Can Apple Watch (TITANIUM) Owners Please Answer A Question For Me?

[Cloudyskies22]

Hey guys, for owners of the titanium Apple Watch 6, 7, or Ultra, could you please accurately describe exactly how the titanium case actually feels to the touch? Can you accurately comment on how slippery it feels when you drag your finger across it? Does it feel very similar to the aluminum? Is it slippery (low friction), like the aluminum? Does it feel similar to the relative roughness of the matte glass on the back of iPhones Pros?

I tried to find answers to these questions from reviews or YouTubers but I could not find them. Apparently reviewers (and YouTubers), aren’t smart enough to comment on obvious things that cannot be ascertained by images or video.

The reason I’m trying to find the answer to this is because of the rumored titanium iPhone 15 Pros. I stopped using a case on my iPhone back in 2017 when the iPhone X launched. The reason I was able to stop using a case is very simple: grip. The iPhone X has material design that offered grip whereas previous iPhones that used aluminum were exceedingly slippery. When Apple switched from the smooth grippy back glass from the iPhone X to the matte glass, we lost grip. And now, I’m more worried because the stainless steel band offers exceedingly high grip, and switching to the titanium will probably make the device nearly as slippery as the old aluminum phones. Fingerprints aren’t a concern; grip is. If a phone is slippery you’ll put it in a case and therefore fingerprint resistance is a moot point.

Anyway, thanks for any description you guys can give of your titanium watches.

 

[Night Spring]

I don't think people's experiences with the Apple watch is going to help you in determining whether a titanium case on the iPhone will be too slippery. I mean, it's a watch, you never hold it, it's fixed to your wrist by the strap. Even when picking it up, you tend to grab it by the strap, not the body. Plus, the area of the watch covered by the metal is so small -- the front is all glass, the back is mostly the sensor, the metal is just the sides. I doubt anybody has any sense of whether the titanium is more or less grippy than the aluminum or the steel.

Also, I hope more knowledgeable posters will correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't grippiness of a metal surface more affected by the finish than the inherent properties of a metal? So even if we could determine that the titanium in the watch is more or less grippy than the aluminum or the steel, wouldn't that change if Apple used a different finish for the iPhone?

 

[jz0309]

As said above, the AW is in the wrist, I barely ever touch it feel the case.
In addition, the iPhone is way bigger (as I am holding my 13PM), so the grip will feel way different compared to holding an AW.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

Both posters above must be missing my question. I’m asking about what it feels like when you place your fingers on the Apple Watch chassis and slide them along it.

That tells a human immediately about its properties of tactile feel. It tells you if it feels very smooth, if it has a bit of roughness like the back matte glass on an iPhone. It tells you if your finger slides quickly across it or if it grips it more or less relative to the aluminum or stainless steel both of which the Apple Watch also come in.

Of course no one is dropping a watch..this is about the metal case and how it feels in order to project how this will be on an iPhone which is likely anodized or finished identically.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I have some titanium items, not an Apple Watch but a penknife and a keychain. Generally speaking, they seem "grippier" than my iPhone 12 Pro.

As to how the 15 Pro will feel, I guess we'll know in roughly 2 months.

 

[Lucid_Icarus]

Both posters above must be missing my question. I’m asking about what it feels like when you place your fingers on the Apple Watch chassis and slide them along it.

That tells a human immediately about its properties of tactile feel. It tells you if it feels very smooth, if it has a bit of roughness like the back matte glass on an iPhone. It tells you if your finger slides quickly across it or if it grips it more or less relative to the aluminum or stainless steel both of which the Apple Watch also come in.

Of course no one is dropping a watch..this is about the metal case and how it feels in order to project how this will be on an iPhone which is likely anodized or finished identically.

I feel like you're answering your own question. If an iPhone is made of the same materials, with an identical finish to the Titanium AW... Would it not have an identical tactile feel? Sure, the weight would be different, but the feel of a material doesn't change based on the length or shape.

