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iPhone 17 Pro Models Rumored to Feature Aluminum Frame Instead of Titanium Frame

lol if they change to aluminium it'll be funny as they have always promoted Stainless and Titanium as luxury metals for the flagship iPhone. So if they use cheaper alluvium I've no doubt they'll try and sell it as a luxury thing but won't reduce pricing.

Personally I prefer aluminium, and I am seriously considering swapping from my Pro IPhone to an alluvium one next time to save weight.
 
If this means a lighter pro phone with actual COLORS that aren’t limited to shades of gray/beige I’m all for it.

These iPhone 17 rumors are so weird.
 
Welp.. been a good riddance for these 2 years on Titanium iPhone. It's purely cosmetic though because the structural frame is actually aluminum on 15 and 16 Pros.
 
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Dark_Omen said:
Not much room to bash those phones. The AI on them is better, and so are the cameras and the screens.

Yeah it still runs crappy Android, although, Samsung has improved the aesthetics of One UI with the S25 series.
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I didn't bash them, just stating a fact. They copy what Apple does continuously.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
Okay, just dropped them.
Glass shattered on both, both the aluminum and titanium are fine.
Result: the metal doesn’t matter if they’re’s still sheets of glass.
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Wrong. I owned an electronics repair company for over 10 years. You will never see the kind of damage aluminum phones took continuously on a titanium or stainless phone. Aluminum deforms very very easily. Tell me you don’t work with metals. Actually you already did.
 
Allen_Wentz said:
Why do you insist on repeating your tech error, saying
"...people do care about how SS and Ti feel in the hand. I'm quite correct that Ti and Al feel similar."

Please advise when you felt pure Ti. I suspect that you never have, but have instead felt a Ti alloy that feels like some Al alloy that you also felt. The engineers could also have presented a Ti alloy that does not feel like some Al alloy. Pure Ti never has and never will be used in an iPhone frame; probably neither will pure Al ever be used in an iPhone frame.

Edit: Note by frame I refer to the current exoskeletal approach being used. Some future iPhone might have an endoskeletal approach that would move the primary structural framing to the interior.
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I'm not sure why you want to restrict my comments to pure Ti in a general sense. I (and probably others) don't care about what pure Ti feels like. I care about how the iPhone Titanium finish feels. You're extrapolating my comments about the iPhone to a material in general and that's just nonsensical.
 
We've had 2 years of titanium and now, we are going back to aluminium? Great. I mean, is the average customer even going to care anyway? It's still an odd choice that Apple would do this.
MacRumors said:
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with aluminum frames. Interestingly, though, he expects Apple's rumored iPhone 17 Air model to have a titanium frame.
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That's just even weirder.
 
It would make sense to have a wider area for the cameras, but not in the way it’s currently rendered. I believe the wider area should be achieved by placing cameras on both ends to capture a wider field of view for spatial video. I’ve always felt that the cameras are too close together, which doesn’t accurately represent the distance between the eyes of actual humans. This lack of distance between the cameras prevents them from capturing a true field of depth for a 3D image or video. Placing the cameras further apart would make more sense.
 
johannnn said:
Pro phones are extremely heavy because they don’t use aluminium.

I welcome this change!
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15 and 16 Pros are actually aluminum phones wrapped on with titanium plates acting as sleek looking yet purely cosmetic skins around the edges.
 
izyreal said:
I vastly prefer steel or titanium for a premium phone. Why would they switch to an inferior material?
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Aerospace grade 7000 series aluminium isn't an inferior material by any stretch of the imagination. Marketing by Apple in the past has sadly given people without material knowledge that impression/perception. With Apple's environmental messaging in regards to manufacturing and packaging, its strange they have not preferred aluminium before due to it being 100% recyclable and having a better carbon footprint. The titanium on my 16 Pro Max could be aluminium if it hadn't been declared as titanium, as it has a very similar appearance and finish anyway.
 
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Don't know if it will look like this or not, but I do quite like this design concept, it looks like it means business. Also potentially leaves room for a Xenon Flash in the camera bump :p
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
Aerospace grade 7000 series aluminium isn't an inferior material by any stretch of the imagination. Marketing by Apple in the past has sadly given people without material knowledge that impression/perception. With Apple's environmental messaging in regards to manufacturing and packaging, its strange they have not preferred aluminium before due to it being 100% recyclable and having a better carbon footprint. The titanium on my 16 Pro Max could be aluminium if it hadn't been declared as titanium, as it has a very similar appearance and finish anyway.
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Aluminium is basically the perfect material for smartphones. The best possible balance between weight, durability, aesthetics and cost. Any other material makes a bigger compromise in one of those areas.
 
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So we'll get innundated with "Get Apple 17 Pro with Aluminum!" ads, then?

And here I thought the "...with Titanium" on the 15Pro was stupid enough.
 
I’m going to miss the titanium frame, I have dropped my 12 mini it has a dent on the frame. Dropped my 16 pro max, has no dents.
 
I don’t think this is true. Apple appears to be leaning more into titanium by switching the steel Apple Watch to titanium. I’d think there could be cost savings by sticking to the same materials for multiple products.
 
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