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iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision
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There has never been a pro iPhone yet that’s been made out of aluminum. I’m gonna cling bitterly to my 15 pro now.
This year’s lineup of iPhones is going to be incredibly confusing—iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Air. Apple’s iPhone Pro Keynote tagline, “for those who want the best iPhone,” doesn’t work here.
And lighter, and more thermally conductive, so it's better able to transfer heat out of the inside of the iPhone.
Yup. Lots of people (most?) seem to think most or all of the frame of the iPhone 15 and 16 Pro and Max is made of titanium. Removing the titanium band around the perimeter of the iPhone, and exposing the aluminum frame underneath, might reduce the iPhone's weight by only about 5-6 grams, but it might also result in a significantly less warm iPhone, since aluminum is about 25 times more thermally conductive than titanium.
My guess is the higher thermal conductivity of aluminum. The chips are starting to produce more heat with all the AI crammed onto the devices, so it makes sense to me that they would need to radiate it away more efficiently. Titanium is better than steel, but still not better than aluminum.
Combined with a vapor chamber, it would let the run the chips hotter for longer bursts before any thermal throttling kicked in.
It looks like an unfinished concept. I have a 15 Pro Max and I was ready to upgrade and hand down my phone to my GF who is uisng my old 13 Pro but I don't like the look of this and I also dislike the change back to aluminium instead of Titanium so I think I'll wait another year.
Quite the opposite. Aluminium is more conductive so it will transfer the heat into your hands more effectively. Heat doesn't just disappear because you used a more thermally conductive material. It will suck the heat out of the inside of the phone and put it on the outside, where your hands touch it.
I have an aluminum iPad, I have an aluminum MacBook, almost all of my previous iPhones from the five to the 6 to the XR to the Mini were aluminum.
so it does not make a big difference to me and I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with them going back to aluminum. It’s a better material for a phone in pretty much every way.
Lighter, better for thermals, better for fun colors.
and from my understanding, it’s not like the titanium phones hold up much better, I’ve seen tons of complaints about dents and chipping. it’s actually aluminum underneath like 1 mm of titanium, so this is barely a downgrade.
so it does not make a big difference to me and I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with them going back to aluminum. It’s a better material for a phone in pretty much every way.
Lighter, better for thermals, better for fun colors.
don’t you have a mini? That thing is aluminum.
and from my understanding, it’s not like the titanium phones hold up much better, I’ve seen tons of complaints about dents and chipping. it’s actually aluminum underneath like 1 mm of titanium, so this is barely a downgrade.
"Aluminum is lighter and cheaper than titanium, but Apple's reasons for allegedly shifting back to the material are unknown at this point."
Eh, am I reading this correctly?
The first half of the sentence already said it is lighter and cheaper. 🤣
Eh, am I reading this correctly?
The first half of the sentence already said it is lighter and cheaper. 🤣
The external frame is titanium and the internal frame is aluminium. The external frame is more than 1mm thick and it is undeniably tough. Watch some drop tests. It's WAY tougher than aluminium.
stainless steel as well as titanium have not prevented the necessity for a case or bumper, so the move back to aluminum makes perfect sense to me. However, I don’t think the metal rings around the cameras lenses should be aluminum since they get chipped easier than steel or titanium.
Gotta protect them margins baby. 💰
Besides, I'd say there will be eventual shift to plastic and cardboard mix for the most environmentally conscious of us all, designed by Apple in California. If it gets wet, it's a biodegradable feature with the next one available only for 499$ renewed nurture fee as they pluck it outta the Apple tree and hand it to you.
Besides, I'd say there will be eventual shift to plastic and cardboard mix for the most environmentally conscious of us all, designed by Apple in California. If it gets wet, it's a biodegradable feature with the next one available only for 499$ renewed nurture fee as they pluck it outta the Apple tree and hand it to you.
I dunno, I think you're speaking for yourself. Lots of people use their phones without cases. I use a super thin Pitaka carbon case that only protects the corners and part of the side but doesn't protect the top/bottom. I once dropped my phone onto gravel from waist height (I'm 6'4") with it landing directly on the top of the phone. I immediately thought it would have scratched the metal but when I picked it up and gave it a wipe down I realised it wasn't even scuffed, it was perfect. If it was aluminium, it would have most certainly have scratched or dented. I once had an aluminium phone drop out of my pocked in a car about 10cm and it dented.
Less warm on the inside, where it counts! Maybe the greater thermal conductivity of aluminum will dissipate the heat away from the iPhone faster, so that it might feel about the same on the outside as with the titanium outer band. Or at least I'm hoping that's so. If not, it can double as a hand warmer, at least on cooler days.
Yeah I get the advantage of cooling the interior but the heat has to go somewhere and especially if you have a case, it still won’t escape easily. I think just generating less heat is where it’s at and newer and more efficient SOC’s will do just that. I’m sure Apple know what they’re doing but I can’t help but be frustrated by the move away from a very premium and functional material like titanium to a very cheap and soft material like aluminium all hidden behind the guise of “it’s better for thermals” when really it’s just “it’s way cheaper”. Titanium looks cool, it is cool and it also matches my Apple Watch Ultra. oh well.
Maybe Apple will replace the titanium band with a band of a tougher grade of aluminum than they currently use for the iPhone Pro and Pro Max frames, which is supposedly 7000-series aluminum, likely 7075-T6, but my hunch is they won't, and they'll instead use the same approach as with the non-Pro iPhones, whose frame has no extra band around it of some higher grade of aluminum than those frames are made of, which is 6000-series.
Pure aluminum is, it’s an aluminum alloy. Alloys are designed to have higher tensile and yield strength.
