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kstewart61

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 2, 2020
253
332
Looking for feedback on apple leather cases how well do they hold up compared to other brands like nomad?
 

SayCheese

macrumors 68000
Jun 14, 2007
1,720
919
Oxfordshire, England
My blue leather official Apple on my 12 Pro Max is rubbing off on the corners and going black after a year. As it's a dark blue though it doesn't make too much of a difference.
 
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ericwn

macrumors G5
Apr 24, 2016
12,068
10,858
It often times comes down to the individual user as well, we all sweat differently and will wear the cases in different paces. Leather will age of course and you’ll most likely get a patina effect at some stage regardless of brand.
 
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kstewart61

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 2, 2020
253
332
Apple leather holds up well. The problem is colors outside of black and brown tend to rub off leaving the corners and other spots black. That kind of thing seems to bother a lot of people on here. It doesn't bother me as I am more concerned about protecting the phone than making a fashion statement to try and impress others.
Do the apple cases offer any real protection from drops? I also use a screen protector and would like to use a mag safe charger with my new 13 pro.
 

bsmith4832

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2010
156
95
North East, USA
I’ve had many Apple leather cases through the years and always liked them. One of them the corners took some damage and started to pull apart, though it could have been because I didn’t treat it very well. I do only ever buy brown leather anymore though just because they age very nicely. For what it’s worth, I bought the Apple Golden Brown leather case for my 13 Pro Max, though I’m sure I’ll have 1 or 2 other brands in the next few months.

I do have a Woolnut brown leather case on my XS Max right now and it is a very well-built case. I would definitely buy products from them again.

 
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rjedoaks

macrumors member
Sep 16, 2007
71
41
Los Angeles
I had a couple Apple cards that I used to buy the Sequoia green. But I wouldn’t of spent 65 on a case when you can get a nice Spigen for 15.Looking forward to the leather case though.
 
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KittyKatta

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2011
1,058
1,212
SoCal
Looking for feedback on apple leather cases how well do they hold up compared to other brands like nomad?
I usually get the Apple Leather Case but, unfortunately, quality has dropped substantially since it was first introduced.

Poor leather quality, manufacturing defects, easy tears/scratches, poor patina (it tends to flake before fade). And also, Apple no longer covers it with AppleCare+ so proving “defects” is a gamble.

Despite my complaints, I’m still considering Apple Leather again because it does have strong positives. Perfect fit, good magnet, looks great. So my hope is that the “S-version” of the case is built better than last gen. But if anyone has suggestions then I’d love to find a cheaper/better product to try out.
 

cannono

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2014
1,005
1,143
They switched to a worse leather that doesn't patina as nicely (this doesn't matter if you buy the Black/Midnight case, but for colors it is important), going from Napa Leather to a generic. and also the cases got more expensive. Silicone was $40 a few years ago and leather was $50... now Silicone is $50 and leather is $60... The new leather seems thinner, but the real issue is the color use to gradually get darker but now seems to just go black in patches. All the lighter leathers have always gotten ugly when aging, but Saddle Brown used to age beautifully. But not on the new ones.

I can't say they are worth the money, honestly. There's some third parties with nice leather like Bullstrap or Nomad or Moment. I'd check those. But I have to admit, I bought the Midnight one this year because I have had Apple Leather every year and the fit is my favorite every time.
 
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lsh

macrumors 6502a
Feb 6, 2012
744
202
Cincinnati, OH
My 1yo blue Apple is a little scuffed up in the corners from drops, but it protected the phone well, doing what it’s supposed to do. Not much patina - more the color wearing off to black on the corners.

BUT what I love about the Apple cases is that the scuffs from falls don’t expose a plastic frame. I’ve had other more expensive leather cases over the year and the cracks/scuffs that expose a frame are FAR worse in my opinion than the wear on my current Apple Blue leather case.

Last year I chose NOT to do a glass protector because I prefer the feel of the original glass and I don’t see ANY scratches - I do throw it in my purse but my keys aren’t exposed and there’s nothing else rough.

