iPhone 12 Stainless Steel vs 7000 grade Aluminum.

[The-Real-Deal82]

On the plus side will be easier to pick up off a table, surprising they went backwards in design. Not sure with a case if it will fit in the hand as comfy as the 11 pro. IP5 was boxy with a leather case from memory.

Curves and straight edges are aesthetics is any design philosophy that will always return and disappear so it’s not really a backwards step as such. It’s a trend that is showing up across the tech industry as big rads are going in favour of boxy designs but it’ll do a full circle again no doubt.

 

[Stolz25]

I do find it funny how Apple apply impressive marketing spins on these materials like ‘aerospace grade’ and ‘Surgical grade’ rather than ‘construction grade’ or ‘swimming pool grill grade’ lol. Impressionable suckers do enjoy these terms though.

Surgical grade is actually a real term with a meaning, and has to have certain level of corrosion resistance to qualify.

Aerospace grade is less meaningful (I’m a materials engineer at an aerospace company), but in this case they are probably meaning 7075 aluminum, which is one of the highest strength/corrosion resistant aluminums. It‘s very high quality but your average user isn’t going to know what it means if they say they use 7075 over 2024.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Surgical grade is actually a real term with a meaning, and has to have certain level of corrosion resistance to qualify.

Aerospace grade is less meaningful (I’m a materials engineer at an aerospace company), but in this case they are probably meaning 7075 aluminum, which is one of the highest strength/corrosion resistant aluminums. It‘s very high quality but your average user isn’t going to know what it means if they say they use 7075 over 2024.

Cool, nice to speak with a fellow engineer. I’m a mechanical engineer and heavily involved with R&D concerning materials. We use a lot of 6082T6 and impregnated steels but yes the average joe won’t have a clue about alloy grades. I know surgical grade stainless is an official term but it’s also known as marine grade which doesn’t sound as alluring from a marketing perspective, hence why I mentioned ‘swimming pool grill grade’ stainless as a joke. Not too sure why you’d need a stainless with such a high chromium content on a device that should only be in contact with water for a maximum of 30 minutes at a shallow depth of 6 metres though? Lol

I’m much more impressed by the aluminium Apple use over the stainless steel as it’s such an innovative alloy from a design point of view I feel.

 

[Stolz25]

I don't know, but as they have almost the same exact design, I would think the same.

I wouldn’t assume that. Steel is about 3 times as heavy but twice as strong as aluminum. Most of the time when we choose steel in aircraft it’s because we don’t have the space for aluminum.

If they just straight up used the same thicknesses they would add 3 times to the metal weight of the phone, but if they cut the thicknesses of the steel in half they’d get about the same strength while only increasing the weight (of the metal only) by about 70%. So they would gain space, which is important if you are adding another camera in there, and you’d have superior hardness to the aluminum as well, without sacrificing the overall strength of the phone.

That’s why I was curious if anyone had seen a tear down of the phones. I’d really like to know if they used the same thickness metal in the pro and regular models, as that would change a lot of the discussion.

 

[Gjwilly]

I wouldn’t assume that. Steel is about 3 times as heavy but twice as strong as aluminum. Most of the time when we choose steel in aircraft it’s because we don’t have the space for aluminum.

If they just straight up used the same thicknesses they would add 3 times to the metal weight of the phone, but if they cut the thicknesses of the steel in half they’d get about the same strength while only increasing the weight (of the metal only) by about 70%. So they would gain space, which is important if you are adding another camera in there, and you’d have superior hardness to the aluminum as well, without sacrificing the overall strength of the phone.

That’s why I was curious if anyone had seen a tear down of the phones. I’d really like to know if they used the same thickness metal in the pro and regular models, as that would change a lot of the discussion.

