Bring back stainless steel! That thing felt great. In my opinion, iPhone XS was the best design.
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.
iPhone 17 Pro Can’t believe Apple released an iPhone Pro that feels this cheap.
- Thread starter Ravox
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
From the posts I've seen on MacRumors, the main cosmetic issue being reported early isn't so much a ring of discoloration on the back glass from hot MagSafe charging, but rather scratching of the colors applied to the aluminum parts of the iPhone frame, especially the back area around the glass panel, and at the edges of the camera plateau. It's as if Apple used a less-rugged anodization process for the 17 series to impart color to the aluminum. I don't know if Apple applied the color to the back glass's surface this year, or if it's on the inside surface again, but if there are more reports of scratched color where the MagSafe charger sits, then it might imply the color is on the outside now.
Last edited:
Reliable figures are hard to come by, but some sources claim that the figures for the past three years show the percentage is somewhere between about 70%-87%. So still a lot.
Last edited:
Making the entire frame/housing of the 17 Pros out of aluminum might actually add significantly to its ability to shed heat, especially when handling intensive tasks, compared to the 15 and 16 Pros, which have no exposed aluminum, and so the heat absorbed by the frame has to dissipate through the 1mm thick titanium band around the circumference, which conducts heat much more poorly than aluminum, and through the screen and the rear glass panel and camera bump, which both conduct heat much worse even than titanium. There's a substantial amount of exposed aluminum across the top end of their backs, including the camera plateau. My guess is that having unobstructed aluminum at these locations is making a significant contribution to heat dissipation. But again, it might be noticeable mostly when the phone is doing intensive tasks.
That said, a lot of people are finding that the iPhone Air, even though its entire frame is titanium (not just a band around the perimeter), it doesn't contain a vapor chamber, and it still has an all-glass back, doesn't get unusually warm either. Some of this might be due to its new C1X modem drawing less power than Qualcomm's modems, and the Air doesn't have quite the processing power as the Pros, but but my guess is something else is going on too.
Last edited:
In addition to stronger back glass on the 17 Pros, one of the features that's probably largely responsible for this glass panel not breaking until the highest of these drop tests is that its edges don't extend right up to the edges of the housing, but instead they're set slightly inward of the edges, so drops where the edges of the 17 Pro hit the pavement don't directly impact the edges of the 17 Pro's back glass.
It's possible that dropping either the 16 or 17 Pro from or slightly above head height might not have resulted in cracks (or big cracks) for either phone if that had been their first drop height, since repeated dropping weakens the glass, getting it closer with each drop to eventually shattering.
Something that video's presenter keeps remarking on is that the 17 Pro holds up better to drops "despite being made of a cheaper material". But it's not the strength of the metal housing that's being tested in these drop tests (aside from scratch testing), so much as it's testing the strength of the glass parts (back glass, screen, and lens covers). Apple is using a stronger glass in the 17 Pros, so that's the main reason these parts hold up much better, though the aluminum housing is allowing the 17 Pro to bounce more than the 16 Pro, so maybe the aluminum, being softer than titanium, isn't transferring as much of the energy of the impacts to the glass.
It looks like even if Apple used a hard anodization process to color the aluminum housing of the 17 Pros, even that might not be enough to prevent scratches and dings when dropped from these heights onto concrete, asphalt, and rocks. So the use of aluminum for the housing is what's mainly responsible for the dings and scratches from these drop tests (no surprise there), rather than whatever anodization method was used.
Last edited:
Vastly more scratches and dings on the 17 Pros due to the housing aluminum now being exposed, but vastly less glass breakage when dropped onto a hard surface, both for the back glass, the screen, and the camera lens covers, due to Apple's use of a stronger glass.
I just upgraded from the stainless steel 14 Pro and that thing was an absolute fingerprint magnet! The sides were constantly smudged.
I’m guessing one of the main things that makes many people immediately feel the 17 Pros seem cheap as soon as they pick one up, is their exterior is slightly textured compared to the slick surface of the titanium band around the perimeter of the 15/16 Pros. But this textured surface might give you a better grip on these phones.
I'd like to know why Apple chose to mold/carve the 17 Pro camera plateau from the same piece of aluminum as the housing, instead of being part of an all-glass back glass panel as on prior models. Maybe it was to get better heat dissipation, maybe not. But the anodized colors wearing off of the edges of the aluminum plateau over time (and it seems it might not take much time) when not used in a case will make the new Pros look cheap.
Last edited:
I ordered the air, but having held them both in the store they all feel just fine to me. The material is different, that's all. I had an iphone 5s, 6+, and 7+ that were built out of aluminum and they held up just fine. The 17 pro didn't even feel heavy. I still wonder if I should cancel my order for the air and get a 17 pro instead lol. -shruuug-
How could apple go Back to aluminum after Chipgate years ago.
