Fair enough, though I wouldn’t find it amusing. But I do sort of miss the days when we didn’t know much about what Apple would announce in advance.
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.
How Do Case Makers Reveal iPhone 17 Designs Before Apple?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Czechs already showed cased it in a video on very good dummies
www.novinky.cz
IFA 2025: Jak vypadá iPhone 17 Air? Natočili jsme ho ještě před premiérou - Novinky
Společnost Apple se chystá ukázat nové iPhony 17 až příští týden v úterý, Novinkám se ale podařilo na veletrhu IFA 2025 v německém Berlíně natočit makety všech čtyř připravovaných telefonů. Detailně se tak můžete ještě před světovou premiérou seznámit i se zcela novým modelem iPhone 17 Air...
With AppleCare+, no case needed. Although going to aluminum, these are going to be destroyed with one drop. Sure a downside to aluminum over say titanium or steel.
I actually just remembered this kind of happened with the iPhone 6 Plus. Which was rumour to be called the 6 Air.
I worked in a phone store and they had 6 Air printed in the box. We ended up receiving stickers to put over the Air name 😅
Seems like we’re ready for another iPhone 5 moment.
I know it won't happen, but I would totally LOVE if Apple presented completely different designs for their hardware just to show these people a big middle finger to them...
Guaranteed I will drop it without a case within a day or two. I use an otter box rubber case for the grip and I still manage to drop it a few times a year.
for the phone case, I always get a cheap one then wait half year before all the creative and reliable companies can come up with something solid and nice one then I would switch over to the new design.
My main reason for using a case is that the thick case make the phone lie flat on a surface.
The off-center camera bump is making the phone wobble whenever I poke it on a surface.
The off-center camera bump is making the phone wobble whenever I poke it on a surface.
I like the browser in the image. Looks very clean. Does anyone recognize it?
Im getting the 17 pro max but who’s getting excited about the same phone form factor since the iPhone 11? Nobody. The only thing people are “anticipating” is which recycled feature Apple will market as revolutionary this time. The next time Apple actually has an Awe moment with the iPhone won’t be until they finally drop a foldable. Until then? It’s the status quo slab we’ve all been carrying around for six years.
They get it from the supply chain. Making the new products requires a lot of people, vendors, contractors, etc. Not all of them can keep it a secret.
I seriously love that case makers are leaning in BIG time on a phone that is yet to be announced. I already went ahead and preordered (as in paid) for the Pitaka case for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Thanks to case makers, it removes the mystery of what the final look of the new iPhone will be. Amazing.
Several third-party case manufacturers are banking on leaked iPhone 17 designs, with companies like Spigen, Dbrand, Nudient, and Pitaka all showcasing nearly identical case cutouts several days before Apple's "Awe dropping" iPhone event.
MacRumors readers have contacted us about the cases, many of which prominently feature space for the rumored camera bar redesign for the iPhone 17 Pro models. The cases clearly show cutouts for the expected horizontal camera array stretching across the device's back, with dummy units showing three 48MP lenses positioned on the left side and flash/LiDAR components on the right.
Elsewhere, case makers are confidently divulging sizing details through Amazon listings, suggesting both the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro will sport 6.3-inch displays. Meanwhile, Pitaka has quietly added iPhone 17 series pages to its website, all reflecting the same basic design language.
That includes the all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air – replacing the Plus model – which appears slimmer and has a single rear camera mounted on a runway-style bar.
What makes case makers so sure of their designs? The industry has a well-established supply chain intelligence network. Case manufacturers typically receive specifications from factory sources or Apple's accessory partners months in advance, but rarely from Apple directly (unless they are close case brand partners who hold their cases back until Apple's big reveal). The process often allows them to begin production runs before Apple's official announcements, thereby avoiding the costly scramble that would otherwise follow iPhone launches.
Unless Apple has somehow hoodwinked the entire case maker industry, given the remarkable consistency across multiple manufacturers, these leaked designs almost certainly represent Apple's final specifications. Whether they actually represent an improvement in terms of user experience remains to be seen.
Article Link: How Do Case Makers Reveal iPhone 17 Designs Before Apple?
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
If Apple literally controls the entire production line from mining of raw resources to refining to transporting to all parts (including small parts like capacitors and resistors) manufacturing to cases to… you get the idea, such leak will always happen. Of course, if Apple had that kind of capacity, they are going to be extremely well entrenched at least in US. But US don’t have all the materials needed to build a phone in millions consistently.
I've got to assume these dummy shape leaks are something Apple culturally dislikes but also probably tacitly accepts as net gain for them.
In that, some significant fraction of iPhone buyers use cases. Most of those people want a case along with their phone, and if there were no leaks at all there would only be a handful of cases available at launch and it would be weeks if not months before a wave of cheap cases made it to US warehouses. Having a healthy stock of cases ready to ship once the new model is released keeps both case-makers and buyers happy.
I'm grateful for it; for better or worse, I use a wallet case and tend to go for cheap ones since I'll only use it for a year regardless. At one point I was waiting for one of the nice wallet case makers that hadn't produced a bunch of stock based on leaks to get theirs to market, and was going case-free for a few weeks in the interim. I of course managed to drop my phone and have it slide across the sidewalk scratching the screen enough to be noticeable but not enough to replace. So I ended up with annoying scratches on the dang thing for a year straight and my spouse had to live with it for the next year.
I vowed that'd be my last naked phone, and after defaulting to one of the cheap cases available at launch and expecting to replace it later, it turned out to be nice enough I never went back to the fancy ones.
In that, some significant fraction of iPhone buyers use cases. Most of those people want a case along with their phone, and if there were no leaks at all there would only be a handful of cases available at launch and it would be weeks if not months before a wave of cheap cases made it to US warehouses. Having a healthy stock of cases ready to ship once the new model is released keeps both case-makers and buyers happy.
I'm grateful for it; for better or worse, I use a wallet case and tend to go for cheap ones since I'll only use it for a year regardless. At one point I was waiting for one of the nice wallet case makers that hadn't produced a bunch of stock based on leaks to get theirs to market, and was going case-free for a few weeks in the interim. I of course managed to drop my phone and have it slide across the sidewalk scratching the screen enough to be noticeable but not enough to replace. So I ended up with annoying scratches on the dang thing for a year straight and my spouse had to live with it for the next year.
I vowed that'd be my last naked phone, and after defaulting to one of the cheap cases available at launch and expecting to replace it later, it turned out to be nice enough I never went back to the fancy ones.
First off… wow, that’s a lot of words about a phone case. 😂 Second, let me get this straight, you made your spouse live with your busted-up, scratched iPhone for a whole year just because you went case-free once? All while polishing your new phone as she rocked the scratched up beater. That’s low, man. Really low.
October, 2011: iPhone 5, with a curved back was expected, but iPhone 4s with the same basic shape as the iPhone 4 was announced.
This was also notable for being the final Apple product announced in the lifetime of Steve Jobs, who died the following day. Tim Cook led the presentation.
Last edited:
Can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but isn’t that desktop Safari? I could be wrong but that’s what it looks like to me.