iPhone 12 in purple: should you buy it or wait for the iPhone 13?

Apple has released a new color for the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini, and it’s purple. It goes on sale Friday, but I got my hands on an iPhone 12 with 256GB of storage in purple. And I can indeed confirm, it is purple. But the timing for the new color is six months after Apple launched the iPhone 12 series and around six months from the rumor. iPhone 13. So should you buy one or wait? I promise to explain.

Purple is the sixth color for the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini, available in black, white, blue, green, product red and now purple. There were six colors in Apple’s rainbow logo, which the company used from the late ’70s to the’ 90s, and which also contained purple. The new purple color is not available on the iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max, which makes sense as Pro models typically stick to graphite, silver, and gold finishes.

Purple iPhone 12 and 12 Mini goes on sale April 23 and will be available April 30. Prices start at $ 829 (£ 799, AU $ 1,350) for the iPhone 12 or $ 799 if you activate it on a carrier when you buy it. The purple iPhone 12 Mini starts at $ 729 (£ 699, AU $ 1,199) or $ 699 with carrier discount.

Unboxing the iPhone 12 in purple is, unsurprisingly, exactly the same as unboxing any other iPhone 12 or 12 Mini. It has the same slimmer box design that Apple rolled out in October to reduce its impact on the environment. The box has the purple phone on it with the word iPhone and the Apple logo in purple.

It comes with the same accessories as other iPhone 12 models: a single Lightning to USB-C cable. Apple does not include wired headphones or a wall charger in the box plus.

My first reaction when I saw the phone in person? Yeah, it’s purple. In the promotional video for the event, the color purple looked like a deep, rich shade, like Prince purple. Or Joker from Purple Batman. But it’s actually a pretty light purple. Almost like an Easter purple.

Last year there was the iPhone 11 in purple, but it was more of a light lavender color. The iPhone 12’s purple looks richer, but gives off the same positive vibes.

The flat aluminum edges of the iPhone 12 are also purple and match the back. It sounds really striking in person. But even though the color is new, everything else on the phone is the same. It has the same support for 5G. The OLED display is covered with Apple’s ceramic shield. The body has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It supports MagSafe wireless charging and accessories. It has the same A14 Bionic processor, runs on iOS 14 software, and even has the same cameras.

And that brings me to the question: should you buy it? We’re at this odd point halfway through the typical iPhone refresh cycle. And it makes sense for Apple to release a new color to boost interest in the iPhone 12.

In most cases, if you need to upgrade and are looking to get an iPhone, it would be ridiculous to wait. Get the iPhone 12 and rest comfortably knowing that Apple supports its phones four or even five years after their release with the operating system and security updates.

If you know you’ll want the latest and greatest and can wait six months, you probably already know your decision. And if you love everything purple, what are you waiting for? But let’s be real for a moment. It doesn’t matter what phone you get or what color it is, most people will likely take this purple beauty and put it in a case.