'Categorically Terrible,' and Other Early Reactions to Apple's New FineWoven Accessories

[tridley68]

Nothing compares to good old fashion top grain leather for durability and that great looking patina Apple really dropped the ball on this one just so Timmy could put more money in his already over bloated salary . Hopefully the third party suppliers will produce what Apple is not willing to do.

 

[vipergts2207]

I do not have a car, but if I had one, I would try to get rid of the logo. At least if it is one of those cars that other need for bragging.

I do not know what a GAP is, but if I buy sportswear, I try to get rid of the logos. Sadly Nike made their shows in a way that they might fall apart, if you just cut the logos off. So your best option is to go for shoes where the logo at least has the same colour as the shoes. I like my Nike shoes, but I do not want to be associated with that brand, as it is often worn by criminals.

This apparent aversion to logos on everything you own is an odd one. To not care about branding is one thing, but you seem to spend an inordinate amount of time actively trying to hide it. Do you also take your cereal out of the boxes when you buy it so you don't have to see the branding? I assure you, there are much more enjoyable and fulfilling hobbies out there to spend your time on, rather than fretting over logos on your things.

 

[sammo123321]

Received mine yesterday and a return has already been requested. Feels very flimsy and velvety and I doubt it would last more than a month after in/out of a pocket.

 

[MiamiFL]

Shocker! Who could have ever predicted when they move away from quality products like leather, they get cheap crap products. As soon as I saw these as well as Hermès non-leather products, I knew they were going to be a flop. Hermès should stick with what they do best, leather!

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

As with everyone, my Apple leather case for my 13 Pro Max has been durable and still looks very good after 2 years of use. I can't imagine those felty cases will still look good after 2 years (or even 1).

 

[canyonblue737]

Definately a third party case year. I’ve always gone with Apple, but the silicon cases always chip, and this fabric looks terrible. Nomad makes some nice leather, and peak design has an interesting fabric case I’m checking out.

It will be interesting if Apple walks this back (not sure how), but I figure they made a killing off cases, and this might sting.

Then again, they might not care.

no way in heck apple walks back a "green" initiative like the complete end of leather... what they will most likely do if this ends up being as bad as it looks now is just discontinue the product and ultimately replace it with another "premium" case option next year they think is more durable. no way they leave the lineup as just silicone.

 

[Weed]

Trash, as expected. Reminds me of those textbook covers some schools make kids buy.

And of course they try to charge the same price as leather under the usual "wE CaRe abUt the eNviroNmeNt! soaSHul respOnsiBility!" excuse.

 

[vipergts2207]

i completely debadged my car and the non removable stuff was blacked out .. if you get close enough you “might” be able to see the H logo but you definitely won’t know what model of H it is.

Fair. I wouldn't want people to know I drive a Hyundai either.

 

[vipergts2207]

This whole thing seems like green-washing from Apple. Yes, they have now removed some CO2 footprint from their products, but they haven't actually reduced the CO2 from being released.

As a (world) society, we need to eat less meat and especially beef. Cows release a lot of methane (worse than CO2), use up a lot of land and water - and for that those last two don't forget the land and water needed to grow the corn that is fed to cattle in North America. Yes, leather is a byproduct of the cow, but as has been stated above, it keeps the price of the meet down. If leather usage dropped, there would be less revenue per cow so meat prices would have to rise which would lead to less meat being consumed.

There are lots of people doing mental gymnastics, passing off leather as a byproduct or sustainable. It isn't. Just come out and state that you like leather and/or beef rather than trying to convince others (and likely yourself) that industrial cattle farming isn't harming the environment and contributing to climate change.

I do in fact like steak, leather, and hamburgers!

 

[Treq]

How can you believe something like this with how long they refused to put usb-c in their devices and forced people to buy bricks because they don't come in the fancy over constructed box that people usually toss. This is strictly about money but since marketing can't say that they use buzz words to make the consumer feel like they are doing something good while paying the same price for an inferior product.

Removing the power brick did two things for the environment. 1: it reduced the box size which reduced meterial used in packaging. and 2: It didn't ship a redundant piece of equipment that consumers most likely didn't need. I literally have a drawer full of the little buggers. I don't need every usb powered product to give me a new one at this point. If, for some reason, I did find myself in need, I'm sure I know someone with one or at worst, buy a new one myself for a couple bucks. But shipping one with every phone is totally wasteful. USB-c change is sad because lightning is better in so many ways, and only worse in a couple. Like data transfer which is mostly redundant these days with wireless technology. Lightning, is smaller, more durable, has better water resistance rating, and has better tactile feedback. I kinda think it would have just been better for them to get rid of the port altogether. That would increase the water resistance, durability and reduced costs. I think I've only used it 5 times last year total and none of that was to transfer data.

 

[Stromos]

This whole thing seems like green-washing from Apple. Yes, they have now removed some CO2 footprint from their products, but they haven't actually reduced the CO2 from being released.

As a (world) society, we need to eat less meat and especially beef. Cows release a lot of methane (worse than CO2), use up a lot of land and water - and for that those last two don't forget the land and water needed to grow the corn that is fed to cattle in North America. Yes, leather is a byproduct of the cow, but as has been stated above, it keeps the price of the meet down. If leather usage dropped, there would be less revenue per cow so meat prices would have to rise which would lead to less meat being consumed.