Aluminum very hard to anodize properly
As a result we’re seeing scratches and chipping in the Apple Store
Total disgrace and lack of good judgement on Apple’s part
Surgical Stainless steel would have been a better choice and similar in weight. It seems that Apple chose aluminum to save money
Shameful!!!!!
Aluminum very hard to anodize properly
As a result we’re seeing scratches and chipping in the Apple Store
Total disgrace and lack of good judgement on Apple’s part
Surgical Stainless steel would have been a better choice and similar in weight. It seems that Apple chose aluminum to save money
Shameful!!!!!
Lidar is a massive downgrade on 15 Pro and 16 Pro models as it screws with the autofocus, especially at night when shooting through a window. I‘m covering it with tape on my 15 Pro.
RAM was never an issue with the 11 until iOS introduced memory leaks that are still being fixed to this day, but I see it’s beneficial to just have more available RAM.
Didn’t remember they introduced MagSafe that year.
Design definitely was better with the 11 Pro, agreed.
Anyway, glad to hear for you the 12 Pro was an upgrade from your 11 Pro, even though it seems for most people it wasn’t/wouldn‘t have been, compared to the 13 Pro.
Silver would be much better for heat conduction, and almost twice as good as aluminum
Heat dissipation from the aluminum internal frame of the 15 and 16 Pros is reduced (not sure by how much) by the presence of the external 1mm thick titanium band that's bonded around the perimeter of the aluminum frame. The titanium band is an unwanted insulator in this instance. No part of the 15/16 Pro's aluminum is exposed to the outside. I don't know how much all of this really traps heat inside the 15/16 Pros though.
Last edited:
Yeah, I was surprised that the Air's entire frame is titanium instead of aluminum with a band of titanium bonded to its perimeter, as is done in the 15/16 Pros, but of course Apple had to go with all-titanium for rigidity for the Air's thinner frame. And despite that and the lack of a vapor chamber, and the Air's back is entirely glass (not a good conductor of heat) instead of having part of its metal frame exposed in the back as with the 17 Pros, you're finding that the Air still doesn't get too hot, doesn't throttle badly, etc. even doing a lot of things simultaneously. Running a map app, especially while driving, will increase a phone's internal temperature significantly due to constant contact with the cell towers. Maybe the 30% reduction in power draw by the C1X modem chip, compared to Qualcomm's, is responsible for helping keep some of the heat down.
Last edited:
Comparing my 16PM - Natural Titanium- to the new 17PM - Made me decide to keep mine. That aluminum, and colors, along with how it will dent up and scratch just by breathing on it extremely lame coming from Apple - especially slapping the pro name on it. Agree with OP - cheap junk with an extreme price tag.
The fact that the 17 Pros run cooler internal temperatures due to their new cooling features means they start at lower baseline temperatures, so while putting a case on them will make them run a little warmer than without a case, their internal temperature while wearing a case will still be lower, with only some additional heat imparted by the case.
Some sources say the case material that will trap heat the least is Kevlar and its variants, like 600D, since though Kevlar has lower heat conductivity than plastics, Kevlar cases are much thinner ("minimalist") than those made using various plastics, and many also have cutouts around the side buttons (though that's not good for drop protection at those points), and they also fit a little more loosely so there's a little airspace between the phone and the case that helps dissipate heat, so that the temperature rise might be only about 0.5–2 C (1–4 F). Next comes slim (about ~1 mm thick) hard clear plastic cases (polycarbonate or PMMA), which might raise temps about 2–3 C (4–5 F), followed by standard TPU/silicone (1–1.5 mm thick), which might impart a rise of about 3–4 C (5–7 F). Bumper cases trap the least amount of heat, but they don't entirely protect the back of the phone.
None of these are dramatic temperature increases, but my finding with my 15 Pro Max was that a thin clear plastic case did cause it to occasionally throttle, and its screen would sometimes dim, when I'd use it outdoors during the summer, especially when in direct sunlight, but now my 16 Pro doesn't experience nearly the same amount of throttling and screen dimming under the same conditions, when wearing similar cases.
I bought the limited edition version that still has a titanium band, and it's ne plus ultra-premium. No wait, it's a lot better than that.
Magsafe has magnets
Magnets attract steel/iron dust or other magnetic material
Steel/iron dust scratches things
You'd be surprised at how much magnetic junk magnets can pick up. Source, scratched motorcycle fuel tank from magnetic tank bag.
What is confusing you? It is pretty darn obvious. The term "pro" is just used to designate a higher level of overall phone competence in a particular model. The iPhone Pros have very substantially better camera systems. If you cannot perceive the better camera systems that does not make the phone less "pro."