Apple Could Still Pull the Plug on Its Much-Maligned FineWoven Cases

[MacRumors]

Last September, Apple stopped selling genuine leather accessories in favor of a more environmentally friendly "FineWoven" material, but it did not go down well with customers, and dwindling stock leading up to Apple's iPhone 16 event on September 9 has many people wondering if Apple is about to pull the plug on FineWoven for good.

The company describes FineWoven as "luxurious and durable microtwill," and sells FineWoven iPhone cases at $59, MagSafe Wallets at $59, AirTag holders at $35, and Apple Watch bands at $99. However, many customers consider FineWoven products to be subpar compared to the leather Apple cases they replaced, with various claims that the fabric is prone to scratches, stains, and discoloration.

Back in April, Apple leaker and prototype collector Kosutami claimed that Apple had decided to halt production of FiveWoven accessories over durability concerns, although the leaker did not discount the possibility of one more round of FineWoven products, possibly in a season of new colors. However, FineWoven accessories in new color options were absent from Apple's spring refresh.

Notably, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, stock of iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands in the material is now at an all-time low. That generally means that Apple is either getting ready to kill off FineWoven or plans to update the lineup with different colors and support for new iPhone and Apple Watch models. Will you miss Apple's FineWoven accessories if Apple does discontinue them? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Apple Could Still Pull the Plug on Its Much-Maligned FineWoven Cases

 

[breenmask]

pull it.

now.

 

[CChrisG]

Just kill it, it is crap

 

[Deine Mudda]

Yes please, these are absolutely horrible and an absolute disgrace compared to the full price and that leather accessories costed the same.

 

[ric22]

I'd actually assumed they'd already pulled that crap! Awful product.

 

[Martius]

And my beautiful leather case on my iPhone SE still looks great after 4 years. Just a little bit of patina. So who's more eco-friendly?

I'm still wondering, wouldn't it be eco-friendly if cases could be reused between multiple generations of the same device? It certainly wouldn't be necessary to resize the camera bump every year. I mean, it's actually best not to buy a new phone every year because each successive generation adds less and less value.

All this eco-marketing pisses me off. Very hypocritical...

 

[desslr]

FineWoven is up there as one of their worst ever products, but won't be surprised if they roll out a Gen 2

They also made a massive mistake pricing it the same as leather when the product is incomparable. Greed

 

[spazzcat]

I already have, my 15 pro is the first iPhone to not have an Apple case.

 

[contacos]

Speaks volumes about Apple that they didn't pull or at least discount them. They really still are in their "people buy everything we release anyway" phase.

 

[FridgeToaster]

I tried the fine woven watch band at Apple Store in Hong Kong. The sales guy literally told me "don't buy, it's crap".

 

[ric22]

I tried the fine woven watch band at Apple Store in Hong Kong. The sales guy literally told me "don't buy, it's crap".

Ha! The staff in an Apple Store in Germany told my friend the same thing (though he already knew).

 

[BelgianChoklit]

It's not that they're garbage. I think people are exaggerating.

But 69€ for that? It's plain theft. They should sell for 30€ tops. The silicone ones same and bring back leather cases for 50€.

 

[coffeemilktea]

Apple should bring back leather; it looks classy and it's better for the environment, purely because people are encouraged to keep leather accessories longer.

Using subpar materials like FineWoven means that accessories will get damaged and get replaced more often, contributing more to waste. Though I guess replacing them contributes more to Apple's bottom line. 🤪

 

[jeshanros]

I’ve had a FineWoven case on my 15PM for nearly a year. After receiving the case, opted to keep my leather  MagSafe wallet instead of getting the FineWoven wallet. Definitely will not buy another FineWoven product.

 

[benroberts3]

While I much prefer real leather, I think Apple should have opted to use vegan leather in their products over fine woven.

I have to imagine there were many internal folks who said the case isn’t durable and looks awful after a few weeks of real-world testing

 

[Porco]

‘We heard customers weren’t entirely happy with FineWoven, so we’re excited to announce we’re replacing it today with something much better, and we think you’re going to love it...’

-applause-

‘Introducing EvenFinerWoven!’

-tumbleweeds-

 

[Minato1990]

Pull this ****
Who cares bout PETA

 

[Chet-NYC]

I really, really hope they pull it and kill it. Not just for customers, but for my former retail colleagues who need carefully tap dance around what a miserable product it really is.

