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iPhone 15 Pro Was titanium a misfire?
- Thread starter Phonzoxd
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Nor mine. All this how the titanium looks and feels is quite amusing to read. I’d bet that if you gave someone not in the know an iPhone 15 Plus and told them it had a titanium frame they would be none the wiser!
Stick a case on it and the phone could be made of plastic for all I care!
The lengths they go to for a "Premium" look/feel. I like titanium and glass as much as anyone, I suppose, so long as the materials support a functional demand. But the glass back is dumb -- should be plastic, and if they wanted to show off, carbon fiber. Aluminum as a frame material could be fancied-up with surface coatings, including coloring. I guess I'd rather have hardware unapologetically workman-like, rather than like flawed jewelry. Then they could spend mentals on the eMail, calendar and contacts programs. Their music app ain't great. And they left poor Siri with walnuts for brains. I don't trust their Maps program to get to my mailbox.
Nonetheless Apple STILL sets the paradigm of style that other manufacturers imitate. Meh, I still miss my StarTac. Kids and their fancy phones. Get off my lawn.
Nonetheless Apple STILL sets the paradigm of style that other manufacturers imitate. Meh, I still miss my StarTac. Kids and their fancy phones. Get off my lawn.
I used a case for this reason alone. The stainless steel looked like garbage with all the fingerprints all over it
If it doesn't require constant care and staff to maintain looking good, is it even premium?
Indeed, I won’t use such a device before my butler removes every last smudge and dust particle.
Well, switching from stainless to titanium, even though it’s lighter it’s prone to scratch easier and discolor so at the end of the iPhone year in September when Apple comes out with a new phone and you go to trade yours in and it ask you is it free of scratches and scuffs and you have to say no then they will give you a less price for the phone trading. Apple allowed me $650 trade-in last year they gave me $800 but this year they raise the price of their phone $100 “Crooked”
But I still like the Apple phone over the ones with the android operating system
But I still like the Apple phone over the ones with the android operating system
No worries! All refurbished iPhone models come with a new outer shell, so Apple doesn’t seem to care about minor about scratches and scuffs. Unless the phone is seriously damaged, one of the only ways to get a lower trade in value is if you have a cracked screen.
Apple used titanium for the sole purpose of making the Pro models seem more premium than the non-pros, but otherwise it brings no benefits over aluminum and is only a marginal improvement over stainless steel.
Both stainless steel and titanium have similar heat conducting properties (both very poor conductors), and titanium is harder to manufacture, more expensive, harder to clean, and easier to damage. The only benefit titanium has over SS is the lighter weight.
Aluminum objectively the best material for this type of application, as it's lightweight, conducts heat very well, and is relatively durable. In this case, they're just trying to come up with things to differentiate the Pro product line at the expense of what is actually better.
Both stainless steel and titanium have similar heat conducting properties (both very poor conductors), and titanium is harder to manufacture, more expensive, harder to clean, and easier to damage. The only benefit titanium has over SS is the lighter weight.
Aluminum objectively the best material for this type of application, as it's lightweight, conducts heat very well, and is relatively durable. In this case, they're just trying to come up with things to differentiate the Pro product line at the expense of what is actually better.
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Stainless is extremely easy to wipe off to clean it, so not really a big deal. The titanium is turning out to be every difficult to clean.
The titanium frame on the 15 is just a huge selling point. I never thought the phones were too heavy so the Ti frame could have stayed stainless and it would not have bothered me. Ti scratches and dents just the same but if it sell phones, it is an Apple success.
My wife hated the glossy surfaces on her 6S. I used glass fiber brush to grain the steel (same tool I use to restore brush finish on wristwatches). Easy change, but dramatically improved the look and handling as well, a tad grippier. I wasn't brave enough to try acid-etching the back glass, but she eventually opted for plastic stick-on screen protectors. No telling how fancy glass formulations respond to etching, and no safe way to experiment. Mother-in-Law's phone maybe.
