Leaker Warns iPhone 18 Pro New Colors May Face Same Durability Issues

[killhippie]

It doesn’t help that they’ve made it really cheap by literally stamping the camera plateau out of the aluminium. It’s not finished like the previous phones with that shiny glass area on top of it and they haven’t rounded the corners because that wouldn’t work. So it’s literally stamped and you get a sharp edge. Also it was the glass backing that was making the phones hot not the tiny titanium band welded to aluminium around the edges, my 16 pro with the metal battery they produced that year and never put in the max is still 100% and it’s a launch day model and it hasn’t baked itself so I either stay with that or go elsewhere because I’m not buying a phone like I personally consider ugly as sin.

Also I’m not being a beta tester for Apple’s cellular modems which are not going to be as good as Qualcomm’s, who have decades of modem design experience over Apple. The N1 hasn’t been the greatest of WiFi chips in the iPad compared with earlier models which makes me nervous about Apple producing a modem that works around the world with as much AI baked into it as the X85 and runs at much lower low power levels now, like Samsung this year who put a low cycle battery 1200 cycles to 80% in the ultra 26 instead of 2000, it seems all the big tech companies are cutting corners to make things cheap.

 

[subjonas]

If you are going to use a case, then you might as well demand titanium. Sorry to bring bad news but the case destroys heat dissipation.

An insulating case isn't great, but it's probably appreciably better than an insulating body, just because the body has much more direct contact with the internals and is more airtight so to speak.

 

[Jorgen E]

Same with my 16 Pro.
It looks nice...but it does get warm.

That’s good you Can feel it’s warm, it’s cooling the indside. Where else could the heat go!

 

[jaredlipsitz]

I’ve tried going caseless but iPhones are just too damn slippery. It works ok with recent phones with some MagSafe stands if you’re just staying around an office or home, but out and about I don’t see how anyone can’t use a case if they care at all about not damaging their phone.

No case. Two absolutely tiny scratches. Got on launch day.

 

[Fallforward]

Putting a case on the phone is the same as putting insulation on the phone. Where is the heat going to go? It will eventually build up.

Then why not use aluminum internally and titanium on the outside? Because it won't work.

Good point, it is insulation, so a case can cause earlier throttling under heavy use such as certian games and hotspot/tethering with poor signal.

It should have no impact in normal use because the mass of the aluminum is several hundreds of times the mass of the chip heat source. So, even with a case, it conducts the heat throughout that total mass efficiently. And even with a case, the heat manages to slowly dissipate from the aluminum.

 

[19callum93]

Laughing from my Titanium Air 😂

 

[bLackjackj]

often told they cannot claim it, with the company classifying the issue as an inherent characteristic of the aluminum alloy material and normal wear and tear.

Not in Australia. Australia has some often strictest consumer laws the world. Australian consumer laws overrule any companies limited warranty. This is even mentioned in Apple ls own Australian documentation.

 

[Char Aznable]

I really wish Apple would stop making devices out of such soft materials. It's great for pushing people to buy new over used, but it really sucks for anyone wanting to have a durable device long-term.

Had my 17pm for months and it’s fine still. Dramatic. It could be 10x stronger than titanium, and you would still put a case in it. So just…put a case on it and move on. We’ve had aluminum for ages.

 

[Char Aznable]

I always use a case because of work and lifestyle, so exterior durability is not much of an issue for me.

However, the new Apple marketing mantra could be:

"Excellent on the inside...Crap on the outside"

Apple fans say the dumbest things.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Yes, phones these days seem to want to jump out of your hand. I had no problem going case-less back when phones were small and designed for one-handed use, but now that they're big, I get around needing a case by using a thin grip accessory. I have this one on my Air. Adds basically no bulk, and makes the phone super secure in my hand even using one-handed.
View attachment 2638608

Yeah, I was skeptical of those popout grips until I held a relative's iPhone that had one, and it worked well for maintaining a good grip on the phone while not feeling weird.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

it was the glass backing [on the 15 and 16 Pro and Pro Max] that was making the phones hot not the tiny titanium band welded to aluminium around the edges

That's part of it, but the titanium band really was significantly reducing heat dissipation from the 15 and 16 Pro models. By some estimates, it was reducing it by about 30%-40%.

Also, the 17 Pro models retain that mostly glass back, since some of the radio waves, but especially the Magsafe electric field, still need to get into and out of the back of the phone (most of the radio waves now enter/exit from around the perimeter, through the plastic cutouts). The entire back couldn't be made from aluminum even if that would achieve maximum heat dissipation. The camera plateau is now doing a lot of the heat dissipation since it's a big mass of aluminum, soaking up a lot of the heat like a sponge, which a smaller/thinner plateau couldn't do. So advantages vs. disadvantages.

 

[Onelifenofear]

Always always always get a case.

But you shouldn't shouldn't have to.

 

[JM]

In other news, cherries are red. Except when they’re dark cherries. Or raisins.

 

[The Game 161]

Always always always get a case.

even with a case my 17 pro max paint has chipped slightly

 

[Max Book]

If you are going to use a case, then you might as well demand titanium. Sorry to bring bad news but the case destroys heat dissipation.

There's some truth to that, but I think it's being overstated.

A case does reduce heat dissipation because you're adding an insulating layer around the phone. A naked iPhone will generally cool better than one inside a thick case. That's just physics.

Where I disagree is the titanium part. Titanium actually conducts heat much worse than aluminum, so it's not some magical cooling material. Apple primarily switched to titanium for weight, strength, and feel, not thermal performance.

For most people doing normal things like texting, browsing, photos, and streaming, a case isn't going to make a meaningful difference. Where it can matter is during gaming, prolonged video recording, GPS navigation, or other heavy workloads where the phone is already running hot.

So I'd say: "cases reduce cooling somewhat" is fair. "Cases destroy heat dissipation" and "therefore you need titanium" doesn't really hold up.