Apple’s new iPad Air channels the Pixel 3a’s ‘Purple-ish’ on the phone’s 5-year anniversary

Ben Schoon | May 7 2024 - 8:30 am PT

Five years ago today, Google launched the Pixel 3a at I/O 2019 with a cheeky “Purple-ish” color variant and, with its latest batch of iPads, Apple is channeling that color again.

Apple just launched new iPads today, including a refresh to the iPad Air. The latest generation gets an M2 chip, upgraded displays, and more, but also gets some new colors. Among those is a purple color that’s quite faint, and immediately brought back memories of the Google Pixel 3a’s “Purple-ish” option.

The Pixel 3a launched five years ago on May 7, 2019, and Google’s “Purple-ish” was the signature version of the device. It had a cool and very subtle purple tone to its plastic body. Apple isn’t copying that outright, as the new iPad’s purple is just as faint, but with a warmer tone on the tablet’s metal chassis.

Still, the timing is pretty ironic.

Of course, this isn’t the first pastel-y purple Apple has released. The previous 5th-Gen iPad Air also came in a light-purple color variant, as did the iPad Mini that Apple neglected to refresh today. But both of those, while closer in tone to Google’s cooler purple, were a bit more saturated than this latest release on Apple’s part.

Meanwhile, Google is ramping up for the launch of Pixel 8a which will come in some very vibrant colors.

You can learn all about the new iPad lineup over at 9to5Mac.