Other iPhone color plating or coating services

[ratsg]

iPhone color plating or coating services.

I'm at that point where I need a new iPhone. I really want one in a color that isn't available direct from Apple. I seem to recall in the past that there were color plating or coating services, that would change the color of your Apple device (i.e. iPhone, PowerBook, etc).

Its possible that my yahoo-fu is just off on this one, but I've been doing Internet searches for places that do this service, and I'm coming up with null.

Is this still a thing? Or did this just fade away and no longer a common service?

FWIW, I'm not looking for a sticker or sleeve or any type of a cheap solution. Also, I'm located in the States, if that is relevant.

TIA for comments.

 

[Spetsgruppa]

So in short you want to repaint your iPhone? There are vendors in Indonesia that does that but i wouldnt because they will have to disassemble the phone to paint it.

 

[ratsg]

So in short you want to repaint your iPhone? There are vendors in Indonesia that does that but i wouldnt because they will have to disassemble the phone to paint it.

nope, unless in a protective case, I can only imagine paint having a very short lifetime, being moved in and out of pockets, etc.

I'm assuming something more durable like powder coating, anodizing, or something of similar durability.

This used to be a common thing to have done, or, minimally there were lots of discussions and advertising.

 

[Spetsgruppa]

nope, unless in a protective case, I can only imagine paint having a very short lifetime, being moved in and out of pockets, etc.

I'm assuming something more durable like powder coating, anodizing, or something of similar durability.

This used to be a common thing to have done, or, minimally there were lots of discussions and advertising.

If you just want paint protection. You can try going to a automotive store and ask if they would Nano Coat the phone. But it doesnt change the color.

 

[ratsg]

If you just want paint protection. You can try going to a automotive store and ask if they would Nano Coat the phone. But it doesnt change the color.

no. absolutely no to paint. I don't see paint being durable for any significant length of time.

I'm not looking for any type of coating for the (glass) screen. I'm specifically looking to do a custom color to the body (metal) parts of the phone.

 

[ratsg]

Anodizing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Here is a basic link discussing anodization. Even in the article, this states that Apple uses this process to color/coat/protect many of its devices.

There are many coating and plating variations available, but I'm undoubtedly looking for something like this, with a business that specializes in electronics. This used to be a pretty common thing in the Apple community.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Custom ColorWare Design

The following is a Custom Design I made at ColorWare.

www.colorware.com

 

[ratsg]

Custom ColorWare Design

The following is a Custom Design I made at ColorWare.

www.colorware.com

Thank you. This is very likely one of the advertisements I used to see.

I've done some basic browsing of their web site, but nothing is immediately jumping out at me specifically addressing my needs.

There is contact information on their site, so I will reach out, explain my current situation and see if they can assist or not.

I appreciate the help here.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Thank you. This is very likely one of the advertisements I used to see.

I've done some basic browsing of their web site, but nothing is immediately jumping out at me specifically addressing my needs.

There is contact information on their site, so I will reach out, explain my current situation and see if they can assist or not.

I appreciate the help here.

That site used to offer iPhone painting. They don't anymore.

 

[eyoungren]

There's also Neucase. They are in La Puente, CA and offer custom work. I've mentioned them several times in the past here on MR.

They had a deal going where you'd ship them your phone, then they'd replace the casing with a fully anodized version in the color(s) of your choice. It was running around $300. You got your phone back in the new casing, plus your old casing.

No idea if they still do that.

You can also find them at neucase.com, but they do not seem to be advertising anything but cases on that site.

 

[ratsg]

That site used to offer iPhone painting. They don't anymore.

Thank you for your post. I had shot them an email right after my last post.

I expect that if I get a reply, it will probably state the same thing that you said.

 

[ratsg]

There's also Neucase. They are in La Puente, CA and offer custom work. I've mentioned them several times in the past here on MR.

They had a deal going where you'd ship them your phone, then they'd replace the casing with a fully anodized version in the color(s) of your choice. It was running around $300. You got your phone back in the new casing, plus your old casing.

No idea if they still do that.

You can also find them at neucase.com, but they do not seem to be advertising anything but cases on that site.

Thank you for your post. I'll reach out to this company also. It can't hurt to ask.

 

[ratsg]

So I wanted to do a final summary on this thread before letting it die on the vine.

As many probably suspected but were too polite to post, yea, I'm just way out of date here.

As far as I can tell, no one company really does either plating, or painting services for iPhones anymore, although this used to be a somewhat popular service. Why? Anyone's guess, as I never had one done, but I strongly suspect that it had to do with a delay in having a new iPhone in your hand, along with a pretty steep price.

Getting caught up to 2022, from the best I can tell, the plating and painting services were replaced with "skins". You can find all you want on Amazon. For less than $20 USD, one can choose from a wide variety of different colors, patterns, etc. And you install the skin yourself in under 30 minutes from what I've seen. Once your iPhone has its new color skin on, you can use it as is, or the skinned iPhone can be placed in your favorite clear case.

And that's the good. The bad, IMHO, would fall in line with quality. Some of the skins seem to have higher quality vs others. And along those lines, the quality of the skin install counts too. Although I suppose if one were to mess up or destroy a skin with a bad install, you could purchase another pretty cheaply.

That's my summary here, and although I suspect that this thread will die shortly after, other thoughts, comments and options are still appreciated.

 

[eyoungren]

So I wanted to do a final summary on this thread before letting it die on the vine.

As many probably suspected but were too polite to post, yea, I'm just way out of date here.

As far as I can tell, no one company really does either plating, or painting services for iPhones anymore, although this used to be a somewhat popular service. Why? Anyone's guess, as I never had one done, but I strongly suspect that it had to do with a delay in having a new iPhone in your hand, along with a pretty steep price.

Getting caught up to 2022, from the best I can tell, the plating and painting services were replaced with "skins". You can find all you want on Amazon. For less than $20 USD, one can choose from a wide variety of different colors, patterns, etc. And you install the skin yourself in under 30 minutes from what I've seen. Once your iPhone has its new color skin on, you can use it as is, or the skinned iPhone can be placed in your favorite clear case.

And that's the good. The bad, IMHO, would fall in line with quality. Some of the skins seem to have higher quality vs others. And along those lines, the quality of the skin install counts too. Although I suppose if one were to mess up or destroy a skin with a bad install, you could purchase another pretty cheaply.

That's my summary here, and although I suspect that this thread will die shortly after, other thoughts, comments and options are still appreciated.

I would suspect that demand for painting or anodizing fell off due to the rise of cases. Why would anyone pay so much to have something like this done when they are going to put their device in a case?

Then of course, as you mentioned, skins. Also, I would suspect that limited as their offering is, Apple does now offer enough colors to satisfy most people who would seek out this type of service. Red and blue were both popular colors and Apple offers that along with green now.

For some, such as myself, certain colors have reached a level of being less annoying. Space Gray, which I hate in the 5s and 6 series is a much darker gray now and much closer to black which I prefer. With my own iPhone, it really doesn't matter even. I have the 11PM so my back is glass while the sides are actually black. Yes, the underlying color underneath the rear glass is Space Gray, but it's also darker than the 'Space Gray' on my 6s+. I'd love for it to be black but I can live with this shade.

Things are very different now than they were during the era of the 5s and the 6 series.