as midnight, I think I’ll appreciate it later on when I see the posts popping up of the midnights scuffing and wearing lol
Did someone say silver again? Boom!

I'll get to this point at some (hopefully) stage deciding if Silver or SG is the one for me. Not a MBA but MBP purchase if all stars align. Luckily at this stage there's only those two options.

In person I didn't like the Midnight, with the store lighting it was just predominately black to my eyes. I've already spoken about dark colors and their affinity to show scratches. It's not just that, but I think if they'll remove this color in the future it will just look dated or be a short lived trend? I guess the traditional colors are also a "safer" bet come selling time. That's just speculative and my own opinion.

If you don't like any marks, many years to come then Silver is it! I know am harping on about this Silver 13 yr old MBP of mine but the amount of cleaning cloths/ fluids on the aluminum for well over a decade has left no wear or buff marks whatsoever.
 
Did someone say silver again? Boom!

I'll get to this point at some (hopefully) stage deciding if Silver or SG is the one for me. Not a MBA but MBP purchase if all stars align. Luckily at this stage there's only those two options.

In person I didn't like the Midnight, with the store lighting it was just predominately black to my eyes. I've already spoken about dark colors and their affinity to show scratches. It's not just that, but I think if they'll remove this color in the future it will just look dated or be a short lived trend? I guess the traditional colors are also a "safer" bet come selling time. That's just speculative and my own opinion.

If you don't like any marks, many years to come then Silver is it! I know am harping on about this Silver 13 yr old MBP of mine but the amount of cleaning cloths/ fluids on the aluminum for well over a decade has left no wear or buff marks whatsoever.
Hopefully the same level of quality aluminum being used, as its recycled aluminum now, I dont think it was way back then lol.
 
Alright the order for silver is in! Apples letting me keep my midnight until the new one arrives. Decided to downgrade my storage to 512, 1tb was overkill, use the savings for AppleCare. Still get the better speeds so no real lose for me lol

They were quite concerned about the mis aligned hinge, said it would cause damage overtime being uneven like that, so im glad I brought it back in to start the exchange
 
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Hopefully the same level of quality aluminum being used, as its recycled aluminum now, I dont think it was way back then lol.
May be, Q of finish and tolerances were certainly better back then. I'll prob put my hand through a new MBPs screen trying to clean it same as I have this ol Matte display.
 
The hinge is off by less than a millimetre but the gap is there, the finish missing isn’t noticeable unless you’re looking for it in the hinge.
A mm is nothing to discount based percentile of the overall dimensions of the unit. In my old job I was used to working in thou=0.0254mm
 
Alright the order for silver is in! Apples letting me keep my midnight until the new one arrives. Decided to downgrade my storage to 512, 1tb was overkill, use the savings for AppleCare. Still get the better speeds so no real lose for me lol

They were quite concerned about the mis aligned hinge, said it would cause damage overtime being uneven like that, so im glad I brought it back in to start the exchange
Wow, didn't see that coming, welcome to the silver club. Be interested to see how you get on with the replacement.
 
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Wow, didn't see that coming, welcome to the silver club. Be interested to see how you get on with the replacement.
It won't be here until mid September, we'll see if the midnight can sway me until then but I doubt it lol. The more and more I see pictures and video of the silver, the more its growing on me.

At least ill have both side by side when it shows up, by then this midnight will be a month old. Should give me a good idea of how its held up. Leaving for camping next week, We'll see if the midnight finish holds up to a little outdoors as well lol
 
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Silver also stays colour in the warm weather / sun. Mine is still cool right now after 40 minutes outside in the sun, whilst my old SG MBP would be hot with the fans going wild by now.
 
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My personal opinion is that silver is best.

Subjectively, I like the classic look and contrast with the black keys.

Objectively, silver is superior because it is best at hiding scratches and dings. The colors are made with anodizing. They oxidation layer is not very thick nor durable. It's quite easy to scratch through it and expose the aluminum underneath, which will be very visible due to the contrast with the color. Check out some older Macbook models at an Apple Store - it will show some good wear and tear. The area around the ports and the edges on a space gray Macbook Pro will be all scuffed up and you can see the silver underneath. Obviously the silver color can get just as scratched, but you won't see it as much since the color underneath is the same and there is no contrast.
 
I would swap for Silver if you plan to keep it for many years. My Space Grey 2016" MBP was babied and still ended up with a bunch of nicks on the coating. My 14" MBP (in Silver) is holding up phenomenally well and it looks so gorgeous. The contrast with the blacked-out keyboard deck is beautiful.
 
I would swap for Silver if you plan to keep it for many years. My Space Grey 2016" MBP was babied and still ended up with a bunch of nicks on the coating.

Well, the OP already went for Silver, but just to weigh in for anyone in the future. We've been through this many times in the forums. There have been reports of the finish wearing off on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, etc, but it's not widespread.

There have also been reports of discoloring on the silver models too so going with silver doesn't exempt you from being the unlucky winner of the QC reverse lottery.

Just buy the color that makes you happy.

FWIW, I've had many devices in Space Grey and none of them have had their finish wear off, even the laptops that were regularly shoved into photography bags and taken on trips.
 
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Well, the OP already went for Silver, but just to weigh in for anyone in the future. We've been through this many times in the forums. There have been reports of the finish wearing off on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, etc, but it's isolated. There have also been reports of discoloring on the silver models too so going with silver doesn't exempt you from being the unlucky winner of the QC reverse lottery.

Just buy the color that makes you happy.

FWIW, I've had many devices in Space Grey once it became available and none of them have had their finish wear off, even the laptops that were regularly shoved into photography bags and taken on trips.
This is my space grey iPad Pro. Only ever attached to an Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple folio, and carried inside a padded sleeve, in my laptop bag, at all times. I went with a MBP 14” in Silver
 

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This is my space grey iPad Pro. Only ever attached to an Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple folio, and carried inside a padded sleeve, in my laptop bag, at all times. I went with a MBP 14” in Silver

And I've been far harsher on several space grey laptops and never ran into finish issues like this. What does that tell you?

Nothing really except it suggests that problems with finishes aren't systematic. There's no reason to avoid the finish you want.

Go on eBay and take a look at some of the used old silver laptops. Some of those have their finish tarnished too. It even happens to the silvers.
 
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And I've been far harsher on several space grey laptops and never ran into finish issues like this. What does that tell you?

Nothing really except it suggests that problems with finishes aren't systematic. There's no reason to avoid the finish you want.

Go on eBay and take a look at some of the used old silver laptops. Some of those have their finish tarnished too. It even happens to the silvers.
While I love the look of space grey, this experience deterred me from choosing the colour in a laptop, especially with silver exposed with the scratches. The charging and USB ports on a dark laptop are bound to show nicks and marks exposing silver underneath, over time
 
While I love the look of space grey, this experience deterred me from choosing the colour in a laptop, especially with silver exposed with the scratches.

Ok, you're right about that one. While there is still scratch damage on the silvers around the ports, you're a lot less likely to notice it.
 
I appreciate all the input here. It seem all the colours have their upsides and down. Luckily I still have a couple more weeks with my midnight to help truly decide before my silver one arrives.
 
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My silver m2 should be here this week, ahead of schedule by a week. Still dont know which colour ill prefer yet, my current midnight or this silver. But im definitely loving the Mac experience so far
 
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