The CNN review says that the bezels on the Pro are smaller than on the regular.
I haven’t heard that anywhere else though which is unusual.

cnn.com/2020/10/20/cnn-underscored/iphone-12-pro-review/index.html

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The CNN review says that the bezels on the Pro are smaller than on the regular.
I haven’t heard that anywhere else though which is unusual.

cnn.com/2020/10/20/cnn-underscored/iphone-12-pro-review/index.html

I would have thought the only difference in dimensions would be internally as the two phones are the same size externally. They also use the same screens with a software limitation put onto the 12 to reduce the nits used at max brightness. Steel is generally three times stronger than aluminium. The exception is 7075 aluminium which is used in the aerospace industry and is comparable to quite a few grades of steel. This may be why it is used within the iPhone and allows Apple to use a similar amount/design to stainless without compromising on strength and space within the device.

 

[Lwii2boo]

The CNN review says that the bezels on the Pro are smaller than on the regular.
I haven’t heard that anywhere else though which is unusual.

cnn.com/2020/10/20/cnn-underscored/iphone-12-pro-review/index.html

This is BS

 

[Gjwilly]

This is BS

As is much from CNN.

 

[iamthedudeman]

I wouldn’t assume that. Steel is about 3 times as heavy but twice as strong as aluminum. Most of the time when we choose steel in aircraft it’s because we don’t have the space for aluminum.

If they just straight up used the same thicknesses they would add 3 times to the metal weight of the phone, but if they cut the thicknesses of the steel in half they’d get about the same strength while only increasing the weight (of the metal only) by about 70%. So they would gain space, which is important if you are adding another camera in there, and you’d have superior hardness to the aluminum as well, without sacrificing the overall strength of the phone.

That’s why I was curious if anyone had seen a tear down of the phones. I’d really like to know if they used the same thickness metal in the pro and regular models, as that would change a lot of the discussion.

I am not that kind of engineer. So you would know better than I. But I read that Apple uses some SS for the sides of the phone?

I wouldn’t assume that. Steel is about 3 times as heavy but twice as strong as aluminum. Most of the time when we choose steel in aircraft it’s because we don’t have the space for aluminum.

If they just straight up used the same thicknesses they would add 3 times to the metal weight of the phone, but if they cut the thicknesses of the steel in half they’d get about the same strength while only increasing the weight (of the metal only) by about 70%. So they would gain space, which is important if you are adding another camera in there, and you’d have superior hardness to the aluminum as well, without sacrificing the overall strength of the phone.

That’s why I was curious if anyone had seen a tear down of the phones. I’d really like to know if they used the same thickness metal in the pro and regular models, as that would change a lot of the discussion.

Wouldn't 7075 Aluminum change that? By your estimation is 7075 AL comparable in some areas to SS? Scratch resistance similar? Heat conduction?

7075-T6 Aluminum vs. Annealed AISI 304 :: MakeItFrom.com

www.makeitfrom.com

 

[Stolz25]

I am not that kind of engineer. So you would know better than I. But I read that Apple uses some SS for the sides of the phone?


Wouldn't 7075 Aluminum change that? By your estimation is 7075 AL comparable in some areas to SS? Scratch resistance similar? Heat conduction?

7075-T6 Aluminum vs. Annealed AISI 304 :: MakeItFrom.com

www.makeitfrom.com

If it is hard to say without knowing the exact grade of SS. I would guess the biggest advantage SS would have would be in hardness (dent and scratch resistance), but without knowing what the hardening of the SS is I don’t know how much of an advantage it would be.

The strength could be fairly similar, again depending on the grade and hardness of the SS, but it looks like thermal conductivity is quite a bit better in aluminum, which I was surprised about. I hadn’t ever looked at that specifically for stainless, and it’s quite a bit lower than for regular steel.

 

[Feyl]

Cases are dumb as hell. Enjoy the phone as it was meant to be enjoyed, spend the case money on AppleCare or get on iUP which comes with it.

Agreed. There's no point of spending so much money on a beautiful thing and then cover it. But that highly glossy stainless steel on the Pro is too much. It looks like a plastic toy. If I'd get the phone I would probably cover it.