iPhone 17 Pro Ditches Titanium, Here's Why

[gaximus]

The new wider camera bump and the fact that Apple hasn't show where the Processor is, make me think they have put the A19 under the camera bump, and using the whole body for bigger batteries.

 

[BorisDG]

First time I'm not even tempted to upgrade. For example, when I saw the 15 Pro (as 14 Pro owner) I was really tempted to upgrade. But in general and as expected, very mid year. The Apple Watch upgrades especially are really really bad.

 

[Plutonius]

Every decision that Apple makes is based on money.

 

[Cobold]

I just noticed, the 17 Pro and Pro Max both increased in height and width by 0,4mm (thickness too but that’s not my case here), so the actual screen-to-body ratio is worse than on the 16 series where Apple praised their small bezels.
Screen sizes/resolutions and PPI stayed the same as on the 16 equivalents.

 

[btrach144]

RIP titanium. We barely knew y’all

 

[User 6502]

Pro Max got heavier at 233g. The Air is tempting at 165g.

Why not the normal iPhone which is much lighter than a Max and has better camera offering and battery life than the air?

 

[PhoenixDown]

Why Aluminum over Stainless Steel though?
Im genuinely curious and am not a materials scientist.

 

[Motionblurrr]

In all honesty I expect they went Aluminum to offset the impact of the tariffs so they didn’t need to increase prices.

This is it. Trying to evade Trumpflation as much as possible.

That's why Tim was at all his cringe "dinners" and giving him gifts. He knows no one would buy a much more expensive iPhone these days.

 

[AndyDandy1]

Is the new models more likely to bend?

 

[nickelro]

What about 2027? Back to plastic, or maybe wood & glass?

 

[semka]

The 16 Pro is 199 grams so its not much of a weight increase, also the 15and 16 Pros have an Aluminum frame with a thin Ti coating so its really not a case of their moving back to Aluminum.

That is not true. 15 and 16 are made from grade V titanium which is titanium alloy made with 90% titanium and only 6% aluminum, the rest is vanadium.

 

[nickelro]

Is the new models more likely to bend?

I guess that’s exactly what JerryRigEverything is wondering.

 

[oneMadRssn]

but aluminum is lighter

Then why is every aluminum iphone heaver than the equivalent titanium iphone?

The answer is, while aluminum is lighter than titanium per volume, aluminum is also a lot softer and weaker. To get the same strength, you need more aluminum by weight than you would need with titanium. This means that, for particular strength parameters, titanium is lighter.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Dealbreaker for me. The loss of premium feel is going to hurt. I drop my naked titanium phones all the time and they don’t get the dings or sharp edges that even the stainless steel material got. The anodized finish is going to chip off leaving bare aluminum. How are they using a more energy efficient chip and even with the addition of vapor chamber cooling they needed aluminum to dissipate the heat? I do not buy it. Repair rates will be much higher with these phones, finally shortening the replacement cycle and making shareholders happy.

I agree. I love how durable my 15Pro titanium is. I don't use cases, and the titanium survived drops much better than any aluminum or stainless steel iphone I've had.

I'm tempted to get a 16Pro second hand from one of the many compulsive upgraders, to hold on to the titanium for as long as possible.

 

[Matsamoto]

”The titanium frame provided excellent rigidity and durability”

Jerryrigeverything did manage to bend a iPhone 15 pro max with his bare hands.

 

[semka]

Despite what people are trying to claim here, titanium is a premium material and aluminum is not. The only reason Apple abandoned titanium was its cost and more time required for machining.

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

Only one model saw a price increase, the 17 Pro. The 17 and the 17 Pro Max stayed the same. Apple did the same thing a couple years ago when they increased the price of the Pro Max models by doubling its base storage while adding $100 to its original $1099 price. IIRC, there was a redesign back then, too, though not quite as dramatic as this year’s. This year, it was the smaller Pro’s turn. 2 of the 3 returning models saw no price increase. You can technically say the Air had a price increase over the 16 Plus of $100 but they are completely different devices and aren’t really comparable.

But didn't the Base 17 get a size bump with NO price bump? $799 now gets you a 256gb iPhone 17, whereas $799 last year was a 128gb iPhone 16.

If they're doing the whole increase storage to justify a price increase, the strategy wasn't consistent.

 

[darngooddesign]

That is not true. 15 and 16 are made from grade V titanium which is titanium alloy made with 90% titanium and only 6% aluminum, the rest is vanadium.

JerryRigsEverything cut the frame in half to show the thin titanium bonded the the aluminum chassis.

 

[dannys1]

So what does this say about the new Air, which has the same new A19 Pro SoC without the fancy upscale cooling system?

They have a knack for painting themselves in a corner sometimes.

It says it'll be a down clocked CPU so it runs cooler and more efficent. It's not exactly a "gotcha" is it - they advertise the Pro for performance and the air for comfort.

 

[brandoman]

I wonder if it was less of an abandoning titanium and more of a using the last 2 generations of Pro Phones to set them up for iPhone Air. I suspect this was more or less planned.

Any machinist knows the problems of machining titanium, and as probably the biggest company that machines aluminum at this scale, Apple knew what it was doing. I don't buy the angle that they decided to go Titanium and then backtracked realizing all the problems out of the 15 and 16 Pro phones.

Apple doesn't get blindsided that often to have to backtrack. I doubt this is one of those cases.

Agree. Apple had experience back in the Powerbook G4 days with titanium. They knew also that titanium limited wifi signals. Sounds like it was all about testing just to get to the iPhone Air. Still waiting on that liquidmetal iphone. LOL

 

[pavelbure]

I wonder if it was less of an abandoning titanium and more of a using the last 2 generations of Pro Phones to set them up for iPhone Air. I suspect this was more or less planned.

Any machinist knows the problems of machining titanium, and as probably the biggest company that machines aluminum at this scale, Apple knew what it was doing. I don't buy the angle that they decided to go Titanium and then backtracked realizing all the problems out of the 15 and 16 Pro phones.

Apple doesn't get blindsided that often to have to backtrack. I doubt this is one of those cases.

Yup. Machining aluminum is a lot cheaper and faster, like a hot knife through warm butter, titanium is like a dull knife through a coconut.

 

[darngooddesign]

They sold titanium so hard, then took a dump all over it

Apple always does this, they promoted the material they are using, and then switch yo a different material and promote that. Been this way for decades with Macs as well.

 

[zenmacx]

Choice of materials aside, it hardly matters.

Always exemplary wordsmiths, this company is massively influential with a proven track record of convincing their faithful customers to buy nearly anything.

They could use words like blah, blah, blah and experience record sales. It's good to be Apple.

 

[PowerButton]

I missed the announcement but did they explain the unusually large camera bump?

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

The new aluminum chassis on the iPhone 17 Pro series also enables new color options

Yet here we are with fewer options. Well done, Apple. Another miss.