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First Hands-On With iPhone 12 MagSafe Leather Cases Shared Online

Dino F said:
...the leather is only slippery the first week or so but after that, once it starts to absorb the natural oils from your hands, it becomes super grippy.
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I think they get a lot less slippery with use, but the only time I would ever call the leather cases grippy is when my hands are sweaty or clammy, in which case they will sort of stick to the leather. Some people always have clammy or moist hands, but my hands tend to get dry, especially during winter, and then the Apple leather is no longer grippy, even after using it for a year.
 
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Dino F said:
...the leather is only slippery the first week or so but after that, once it starts to absorb the natural oils from your hands, it becomes super grippy.
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Hell yes it is, it’s my favorite case after trying the silicone and clear case, the leather has that extra grip that comes in handy when holding it with one hand.
phenste said:
Earlier this year, my XS hit the ground at the exact angle where the bezel ends and the screen starts on the bottom lip, uncovered by the leather case. No cracks, but it caused about 1/4 of my screen to die, which warranted a full display replacement ($$$) in Apple’s eyes—although several people I spoke to diagnosed it as most likely being a dislodged display connector and nothing more. (I never went through with the repair on account of stubbornness.)

This long-winded story is to say that I rejoiced when I saw that the leather cases cover the bottom lip this year.
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The thing also about the opened bottoms is that the corners take a beating and after a while they gave out exposing the whole bottom, so when my phone dropped the whole bottom got scrapped and my screen broke with a green line going down it. But this was after a 1.5 years of owning the thing, turn to find out the leather cases can take a beating.

Silicone cases disintegrate after a month of normal use and when they break they expose the case itself and at that rate I just bought my first Leather case with the 6s at the time, afterwards i learned that the leather cases can fall and scrape on stone and still take a beating, while if the same thing happened to a silicone case it would tear the fabric and break completely like a piece of cloth.
ripsaw650 said:
So, if the wallet is $59... what are these going to cost?

I figured it'd be $10 more than the usual price of $49 since the silicone cases are $10 more too... but thinking that the wallet and a leather case would cost the same I'm doubtful.
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They usually have Been $49 bucks but seems like apple has been just pricing the cases of all makes and models the same price. I mean they sell the otter box annue at the same price you can get the silicone/clear case, wouldn’t surprise me if they kept it the same. What’s baffling it’s the leather wallet price.
gtg465x said:
I think they get a lot less slippery with use, but the only time I would ever call the leather cases grippy is when my hands are sweaty or clammy, in which case they will sort of stick to the leather. Some people always have clammy or moist hands, but my hands tend to get dry, especially during winter, and then the Apple leather is no longer grippy, even after using it for a year.
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This is exactly why i love the leather cases, they Just grip when it’s completely wet and like Dino F after a couple of days in my case they break In good. Silicone stays slippery And the clear has no grip it slips all the time.

Not to mention I have the problem with the clear magsafe case where the bottom corners are cracked and keep popping out my iphone 12 when i have it in my pocket I am screaming out loud “YES” that the leather case has a full bottom lip at long last ever since the 5s.

That‘s just me though.
 
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I'm running this 12 Pro naked. Markedly easier to grip than the 6 through the 11 series phones.
 
For those wondering about the issue with the closed bottom lip - I recently got a new non-Apple case after using the open lipped official leather one for ages. It’s workable. I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but 100% I prefer the open lip because:

- Activating reachability is much easier without it. Especially on apps (like Instagram) that have some of their controls at the bottom. I never used to tap them accidentally when using reachability but I do now.

- it does feel less smooth swiping up. For those who say it doesn’t ‘just like swiping from the sides doesn’t get affected’ take your case off and swipe from the side. It sure does get affected by the case but again it’s workable.

-my biggest gripe is I find with no home button and the screen off, it’s much harder to tell which orientation the phone is in. I never picked my phone up upside down before. Now it happens from time to time because there’s now clear defining physical feature.
 
