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karleaglemac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 12, 2007
161
0
Every now and then, a product comes a long and makes you really, really happy. It makes you just want to stare at it and smile. The Ti Rust Canvas from Mas Design is a custom titanium back replacement for your iPhone 4 and has taken me to that happy place.



Ever since I got my iPhone 4, I considered it somewhat of a sin to cover it up with a case. For me, the physical design of the phone was in fact one of the features that drew me to purchase it in the first place. This tends to be the case (get it? ...case) with nearly all Apple products. After all, the company is known for combining innovations in both technology and industrial design.

Like most owners, I found myself in what is likely a common situation. I love the look and feel of the iPhone 4, yet I'm nervous about using it without a case, BUT I hate cases. I'm certain I am not the first or only one who has encountered this problem.

For me, the Ti Rust Canvas from Mas Design entirely solves that problem. Well, most of it. I'll get to that later. As mentioned on the Mas Design website the iPhone 4 back replacement is part of the prototype collection and made of "precision cut grade 2 CP titanium sheet, hand stressed, custom finished, selective heat oxidation, laser engraved, and fitted with standard iPhone 4 components."

First off, let's just get it on the table and talk price. The Ti Rust Canvas sells for $90, which, let's be honest, is not cheap. However, if you are at all the slightest bit of a case/accessory "enthusiast", to me it makes more sense to just put your money towards something really nice than wind up purchasing three mediocre cases, all of which will likely leave you unimpressed. I can say with the utmost certainty that you will not be disappointed with this product.

Three simple, quick reasons why I love the Ti Rust Canvas:
  • 100% zero degradation of signal strength. Let's be honest, for a product to be successful, both form and function must be at least acceptable. With the Ti Rust Canvas installed, the performance of my iP4 shows absolutely no difference when compared to a stock OEM back.
  • Personally, I love how it makes my phone feel more like an aged, trustworthy piece of steampunk machinery. I commonly hear/see people complain about their case being a fingerprint magnet. Considering the materials used and finish of the Ti Rust Canvas, fingerprints and smudges make it look even better! Furthermore, there is very little weight difference. If anything, it makes my phone feel even more solid and well made.
  • Considering it is a titanium replacement for the glass back of my iPhone, I am MUCH less likely to worry about it breaking, cracking, or even scratching. When it's time for me to sell this phone and upgrade to the iP5, I'll simply switch out this back with my original mint back and won't have to worry about a drop in my resale value. Also, the texture of the titanium is smooth, yet slightly offers a little more grip than the original glass.
In case you are wondering, there is an extremely tiny difference in the thickness of this back compared to the OEM back. I was easily able to fit my MagPull Executive Field Case on with the Ti Rust Canvas installed. However, the thickness may be too tight for "slider" type cases.

So, enough with words. Here are some pics, which is really the primary reason you clicked on this thread anyway :)

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to let me know.

Thanks!













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By the way, the Mas Design packaging is unmatched, plus includes a pentalobe or Phillips screwdriver upon specification.





Plus, here are some more photos (outside lighting)







 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Very nice back and good review!
 
Thats SOP (standard operating procedure) for some other OEMs too. Chek the Element Vapor thread, they have at least 5 shills that start personally attacking folks who say anything bad about their products :p

Didn't know that. We should make a hall of shame :)
 
These look like beautiful case backs, and I have had my eye on them for a while. It is a shame it costs $30 to ship to Canada!!
 
where are installation instructions for this case ? Looks cute but dont see how to install it on their website.
 
Wow, that is awesome. I often don't like the back plate replacements, but this one looks very cool. Wonder how it would look with the white iPhone?

Any issues with camera/flash?
 
I'll be getting this same one. Looks amazing!

Idk if I should get some sort of bumper though to put around it, plus, I'm not sure if they thickness is the exact same.
 
I'll be getting this same one. Looks amazing!

Idk if I should get some sort of bumper though to put around it, plus, I'm not sure if they thickness is the exact same.

From what I've heard it is a little thicker.


Has anyone used the other two "rust" designs?
Also, is it possible that the inside part of this will have to change for the 4s?
 
They have just removed this product off the website...
shoot! I was planning on ordering!
 
I got the below response from them when I inquired as to wether or not the 4s was compatible with their backs.

Hi XXXXXXX,

We have no idea if the 4S will have the same component as of yet, so we don't know if they will be compatible. *We have to wait until they do a tear down of the unit first. *Even though the outer appearance is the same the back plastic housing frame may be different. *The iphone 4 GSM and CDMA are also different the way they are currently.

So we will have to wait and see when they are physically available :]

Take care,
Sunny
Mas Design
 
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