 

[ebika]

The titanium on the ultra is smooth, with about the same grippiness of past aluminum iPhones. It’s similar in slide resistance to the matte glass backs of iPhones. The DLC finish on my iPhone 14 Pro purple stainless steel band is more smooth and more slippery by comparison. I have other titanium things (chopsticks, dive knife, 2 other watches), and the texture and grip is very similar to raw aluminum. Surface coatings make them more smooth and more slippery.

 

[Gymnut]

Not to sound snarky, but do you not live near a store where you can feel one yourself? Be it an Apple Store, Best Buy, or even one of the mobile carriers that also sell them. Asking the internet a rather esoteric question is probably not going to yield the results you're looking for.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

The titanium on the ultra is smooth, with about the same grippiness of past aluminum iPhones. It’s similar in slide resistance to the matte glass backs of iPhones. The DLC finish on my iPhone 14 Pro purple stainless steel band is more smooth and more slippery by comparison. I have other titanium things (chopsticks, dive knife, 2 other watches), and the texture and grip is very similar to raw aluminum. Surface coatings make them more smooth and more slippery.

Thank you for answering my question.

However, I vehemently disagree with your assessment of the stainless steel—although I don’t have the purple I’m guessing it’s the same as the other stainless.

The stainless steel band on the iPhone X — iPhone 14 Pro is far more grippy than any aluminum iPhone.

Human hands grip the stainless steel very very tightly in fact, especially when it’s clean. Aluminum has exceedingly low friction and the hand glides along it very easily, always.

This has been my major concern and why I think Apple’s move to titanium without a coating to make it grippy like the stainless steel is such a fundamentally flawed and terrible idea. If the material design is slippery then everyone will put the phone in a case because you cannot hold onto slippery material like aluminum.

The smooth glass of the iPhone X back and the stainless steel offered immense grip whereas now we have the low friction matte glass and now the low friction titanium band. Just terrible in my opinion. Everyone complains about fingerprints but they apparently don’t remember that they immediately place their phone in a case and never put a fingerprint on it. I on the other hand wouldn’t have ever complained about fingerprints because I prioritize gripping and not dropping my device over some barely-visible smudges.

 

[jz0309]

making the assumption that touching the AW will give you an indication of how an iPhone will feel - is imho a bad assumption, but you can do as you please.

 

[InvertedGoldfish]

The watch is smooth but still textured, this is the manufacturing, Ti can be super smooth or ruff, depends on the finish

against the body, it’s about perfect, hence why it’s used in the human body for pins and plates during surgery

For a phone the issue is titanium is softer than stainless, for a phone bezel where the phone will take the most hits, stainless would be better IMO

 

[Monkswhiskers]

In terms of smoothness I would put it bang inbetween the SS and alu. (S7 brushed edition). The ultra I gave only picked up in store and has pretty much the same feel as the alu.

 

[Al Rukh]

I think I get what TS wanted to know. I’ve held and handled almost all materials used by Apple. The titanium on the Ultra is different from the one used in Series 5, 6 and 7. The titanium on the latter have minimal grip to it. However it somehow repels fingerprints much better than SS for sure, and it has much more grip than the aluminium Apple uses. Also the titanium on the non-Ultra models have better grip than the frosted glass used on the recent Pro models.

But do take note that we don’t know what grade/finish of titanium Apple is gonna use for the 15 Pro lineup - but this is not what TS wanted to know in the first place.

 

[Night Spring]

But do take note that we don’t know what grade/finish of titanium Apple is gonna use for the 15 Pro lineup - but this is not what TS wanted to know in the first place.

Yes, for some reason, the OP appears to be convinced that Apple will use the same titanium finish that's on the Apple watch on the iPhone. But I don't think we can assume that.

 

[jagolden]

Both posters above must be missing my question. I’m asking about what it feels like when you place your fingers on the Apple Watch chassis and slide them along it.

That tells a human immediately about its properties of tactile feel. It tells you if it feels very smooth, if it has a bit of roughness like the back matte glass on an iPhone. It tells you if your finger slides quickly across it or if it grips it more or less relative to the aluminum or stainless steel both of which the Apple Watch also come in.

