First iPhone 17 Pro Design Leak Claims Surprising Return to Aluminum, Rectangular Camera Bump, and More

[Rychiar]

I'll take the iPhone's camera layout any day over this

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And Samsung's isn't really all that better

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I see a Galaxy and think of this

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I like both of those radically better than apples. Samsungs feels like its a part of the phone and not a tumor slapped onto it and googles is at least symmetrical

 

[Plutonius]

I always liked how it's aluminum in the US and aluminium in the UK.

 

[ThailandToo]

You are joking right?
even if what you are saying is true, its not like Apple is using pure titanium, its titanium and aluminum molded together.
And its not even on the back. the back is glass on the 15 and 16 Pros.
Plus, since when is aluminum “ fragile”?
its not fragile enough to not be used on the regular iPhones... and the iPads. and the Watches. and the Macbooks and iMacs and actually pretty much every Mac for the last 20 years... and the AirPods Max... and the Apple TV remote...

Aluminum is garbage and cheap. It’s far cheaper than any other metal. It dents simply. Dropping the iPhone without a case means more than just damage usually the corner is more than dented and the screen breaks. On MacBooks, it’s okay but it’s not premium if compared to carbon fiber or some metal.

Titanium iPhones are indestructible. I have dropped mine without a case many times and never a scratch or dent.

 

[jarman92]

I'm calling it now—there's absolutely no way Apple pivots back to aluminum after spending the last 2 years aggressively marketing its "super-premium" titanium phones.

 

[Morgenland]

Sounds like it will be a mess. Can’t wait to see what they actually offer, though.

Mess?

 

[klasma]

Sounds bogus. If true it's a method to maintain margins. Can’t think of a good reason to do this otherwise.

Weight. Aluminum is 40% lighter, and they wouldn’t want to make the back aluminum while keeping the sides still titanium. Changing part of the back from glass is likely for weight reduction. (Of course, not necessarily actual weight reduction, it just lets them use the weight budget for something else, like a larger battery.)

Edit: And thermals, as noted by others. The new AI chips may be getting hotter.

 

[JOLoughlin]

Weight. Aluminum is 40% lighter, and they wouldn’t want to make the back aluminum while keeping the sides still titanium. Changing part of the back from glass is likely for weight reduction. (Of course, not necessarily actual weight reduction, it just lets them use the weight budget for something else, like a larger battery.)

Oh, interesting explanation. Aluminum is lighter if comparing with the same density amount with Titanium but titanium is stronger. So it is tricky to make a comparison because you can have less titanium density of the material to equalize the weight with an aluminum and it’ll be stronger. There are other attributes to consider of course.

 

[winxmac]

REAR
Plastic/polycarbonate - iPhone 3G, 3GS, 5c
Glass - iPhone 4, 4S, 8, X, XR, XS, 11, 11 Pro, SE 2020, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 Pro, SE 2022, 14, 14 Pro, 15, 15 Pro, 16, 16 Pro
Aluminum - iPhone 6, 6S, 7
Aluminum + plastic/polycarbonate - iPhone 2G
Aluminum + glass - iPhone 5, 5s, SE 2016

SIDE
Titanium - iPhone 15 Pro, 16 Pro
Stainless Steel - iPhone 4, 4S, X, XS, 11 Pro, 12 Pro, 13 Pro, 14 Pro
Aluminum - iPhone 5, 5s, 6, 6s, SE 2016, 7, 8, XR, 11, SE 2020, 12, 13, SE 2022, 14, 15, 16
Plastic/polycarbonate - iPhone 3G, 3GS, 5c

 

[klasma]

I just hope they copy other smartphone manufacturers when it comes to camera layout.

Apple doesn’t want iPhones to look like other smartphones, and the camera layout is the most prominent visible feature.

 

[novagamer]

this is all just wrong.
The iPhone 4 and 4S had glass backs, and the 5, 5S and SE1 all had both aluminum and glass on the back.
the 4 and 4S didn't have aluminum as one of its main external materials at all.
Are we really at the point where people who literally write about Apple for a living just... forget the iPhone 4? Literally the most important iPhone next to the original?