I usually keep mine in cases, but I like the look of the 15 enough to try phoning naked, if I cave in and buy one (I'm waiting at least for the hype, horror and patchscape to stabilize). Apple is no longer trustworthy at .0 releases. I mean they always had their bad moments, but these last couple years, by golly, they ain't been any better than Microsoft.
Think is, I belt carry all over the farm as well as in the city for work. Both venues doll out crazy amounts of pokes, smacks, drops, splashes and stains. Why, this one time I had to fight a giant rat on the subway track bed to get my phone back before Metro squashed me! And then this other time, a horse tried to send text with his own hoof instead of asking me to type it for him, like he usually does because of the thumb thing.
I usually keep mine in cases, but I like the look of the 15 enough to try phoning naked, if I cave in and buy one (I'm waiting at least for the hype, horror and patchscape to stabilize). Apple is no longer trustworthy at .0 releases. I mean they always had their bad moments, but these last couple years, by golly, they ain't been any better than Microsoft.
Think is, I belt carry all over the farm as well as in the city for work. Both venues doll out crazy amounts of pokes, smacks, drops, splashes and stains. Why, this one time I had to fight a giant rat on the subway track bed to get my phone back before Metro squashed me! And then this other time, a horse tried to send text with his own hoof instead of asking me to type it for him, like he usually does because of the thumb thing.
Everyone uses a case. Stop falling for these "exciting new colors and materials!" pitched every year when everyone other than you never sees or experiences them.
Same for this "compare iPhone 15 to iPhone 14!" nonsense. No one is upgrading their phone every year other than you as well.
Same for this "compare iPhone 15 to iPhone 14!" nonsense. No one is upgrading their phone every year other than you as well.
It's always such a funny feeling unpacking a new phone, thinking "Oh this is so pretty!" and only looking at it for about two minutes before plunking it into a case, hardly ever to be seen again.
I do love the look of the camera on the 15PM, and am glad you can still see those with the case on. But yeah, your point stands.
Don't know if this has been said already, but Titanium isn't actually the 'wonder metal' that many people seem to think it is. It's used in multiple industries because it has good fatigue strength, and is very corrosion resistant. As well as being quite light. So it's popular in say Aerospace engineering, because it is light and strong and doesn't need much special treatment. It has been used quite a bit in bicycle manufacture too, for the same properties. However, it's actually not the best material to make a bike frame from for various reasons. One is cost; it's very expensive to produce and shape into tubes, as it requires a lot more energy to work. It's also very difficult to weld properly, as you need a very clean environment to avoid contamination. And despite popular myth, it isn't actually as strong as say steel, which is also stiffer for weight. This lack of stiffness can be used to advantage, if you need a component to flex; it's very good for making springs. And Aluminium fatigues much more easily, so not good for flexy parts. But perhaps Titanium isn't so great for making 'phone chassises, because of that very flex. And the aforementioned poor heat conductivity. In that regard, Aluminium is actually the better material. But Titanium now enjoys the same mythical awe as once did Aluminium. Personally I don't see the point of putting it in a 'phone, especially not its chassis. Just bumps the cost up unnecessarily. But people will go 'ooh Titanium!', and spend lots of money. That's why the iPhone 15 uses Titanium. It's a sales gimmick.
I think titanium developed a reputation as an indestructible wonder metal because of Hollywood. The Terminator's armor was made of titanium, for example. As was RoboCop's. Bullets bounced off without so much as leaving a mark.
Sure, it's fiction, but the idea stays with people. "Titanium is bullet proof and really strong!" It led to titanium seeming exotic and cool. Remember how much we wanted a Titanium Powerbook? It ended up being a crappy material; it was painted and the paint flaked off after a while.
Titanium is great but not as great as many think it to be. Magnesium on the other hand...