Of course no one is dropping a watch..this is about the metal case and how it feels in order to project how this will be on an iPhone which is likely anodized or finished identically.

They are not missing the point at all.
The “feel” and “slipperiness” and texture it is finished with all affect what you are asking. There is no “single finish” that fits all designs.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

They are not missing the point at all.
The “feel” and “slipperiness” and texture it is finished with all affect what you are asking. There is no “single finish” that fits all designs.

There is. The metal will be virtually identical in feeling, and friction, to the Apple Watch versions. The same way that the aluminum Apple Watch is identical in feeling and friction to the iPhones with aluminum cases.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

Yes, for some reason, the OP appears to be convinced that Apple will use the same titanium finish that's on the Apple watch on the iPhone. But I don't think we can assume that.

The reason we can assume that is because the aluminum Apple Watch is identical to the aluminum on iPhones.

 

[BenGoren]

There is. The metal will be virtually identical in feeling, and friction, to the Apple Watch versions. The same way that the aluminum Apple Watch is identical in feeling and friction to the iPhones with aluminum cases.

You’re free to assume anything and everything you want, of course. But, while I’ll grant you that it’s not an entirely unreasonable initial supposition for a starting point, the degree of confidence you’re expressing is beyond unreasonable.

As the saying goes, past performance does not guarantee future results.

It would not shock me in the slightest if Apple used some sort of fancy Space Age coating to pretty up the titanium frame. Nor would I be surprised if they had more than one finish; they’ve done so with watches for ages. The back might or might not be glass, they could add rubberized material to the sides, the buttons could have a different texture that makes a difference in how you hold the phone … the possibilities are endless.

Wait for the new phone to be released. Pick one up in a store. If you like the way it feels, great — buy it! If you like the phone but not the way it feels, walk over to the case section of the store and see if you like any of them. If so, great — buy the phone and the case! And, if not, leave the store without buying anything.

There. Problem solved.

b&

 

[jagolden]

There is. The metal will be virtually identical in feeling, and friction, to the Apple Watch versions. The same way that the aluminum Apple Watch is identical in feeling and friction to the iPhones with aluminum cases.

How do you know what the back of an unreleased product is going to feel like?
As has been pointed out countless times here, metals, including titanium can have whatever finish the designer specs. That texture will have a lot to do with the “gripiness” and feel of the item.
I find the titanium ultra to feel silky but with more texture the the aluminum watches.

 

[Al Rukh]

There is. The metal will be virtually identical in feeling, and friction, to the Apple Watch versions. The same way that the aluminum Apple Watch is identical in feeling and friction to the iPhones with aluminum cases.

Not to stir up anything. I do agree with you that aluminium used in both the Watch and iPhone chassis feel identical in the hands. Also, the titanium used in the Ultra and Edition models are NOT the same.

 

[Cloudyskies22]

How do you know what the back of an unreleased product is going to feel like?
As has been pointed out countless times here, metals, including titanium can have whatever finish the designer specs. That texture will have a lot to do with the “gripiness” and feel of the item.
I find the titanium ultra to feel silky but with more texture the the aluminum watches.

It’s blatantly obvious that stainless steel as finished on the current iPhones is far far more grippy than aluminum or another brushed metal. The titanium will highly likely be brushed just as it is on the Apple Watches. The purpose of the post was to gather information for my personal curiosity on the properties of that finish to project how slippery the iPhone 15 Pro will be compared to the grippy stainless steel on the iPhone 14 Pro.

There is a 99% chance the titanium will be significantly more slippery, and therefore a significant downgrade in iPhone usability as grip is a major component of usability to those who do not use cases like myself. The statistical likelihood that the iPhone 15 Pro slips out of my hand and gets destroyed on the ground will be far far far higher than the iPhone 14 Pro given the comments in this thread describing its slick feeling.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

If you're worried about grip, get a silicone case.