Yes. Dead internet theory is real, welcome to hell. These newer ”writers” likely use GenAI to help churn out words. Editors should catch it but when the site is more focused on posting “deals” and “all time low prices” just to get the percent referral from Amazon quality suffers.

And in this case not just quality, but correctness.

 

[Rychiar]

Apple doesn’t want iPhones to look like other smartphones, and the camera layout is the most prominent visually.

and its been hideous design since day one... almost as bad as the stupid plastic bean they used to put on iPods. These are the types of design decisions that makes me question whether apple has a clue about tasteful design

 

[OVERTASK]

I'm calling it now—there's absolutely no way Apple pivots back to aluminum after spending the last 2 years aggressively marketing its "super-premium" titanium phones.

I can see back and sides in titanium for structural rigidity and aluminum on backplate for better thermals

 

[winxmac]

I just hope they copy other smartphone manufacturers when it comes to camera layout. I still can't believe they've stuck with the hideous camera blob design since the 12 when I thought it was a joke in the pre-release images

iPhone 11 and 11 Pro

android manufacturers, well most Chinese smartphone manufacturers anyway, try to copy Apple design for many years now...

It would be nice if Apple follows the rear camera layout of Galaxy S10 and Pixel 6 to Pixel 8 series...

 

[Joshuaorange]

Sounds bogus. If true it's a method to maintain margins. Can’t think of a good reason to do this otherwise. Curious how Apple will tell the story for why aluminum is a better material than titanium for the flagship iPhone.

Aluminum is better for a

Do you need the current models to be more rigid

Do you need the current models to be more rigid ?

The aluminum ones, yes.

 

[Joshuaorange]

Aluminum is a very practical material, but I'd really miss the titanium we have now. 😢

Aluminum is not the best choice for wear items.

 

[klasma]

and its been hideous design since day one... almost as bad as the stupid plastic bean they used to put on iPods. These are the types of design decisions that makes me question whether apple has a clue about tasteful design

I would prefer a single flush camera, so anything requiring a layout is already too much.

 

[ZeroInspo]

Very sad day for us that like to go caseless if this ends up being true.

Also one of the reasons I am hesitant to upgrade from my 14 Pro is that I like the heft of SS. Other phones just feel like cheap **** to me.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Why not go more retro and harken back to the Sony Ericsson K800i. Good enough for 007.

So it'll look like a Pixel 8?

 

[Laggy]

I think everything comes down to recycling at this point, they set goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 so iPhone is next in line to be so, another fact: choosing aluminium is way better since it can provide lightweight design with premium feel to it and most importantly more durable over time. I belive at this point they should stick with brushed stainless steel and aluminium, titanium was the mistake, not really worth it

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Aluminum is garbage and cheap. It’s far cheaper than any other metal. It dents simply. Dropping the iPhone without a case means more than just damage usually the corner is more than dented and the screen breaks. On MacBooks, it’s okay but it’s not premium if compared to carbon fiber or some metal.

Titanium iPhones are indestructible. I have dropped mine without a case many times and never a scratch or dent.

all Macbooks are aluminium, so is the Mac Mini, so is the Mac studio..

 

[marcushe]

Titanium is difficult to work with, takes special machining, has a more constrained supply than aluminum, and higher cost of material, just not worth the weight when it's in a case 90% of the time. Oh and Aluminum is more recyclable.

 

[Seanm87]

Interesting. They should never have done away with aluminium it’s far lighter. I’m happy they are going back in right direction trying to make things thinner and lighter again. Was never fan of the brick era.

Having said that it’s not enough to make me upgrade from my 16 pro max.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Titanium was supposed to be lighter and with the new size of the Pro iPhone at 6.9 inches the phone feels like carrying a ton of bricks 🧱 Hopefully 🤞 they make the 6.9 inch iPhone super lightweight in the near future with aluminum.

 

[Mity]

Tim Cook strikes again. Next up: iPhone Pro phones made of plastic.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Since Titanium was introduced under Cook this post makes no sense at all.

Cook is human and can make mistakes too, he’s not perfect. He is fixing that mistake now by eliminating titanium completely.