Those are all beautiful colors, yet they gave us those ass colors for the 15 Pro and 16 Pro phones.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Alleged iPhone 17 Pro Chassis Offers First Look at All-Aluminum Body
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
By your logic I should have no problem carrying 50 phones either, but that’s silly and unnecessary. I understand more than anyone the desire to carry less - I carry NO keys, I have them in Apple Wallet for this very reason. But it has nothing to do with weight, it has to do with volume.
Right now, we are at the limits of how reasonably thin we can make the phones. They are as heavy as they are because they need to be, it’s not like Apple is putting weights in them for fun.
The ergonomics suffer due to physical constraints as well. The pros have a camera bump. The Air is proposed to have an even more pronounced camera bump, and greatly diminished battery life relative to the pros.
Maybe one day there will be a new battery technology that can be equally energy dense in a smaller footprint, and new sensor technologies that can lose the bump, and then we can all have slim phones. Until then though we still have this large bulging thing in our pants. It could way 1 ounce or 20, that makes little difference.
Until the entire device is slimmed down, and not just the lower 3/4 of it, we are not going to get a markedly improved “in pocket” experience.
No no, that’s not my logic at all - don't get it twisted. That's your logic; I just flipped it into a different analogy to show the flaw (and yes, carrying 50 keys is silly, but you didn't argue they should be bulkier and heavier just because we are not mice - which was your logic to begin with).
On the contrary, my logic is that current devices are already heavy enough, and they should be lighter if possible. Changing a chassis material to achieve this is welcome, at least to me. Apple clearly agrees, otherwise we wouldn’t even be having this conversation; they wouldn’t be moving back to aluminum or introducing an Air model if they thought the current weight was just fine (assuming all this plays out of course).
At the end of the day, it’s good that there’s more choice in the market. If someone prefers the heavier, feature-packed Pro, great. If someone values a lighter, more comfortable device in-pocket, also great. The point is: weight does matter to some of us, and it’s worth designing for that too. For those that it doesn't matter, go grab what is best for you - but don't speak on behalf of everyone when you say this is useless and no one asked for it.
I agree most of it is marketing bs to hype something. However, my experience is that aluminum is more prone to denting and gauging than steel or titanium. Titanium and steel are more likely to just scratch or have color come off.
as someone who only buys a pro, I can only see this as a downgrade for marginal to no improvement. What are the benefits? It’s a little lighter now, which realistically affects nothing? Shaving off mere grams of weight doesn’t achieve any significant improvement in ergonomics or usability of the device, and it comes at the expense of my phone now being made of a less durable and less premium material. Titanium was lighter than steel and very durable. They should’ve just stuck with that. And they should not be surprised when there is pushback on this change, especially after the way they themselves marketed the switch to titanium.
The TiBook commonly got dents, but much worse were the hinge failures and paint chipping.
However, what annoyed me to no end is the way they introduced the AluBooks. What I wanted was a 12” PowerBook with USB 2 and told all my friends in 2001-2002 Apple would release one. Then in late 2002 Apple released a new PowerBook… G4 Titanium 15” with USB 1, and no 12” model.
So because I need to upgrade from my G3 iBook, I bought one… only to be presented with a new 12” and 17” PowerBook Aluminum with USB 2 just a couple of months later at Macworld. And overall, IMO the AluBooks were nicer than the TiBooks.
I really dont understand the overreaction here. The aluminum alloy used in iphones was designed specifically for smart phone use. It has a proven successful track record. It's been perfectly fine for years. Stainless steel is heavier, more expensive, and prove to scratches. (my iphone X used to flake off the black film on the stainless steel too) Titanium is a good material but it doesnt actually solve a problem for the iphone. It actually creates new ones by being less thermally conductive and more expensive. Titanium makes sense on a watch maybe but on the phone? its totally unnecessary.
I have a steel one for when I used to commute and a titanium one for long distances. No longer have an alu or carbon one primarily for comfort reasons but then I’m not going to sit on my phone.
I am fine with aluminum for the next iPhone, and will also agree that aluminum does provide some advantages, but scratch resistance is not one of those advantages.
The steel and the titanium with it’s coating weren’t that scratch resistant neither…
Last edited:
You’ll put it in a case like everyone else and won’t care.. so don’t worry about it. All these ugly comments about the chassis are moot when I’d be willing to bed 80%+ use a case. The other 18% will drop their phone and be pissed it’s damaged/broken, 1% will not care, and 1% won’t drop it, case-less. 🤷🏽♂️ rough figures of course.
Pick a side...is it "taco" or are the tariffs in place and causing price increases?
Im not saying it’s bad. It’s just bad because Apple all the years claimed how superior titanium, stainless steel etc is towards aluminum, just to change back
That’s true. But if you want to nail them with all „superior“ stuff over the years, you will a lot, same goes for other companies.
That’s the usual marketing bs.
Not sure I’d file that under “pro,” but thanks for the tip.