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Digital Dude said:
While I'm a long-time Apple fan, I am increasingly baffled by some of their concept implementations. I used to believe that it was because of their conservative nature, ensuring a more refined approach. Be it an aging 60Hz device or late to the game OLED. Perhaps it's a marketing strategy to entice consumers to upgrade more often.
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Pure supposition follows, take with a big grain of salt:

I think the underlying difference has to do with Apple controlling both the device and the environment while Android phone makers tend to just control the device design.

Thus Samsung/LG/HTC/etc tend to focus on the device specifications as the differentiator, leading them towards finding ways to pitch their Android phone as better than the others Android phones. Sure, they'll also leverage that to pitch against Apple/iOS, but the focus still tends to stay on the hardware differentiation so as not to give a free leg up to their competitors.

Whereas with Apple, they sell the whole "package" of device plus OS. They tend to focus more on "what you can do with it" than they focus on specifications -- and thus device specifications that don't directly impact that overall message tend not to be of great importance. IMHO the typical (non-techie) phone buyer would have trouble clearly describing what real world benefit they'd realize from higher than 60Hz refresh rates or OLED displays.

Again, just my $0.02 worth of generalizations as an armchair expert. :)
 
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BMcCoy said:
It slightly affects the 'feel' of the up-swipe motion when using the phone. When the bottom part of the case is open, there is a smoother feel to the up-swipe. When there is a raised lip at the bottom, following the other three sides, it feels less smooth and very occasionally misses, when you haven't swiped from the very bottom.

A VERY minor quibble, but I think that's the reason for liking the open bottom.
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IMHO the cases have reverted now because the rounded “2.5D” glass of the X/XS/11 designs is gone, so swiping from a flat bottom edge will feel less smooth regardless of case design.
 
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gtg465x said:
I think they get a lot less slippery with use, but the only time I would ever call the leather cases grippy is when my hands are sweaty or clammy, in which case they will sort of stick to the leather. Some people always have clammy or moist hands, but my hands tend to get dry, especially during winter, and then the Apple leather is no longer grippy, even after using it for a year.
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Actually it’s the opposite. Every leather case since the X gets less grippy with use. As the thin cheap leather layer wears off and the plastic shell gets exposed, the outside loses its texture and this becomes more smooth and slippery.
I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten until I picked up a silicon case for my 11 Pro in a slickdeals sale for ten bucks, to replace the leather case I’d had since launch day. It was night and day. My 12 Pro has a silicon case now and I have no plans at all to switch to leather.
 
Robbosan said:
Black was the only one that wasn't slippery on 11 series.
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I’ve seen this mentioned a few times, but why would that matter? Consumers are using cases anyways, so that totally changes the dynamic of the grip texture as it is.
 
GDF said:
Looks great. Why are people objecting to the closed bottom? I think it will protect the phone more.
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The old case already covered the corners and had enough lip on both sides, so covering the bottom doesn't add much benefit in protection. But the old cases allowed swipe-up gestures (which we use all the time) to work as well as they would with no case at all. Leaving the bottom open is much better.
 
jeremydc said:
Thanks buddy. I meant of the video
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Oh. It’s the usual technique. From the first post, tap the Share and then select “Copy”
 

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HeavenDynamic said:
Can't wait to get mine!
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I was just at the Apple store near me and asked about the leather cases. They told me that they have no future date to go on sale at this time. They aren't working properly with MagSafe accessories, and didn't meet standards.

Was a bit confused since they showcased them at the event, but I guess we saw AirPower before also.
 
gomichaelgo said:
I was just at the Apple store near me and asked about the leather cases. They told me that they have no future date to go on sale at this time. They aren't working properly with MagSafe accessories, and didn't meet standards.

Was a bit confused since they showcased them at the event, but I guess we saw AirPower before also.
Click to expand...

I thought that they’d said they were launching on 11/6 or 11/13, can’t remember which one.
 
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