There are lots of people doing mental gymnastics, passing off leather as a byproduct or sustainable. It isn't. Just come out and state that you like leather and/or beef rather than trying to convince others (and likely yourself) that industrial cattle farming isn't harming the environment and contributing to climate change.

I like leather and beef. Glad I got that out!

Now I’ll continue to wait for my phone to arrive tomorrow to go into my Metropolis LT MagSafe Kevlar case.

🍔🥩 🐄🔫☠️ 🍽️

 

[-Ryan-]

I bought and returned the case for my 15 Pro Max. The material is awful. Very, very cheap feeling and not worth £59. For the first time I will be looking for a third party case, as I also find the Apple silicone cases aren’t worth the price.

 

[vipergts2207]

I use and will keep using leather goods but this could have been a good product, Apple just fumbled it.

There are plenty of synthetic materials with a quality feel and longevity.

One exemple is what is known in car seats as Alcantara.

Alcantara is known to wear poorly though when it's handled by human hands frequently, such as with a phone. The fibers absorb the oil your skin and the constant mechanical action over the surface mattes the fibers down. On seats it's not so bad. I specifically chose not to option the alcantara wheel in my car.

 

[randolorian]

These products exist only to have something to put into their SEC filing for ESG goals.

 

[4odomi]

leather is self-healing scratches, this isn't. ie this is gonna look like **** within a month and stays looking like ****.

That's the reason why leather is such a good product for protection phones or other stuff. That's the worst part Apple acting like we just use leather for fun when in actually it is used because it's genuinely a very good material for a phone case if not the best.

And yes tanning leather is a very bad thing for the environment but Apple was already working with ECCO which is one of the forefront runners in eco- 'less unfriendly' tanning + leather itself is for the vast majority a byproduct of 'making' meat.

I really can't see this being anything other than virtue signalling without making an actual change to mother nature.

Hmm, leather tanning
I don't see them stopping cobalt & other materials mining

 

[randomthoughts]

While I’m not thrilled about FineWoven, someone taking a fingernail and scratching it and complaining is like dropping a phone on the ground and complaining about the glass shattering. That is not normal wear and tear and doing the same to a leather case, the same thing happens.

 

[endemize]

What did you expect? Apple openly admits they take back your old returned materials like watchbands, put them in the shredder and resells it back to you. Recycled material is never that strong as its original form. Apple is basically reselling you your old S. Genius move. iSheep waking up now?

I appreciate they do all that work to make it a nice product again and that’s worth paying for. I couldn’t do that myself. Would you rather we all throw them in the trash?

 

[endemize]

The Apple many of us grew up loving and respecting is dead. I no longer use Apple products because I like them … I use them because they are merely the least terrible in a sea of garbage products

I grew up loving Apple products, but not sure how they aren’t good still. If they are the least terrible in a sea of garbage then that means they are still the best in the market. Seems you just aren’t happy with the advancement of tech in general.

 

[Biro]

Well, I’m supposed to pick up my new phone and case at the end of the week. We’ll see. If I don’t like the FineWoven case, I’ll refuse it and ask for a refund.

 

[xgman]

return initiated, ordered 3rd party replacement as usual. oh well..

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Do you hide the branding from other things? Appliances, cars, etc.?

Things I have at home will not be seen by others, but I try to get rid of logos if that is possible without destroying the product. Or just use an unknown brand. That is like having no logo at all. There are just too many people showing off with famous logos and I do not want to be seen as one of them. Some people even love to walk through the city with branded shopping bags from Gucci or whatever brand. That is so sad, because that brand addiction is a huge part of the price. Those people who are willing to pay more just for the logo drive up the price for everyone else. In fashion that is even much worse than in technology. It costs around $15 to produce $500 Prada boots and many people pay the high price for the logo. That is so irrational. It made the guy who owns most of those luxury brands the richest person in the world.

 

[alexandr]

Wow, that looks amazing! Like an old backpack or something...

 

[vipergts2207]

That's literally a personal opinion. So happily people can not give 2 damns what the Verge of anyone else thinks and buy what they like.

I appreciate somebody letting me know before I buy garbage. Saves me the money or hassle of returning it. However, if you still want to give it a shot, go for it.

 

[dbwie]

People wear ripped jeans, which puzzles me…. Maybe some will like a scratched up looking case. Who knows? At least we are not locked in to Apple only with regards to cases, and the third party folks will line up to sell us leather cases. I go without a case, and mainly have one case to use if I’m traveling overseas with the phone. This does sound like a step backwards for Apple, as I can’t recall seeing these reactions to an Apple case before.

 

[bobcomer]

I'm sure having second thoughts over picking up a woven watch strap. I liked the look of the pictures very much (the brown one) but the picture of that case is enough to curdle the blood. I can somehow "feel" it already if you see what I mean. I'll check it out, but I am not too hopeful now.

I've used woven watch straps on my apple watches for a long time. Very comfortable. I don't think it having recycled materials is going to make any difference at all.