Apple absolutely should have just gone to plant based "leather" as a replacement.

 

[dotnet]

While I much prefer real leather, I think Apple should have opted to use vegan leather in their products over fine woven.

Vegan leather is a feel-good travesty. I much prefer full grain leather to some 100% man-made concoction straight out of the IG Farben recipe book. It would have to be proper leather, though, not this paper-thin leather veneer over a plastic shell that Apple used to sell as "leather".

And no, not a single cow has ever died for its skin. I eat beef, and I'm all for nose to tail utilisation of the animal.

 

[kiranmk2]

It's not that they're garbage. I think people are exaggerating.

But 69€ for that? It's plain theft. They should sell for 30€ tops. The silicone ones same and bring back leather cases for 50€.

Apple should bring back leather; it looks classy and it's better for the environment, purely because people are encouraged to keep leather accessories longer.

Using subpar materials like FineWoven means that accessories will get damaged and get replaced more often, contributing more to waste. Though I guess replacing them contributes more to Apple's bottom line. 🤪

Quite the pickle Apple are in after going to such lengths to trumpet moving away from leather. Any move back to leather (which would be the obvious thing to do) is now off the cards as it would be a PR nightmare. But then, dropping Finewoven would pick a big dent in their revenues from people paying $59 for an iPhone case...

Vegan leather could be an option although it's leaving the door open to complaints that $59 is too much for polyurethane. I wonder if that mushroom-based leather is durable enough and has scaled-up enough to be used...

 

[Powerbooky]

Socks! I had something similar for my iPod back then with jeans fabric.

 

[childu]

Last September, Apple stopped selling genuine leather accessories in favor of a more environmentally friendly "FineWoven" material, but it did not go down well with customers, and dwindling stock leading up to Apple's iPhone 16 event on September 9 has many people wondering if Apple is about to pull the plug on FineWoven for good.

The company describes FineWoven as "luxurious and durable microtwill," and sells FineWoven iPhone cases at $59, MagSafe Wallets at $59, AirTag holders at $35, and Apple Watch bands at $99. However, many customers consider FineWoven products to be subpar compared to the leather Apple cases they replaced, with various claims that the fabric is prone to scratches, stains, and discoloration.

Back in April, Apple leaker and prototype collector Kosutami claimed that Apple had decided to halt production of FiveWoven accessories over durability concerns, although the leaker did not discount the possibility of one more round of FineWoven products, possibly in a season of new colors. However, FineWoven accessories in new color options were absent from Apple's spring refresh.

Notably, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, stock of iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands in the material is now at an all-time low. That generally means that Apple is either getting ready to kill off FineWoven or plans to update the lineup with different colors and support for new iPhone and Apple Watch models. Will you miss Apple's FineWoven accessories if Apple does discontinue them? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Apple Could Still Pull the Plug on Its Much-Maligned FineWoven Cases

Bring leather back!

 

[wikiverse]

Finewoven is plastic. 'Vegan leather' is plastic. There is no improvement going from one to another. Plastic degrades, and is just as disposable and non-recyclable when glued to other plastics, regardless of how 'vegan' it is. Calling plastic 'vegan leather' is the dumbest attempt to re-brand disposable, non-recyclable, degradable plastic I've encountered.

Just use leather. The animals are getting killed for their meat anyway, might as use all of their parts. It's much more environmentally friendly. Apple absolutely has the resources to dictate what tanning chemicals and procedures occur, and how any potential waste is managed.

 

[StuBeck]

And my beautiful leather case on my iPhone SE still looks great after 4 years. Just a little bit of patina. So who's more eco-friendly?

I'm still wondering, wouldn't it be eco-friendly if cases could be reused between multiple generations of the same device? It certainly wouldn't be necessary to resize the camera bump every year. I mean, it's actually best not to buy a new phone every year because each successive generation adds less and less value.

All this eco-marketing pisses me off. Very hypocritical...

Yes, it would be. The whole idea of "reduce, reuse, recycle" is about first reducing your use of new materials, then reusing them, and at worse recycling. For some reason people decided that recycling is the best thing they can possibly do.

 

[JohnRckr]

Give us genuine leather accessories again.
Or I’ll just shop some other brand idc.
Apple and their pro-earth wannabe ideologies.. meh