Yeah; Titanium was used for particular applications in the aerospace industry particularly, but also in more mundane areas such as petrochemical engineering etc. Its use in bicycle manufacturing was heralded as it being the new 'wonder material' (this was a little before Carbon Fibre really became popular), but the truth is it doesn't make for a better frame than does steel, other than being a little bit lighter perhaps (steel can be made to be as light as Ti frames tbh, but this requires more careful design and workmanship), and not requiring any surface treatment or paint finish. A lot of early Ti frames were poorly designed and made in respect to the properties of the material; many were too flexy, and quite a number cracked. It fell out of favour for most cyclists, although some niche custom builders continued with it, and you can buy a very nice Ti frame indeed, if you have deep pockets. But Titanium had by now gained a mythical aura; very small amounts of Ti were used in all sorts of products where its use was quite pointless from an actual functional point of view. So products would proudly boats 'Titanium!' in the name or blurb, like this was somehow making the thing better. Only increased its price, that's all. Very good material for making spectacle frames from though; I've had a pair for something like twenty years, and they sadly broke only just the other day. 😭 They had a hard life as my 'dailies'. No way would any steel frames have lasted as long though, and they'd have been heavier. My spare pair are Ti, so I expect them to last well too, and I'll be looking for another Ti frame to replace the old ones. But in a 'phone chassis? Meh. Waste of time, money and effort.I think titanium developed a reputation as an indestructible wonder metal because of Hollywood. The Terminator's armor was made of titanium, for example. As was RoboCop's. Bullets bounced off without so much as leaving a mark.
Sure, it's fiction, but the idea stays with people. "Titanium is bullet proof and really strong!" It led to titanium seeming exotic and cool. Remember how much we wanted a Titanium Powerbook? It ended up being a crappy material; it was painted and the paint flaked off after a while.
Titanium is great but not as great as many think it to be. Magnesium on the other hand...
As for Magnesium; good for making cast parts, but corrodes badly and needs careful sealing/painting. Very popular for bicycle and motorbike suspension outer legs. It would be quite good for things like laptop and 'phone chassises, actually. Not as 'sexy' as Titanium though, is it? Ooh, Titanium. My friend's car has 'Titanium' as part of the model name. I have no idea why. It's not even Titanium coloured. And it's crap. He drives so slowly it's actually got moss growing on it. I'm not even joking.
Little OT, my laptop (Alienware X17 R2) is made of Magnesium, very nice sturdy piece of tech but in first touch u feel Magnesium like a very good quality plastic despite its coted and painted metal. Hard to recognize on first glance this premium material (compered to plastic). When examinate closer u can differentiate is't metal - how cold and clicky and sturdy it is.
Long story short for average consumer not a premium material for pro series but definetely good choice for maybe internals ar inner body/plate?
Not at all.
I absolutely love the look and feel of my 15 Pro Max, it feels amazing in hand and the weight reduction is so welcome!
It is pretty funny to read people’s posts here blaming the overheating (which has now been solved) on Titanium when the substructure of the Pro series is Aluminium, lol.
I think Apple made the right choice and I look forward to them refining the use of Titanium on iPhones going forward, I am sure we will see some cool stuff happen with 16, 17 and 18 series of iPhones in terms of colour combinations and so on.
I absolutely love the look and feel of my 15 Pro Max, it feels amazing in hand and the weight reduction is so welcome!
It is pretty funny to read people’s posts here blaming the overheating (which has now been solved) on Titanium when the substructure of the Pro series is Aluminium, lol.
I think Apple made the right choice and I look forward to them refining the use of Titanium on iPhones going forward, I am sure we will see some cool stuff happen with 16, 17 and 18 series of iPhones in terms of colour combinations and so on.
I think it was probably more likely you were bored with Android as switching for metal that has no real noticeable advantage would be rather difficult to believe if that were the only stated reason.
And:
Kind of proves just how much using Titanium is a marketing gimmick. Apparently, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 221g, so just 19g lighter than the 14 Pro Max. How much of this is actually down to the use of Titanium, we don't know, because Apple may well have made other changes that also save weight. But 19g is nothing really, less than 10% of the weight of an already pretty lightweight thing. And the fact that the Ti has been fused with Aluminium shows that it's still not stiff enough to form the chassis on its own. The 15 Pro is still heavier than my iPhone 12 (187g v 164g) for the same screen size. And just 2g ligher than the 12 Pro. Wow. Two whole grams! That's like 2 shelled peanuts! Yay, Titanium! 🤣