Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Machineability is better for aluminum.

Titanium adds a LOT of cost for what's really no benefit on a phone.

Stainless steel would probably be a better choice than aluminum though. Sure, it's heavier, but it's stronger and cheaper, and I REALLY don't care how much my phone weighs, it's never going to be heavy enough that it's a problem even if they make it twice as thick so they can put in a LOT bigger battery.

Stainless steel was the one thing about my 13 pro that I hated the most. I hated the shiny finish and I hated the weight. I do care about phone weight...the lighter, the better.

..and my next phone won't be a pro unless the weight goes down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: klasma
I just want to know they’ll justify the move to aluminum, after positioning stainless steel and then titanium as the premium version for years (and frankly, I do like titanium a lot more). Sure it will be something like a “magical new alloy” or so.
1. Titanium is very non-Green, as are zirconium and hafnium. The production process is brutal. All three of those elements really want to remain oxides.

2. Related to point 1, titanium is expensive.

3. Titanium is a poor heat conductor.

Those three reasons alone are enough to go back to aluminum. We could also go on about how the high tensile strength of titanium is wasted in an application where structural buckling is more relevant, but this is the wrong place for that. The right place when I did it was Mechanics of Materials, ES 340.
 
Agreed.

I just picked up a 13 Pro Max last month. Got it cheap because the back is kinda smashed up - which doesn't matter to me because it's in a case, I'm not even going to bother fixing it. I don't have to deal with the AI crap for a while, I can still go places where I can say "sorry, no cell service where I was" and be uncontactable, it's got a real SIM card slot that I didn't have to go to Canada to get, and it'll be able to stay current on iOS for a while, since my XS Max got dropped this time.
My XR is also fine and I will keep it until 2026, most probably.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: ipedro
1. Titanium is very non-Green, as are zirconium and hafnium. The production process is brutal. All three of those elements really want to remain oxides.

2. Related to point 1, titanium is expensive.

3. Titanium is a poor heat conductor.

Those three reasons alone are enough to go back to aluminum. We could also go on about how the high tensile strength of titanium is wasted in an application where structural buckling is more relevant, but this is the wrong place for that. The right place when I did it was Mechanics of Materials, ES 340.
Absolutely nobody cares about “non-green” nonsense, and Apple was more than keen to advertise titanium as a great, premium material. So let’s quit this hypocrisy once and for all.
 
Why did Apple even bother with titanium… they should have just switched to aluminum for all models several years ago.

Seems like it was just a marketing gimmick to sound fancy.
?? We have had years of titanium alloy at the high end now. Anyone can see that it is a great frame material, not "just a marketing gimmick to sound fancy."

We will have to see how well the shift to aluminum alloy for the frame works, but history strongly suggests that Apple will do it well too.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: HighwaySnowman


The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.

iPhone-17-Pro-Blue-Feature-Tighter-Crop.jpg

Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:
Check out our iPhone 17 Pro roundup for even more rumors.

Article Link: iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features
Not a single one of those "new features" is something that might, even remotely, appeal to most people. For the vast majority of users, you will not even notice anything.

Apple, I need several days of battery life. The megapixels in my camera or the generation of the wifi chipset is irrelevant. Really.
 
It’s a massive downgrade. I don’t understand how anyone could believe aluminum is a better material for the frame of a glass phone. It’s been terrible on any dropped phone made of aluminum. Actually most tech products should pick another material as aluminum isn’t premium or durable. It’s a cheap bendable metal.
Folks need to understand materials better. Pure metals are not used for frames, only alloys [Ti, Al, etc.] are used. And alloys can be made to have a wide range of properties. So saying something like "It’s a cheap bendable metal" is just silly, because very hard, rigid aluminum alloys are available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
Apple, I need several days of battery life. The megapixels in my camera or the generation of the wifi chipset is irrelevant. Really.
You "need several days of battery life," but you can easily obtain several days of battery life by buying a battery pack. Those of us [apparently in the majority] that do want improved camera competence cannot buy it via add-on.
 
Aluminum frame is not a feature lol
Aluminium has always been a superior material for a phone. Steel and titanium were not features, were just marketing made with the intention of upselling iPhone pro making people believe they were more premium materials. But the truth is that aluminium conducts heat better than either of them and is more lightweight, so the phone is lighter and stays cooler.
 
No mention in any of these feature roundups regarding whether the main rear camera is going to be yet again the IMX803 camera module that has been used since the 14 series. Last year the IMX903 was rumored to replace the current main rear camera module but that never happened due to it not being available in time. No excuse now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
  • Aluminum frame: DOWNGRADE
  • Rectangular camera bump: DOWNGRADE
  • Sky Blue finish: Meh. Didn’t like it on the MBA or the S25. How many shades of silver do we need?
  • Larger battery: Based on the battery drain of iOS 26, it better be.
  • A19 Pro chip: Duh
  • Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip: Okay
  • 24-megapixel front camera: Nice, but still behind Pixel
  • 48-megapixel rear Telephoto camera: Nice
  • Dual video recording: Why?
  • 8K video recording: No one cares.
  • 12GB of RAM: Nice
  • Improved cooling: You said the same thing about the 16 Pro.
We disagree with your downgrade opinions - -at least until we actually have a 17 Pro [or 26 Pro if they call it that] in hand.
 
Absolutely nobody cares about “non-green” nonsense, and Apple was more than keen to advertise titanium as a great, premium material. So let’s quit this hypocrisy once and for all.
It is in no sense "“non-green” nonsense" just because green may be nonsense to you. The fact is that Apple [and many customers] do care, so from a product design discussion standpoint green matters a lot.

Titanium is indeed "a great, premium material," so of course Apple should hype its use. If they can now make aluminum alloys suffice then they should hype that too. Aluminum alloys are hella cheaper, more readily available, easier to work with, conduct heat better - - and are more green.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
I just want to know they’ll justify the move to aluminum, after positioning stainless steel and then titanium as the premium version for years (and frankly, I do like titanium a lot more). Sure it will be something like a “magical new alloy” or so.
You fell for “magical titanium” so just do it again for “magical and lighter alloy”
 
  • Haha
Reactions: HighwaySnowman
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.