Hands on with the new purple iPhone 12

Apple revealed a new purple color for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini at the "Spring Loaded" event, six months after the line originally debuted. Here's what it looks like, in the real world, compared to some other popular iPhone finishes.

How it fits into the iPhone 12 lineup

During its Spring Loaded event, Apple introduced a new puple colorway for the iPhone 12 as well as the iPhone 12 mini. Users hoping for a purple iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max are sorely out of luck.

It joins the other colors for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, including white, black, blue, green, and (PRODUCT)RED.

When you compare it to the other colors, it is very similar in that it is a soft pastel color that isn't too vivid or bright. The anodized aluminum edges are slightly darker than the back in its hue.

The green iPhone 12 compared to the purple iPhone 12

In our photos, you can see it compared directly to the green iPhone 12 that we picked at launch.

Compared to iPhone 11

For the iPhone 11, Apple also had a purple colorway available to users. We still had one on hand, so we thought it was apt to show the differences between them.

The purple iPhone 11 compared to the purple iPhone 12

Between the two, we easily prefer the new iPhone 12 purple versus the iPhone 11's. The iPhone 11 was paler and slightly darker. It was borderline grey.

The edges of the iPhone 11 were lighter, too, and appeared as a light purple-grey color. Apple ramped up the vibrancy noticeably on the sides of the iPhone 12. It looks much better in our opinion.

Available now

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, purple iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max

The new purple-colored iPhone 12 is available to pick up now and carries the same price tag and features as any other iPhone 12.