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Other Anyone else want aluminium sides on the iPhone 13 Pro/Max?
- Thread starter therealMasa
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That’s ********. Aluminum may cost more (I haven’t investigated this myself) but it feels cheap. No way would I ever want that if I’m paying for a pro model. I like the weight of the current 12 Pro Max.
Ill be honest, an 11 Pro Max is my daily driver. But I used a blue iPhone 12 for a few days while my main driver was being replaced and loved the aluminum feel. Lighter, felt like an optimized version. Loved the blue color as well and how it felt in hand. If they have that blue tone in the 13, I know what my next iPhone will be.
Personally, I was really hoping they would lean into the iPhone 4/4S design and give us a nice satin powder-blasted steel band. The 4 series to this day still looks the most premium of all iPhones in my opinion.
Alas, I’m not sure the general population agrees so instead we’ll continue getting garish, shiny models to satisfy our animal brains cuz that’s what makes the money.
Alas, I’m not sure the general population agrees so instead we’ll continue getting garish, shiny models to satisfy our animal brains cuz that’s what makes the money.
I’m not a material sciences expert, but as per my quick research, aluminium is actually cheaper than Stainless steel. Atleast the polished stainless version which I’m guessing is what Apple uses for their Pro models.
They should use lead to make it feel even more premium, and satisfy the ones who think weight=quality.
I also should have been more satisfied with the 40kg bike i once had, it surely had a superb premium quality.
Indeed you’re entitled to feel that way. If weight equals premium for some then I’m very glad I have the opposite view.
You all have a lot of emotional investment into a material that compromises a very small part of the phone.
A lot of very opinionated people with condescending tones.
A lot of very opinionated people with condescending tones.
I don’t think Apple have ever declared the grade they use other than now saying ‘surgical grade’ which is likely 316L. There are rumours it’s actually ANSI 301 as this is very suitable to the type of fabrication needed in the iPhone. As I said, consumers aren’t paying the premium because stainless steel is a more expensive material. Aluminium right now and into the distant past has cost more per kg. The premium element is the manufacturing processes needed to make these stainless frames. Longer machine cycle times, and higher tool wear mean these frames take perhaps twice as long to manufacture even if this is a matter of minutes. Apple have marketed stainless steel as premium and done so by claiming it’s a better quality material. People have rightly bought into that, but I’m glad I know a bit more of what is involved.
Sadly it’s the old Pro vs Mid tier device mentality where the price dictates whether something is better or not in Apple World. I find the power of marketing to be fascinating and especially in this field.
Has your SS iPhone ever taken a dent? I guess not, and if it has, it’s barely noticeable. However, you can treat an aluminium iPhone extremely well and end up with many holes on its surface. For me, that’s the biggest difference.
Condescension is a MacRumors Forum specialty. I'm guilty of it too admittedly. I'm not surprised, such is the default tone of expression on much the internet these days sadly.
3 pages just because someone doesn't understand the difference between steel and "stainless steel".
Me? Don't care, won't update my Xr for another 2-3 years and will put a case around whatever comes next.
Me? Don't care, won't update my Xr for another 2-3 years and will put a case around whatever comes next.
I guess it's a bit irrelevant now as we're unlikely to see this sort of thing again, but I always thought the super light iPhone 5/5s felt really premium and futuristic at the time when most phones were chunky, heavy plasticky things. It's easy to make something heavy, much more difficult to make it surprisingly light.
The heavier and shinier perspective seems common but also the suggestion of moving to titanium which will be comparable to aluminium in terms of being lightweight. Once you have a case on your iPhone then the difference or advantage from an aesthetic point of view disappears. It’s the same when someone says stainless doesn’t dent as easily as aluminium which is absolutely correct. If your iPhone is on a case then neither dent as easily either. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives here and perceptions of what ‘quality’ and ‘premium’ means to them.
I’m quite happy with aluminium as for me it’s a premium material, lightweight and is covered in a case 100% of the time. It’s quite irrelevant in terms of how it looks on my iPhone as the only parts you can see are the speaker grills and a 1.5mm border surrounding the charging port lol.
To me it seems a lot of people are just substituting 'heavy' for 'solid/ well built'. Something can feel very solid but also lightweight, like the iPhone 5 series, weight in and of itself (to me) isn't an indicator of quality. Given it takes more effort to make something light than it does to make it heavy, and for something like a phone lighter is actually a practical benefit, it surprises me that people actually value weight itself in this scenario. For something like Gold Jewellery I could understand, but when Apple have made two near identical versions of a phone, and one is heavier just because it uses a different metal finish, that seems a bit of a retrograde step to me, not something to be prized?
Brushed Stainless Steel > Everything else
I don’t mind the weight, my biggest pet peeve with Stainless Steel is how nasty it looks after just minutes in the hand. Also the fact that it’s so shiny is a bit gaudy tbh.
A brushed version of that would look incredibly premium yet understated and keep clean a lot easier.
I don’t mind the weight, my biggest pet peeve with Stainless Steel is how nasty it looks after just minutes in the hand. Also the fact that it’s so shiny is a bit gaudy tbh.
A brushed version of that would look incredibly premium yet understated and keep clean a lot easier.