So I’m sticking to what works and going with the Dark Cherry Red.
 

bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,132
3,853
Overall Apple leather cases do the job. They look good and protect the iPhone as much as a case can as they have a good foot
 

jimthing

macrumors 68020
Apr 6, 2011
2,040
1,199
One important point: the side+volume buttons on Apple's leather cases are REALLY good! (the silicone ones not so much.)

I bought several Apple silicon colours and Apple leather colours last year, but the buttons on the silicone ones were not as easy to press without doing so quite heavily, while the buttons on the leather cases were nice and easy – almost as good as the actual phone ones if you were 'going naked'. Hence I sent the silicon ones back and kept a couple of the leather ones.

As above, go for black ('Midnight' this year) if you don't want the colour to come off, as underneath the Baltic Blue leather from last year is black on the edges where it has worn. So it's clearly plain black leather underneath, that's coloured on top.
 
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tis

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2020
310
413
I'm wondering how many of you guys who are willing to spend $60 on a case for a $1k phone also buy an $1,800 car cover for your $30k car? I'd guess no one. The percentages are the same. These things are highly over priced.
 

cannono

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2014
1,005
1,143
It looks like apple stopped making the saddle brown case for the 13? Its now "golden brown" and looks a lot lighter :(
Yep. It's very orange... and the tough part is Apple switched to a worse leather last year that has a more "painted" color process, so the cases last year just turned black in patches where the coating wore off instead of the more slow darkening. No nice gradient patina. So this new Golden Brown might look just disgusting if it is similar to last year's leather instead of the older Napa leather ones.
 

tis

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2020
310
413
Well I can’t drop my car on it’s face, and I have insurance to cover damage

I knew that was coming.

Birds can crap on your car, nuts can fall from trees, snow can pile up on it, flying rocks from cars passing by can chip it, hail can dent it, etc. Shall I proceed? It seems everyone is so worried about scratching their phone, but everything else in life goes unprotected.

On top of it all, the case isn't guaranteed to protect your phone from anything. The glass can still break.
 
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rivers2mathews

macrumors member
Sep 20, 2016
34
22
I'm wondering how many of you guys who are willing to spend $60 on a case for a $1k phone also buy an $1,800 car cover for your $30k car? I'd guess no one. The percentages are the same. These things are highly over priced.
I mean I installed full front PPF on my new Civic Type R. Funny enough, I go caseless on my iphone due to the subpar quality nowadays and I much prefer of the feel of the phone without one.
 
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Prest

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2021
20
39
I'm wondering how many of you guys who are willing to spend $60 on a case for a $1k phone also buy an $1,800 car cover for your $30k car? I'd guess no one. The percentages are the same. These things are highly over priced.
I don’t think that analogy works.

If I could spend $1800 and wrap my car in something that would dramatically reduce the likelihood of a collision damaging it, I would buy that 8 days a week.
 

igneousc

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2011
291
344
Yep. It's very orange... and the tough part is Apple switched to a worse leather last year that has a more "painted" color process, so the cases last year just turned black in patches where the coating wore off instead of the more slow darkening. No nice gradient patina. So this new Golden Brown might look just disgusting if it is similar to last year's leather instead of the older Napa leather ones.
That sucks, its been a couple years since Ive bought one. I still like the way they made the case, its super light and fairly protective. Its just grippy enough but doesnt hang up going into your pocket.
It seems like a lot of the other leather cases out there are either too bulky and heavy duty leather, or are laminated with plastic or something.
 

vyspirit

macrumors member
Aug 14, 2017
57
202
Haven't used Nomad, but Apple's leather case will leave black lines on the edge after a while of use, especially if you choose a light color.

Apple's leather case feels great to the touch, especially I like the smell of it when I first opened the box ?
 

Hunter5117

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2010
569
401
I had been using Spigen super thin cases the past few phones until iPhone 12 Pro Max I again bought an Apple leather case in my normal black color. I was concerned about the reports of poorer quality compared to the older ones. Happily I have not had any issues.

I have had a few spots along the top edge next to the screen where it has started to fray, but none of these got worse and generally once the little bits detached you can't hardly tell they were there. I am sure the black color has a lot to do with this.

Anyways, I ordered another (black) leather case for my new IP13PM as well.
 
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