Adam Kos Apple has used titanium for a long time in its Edition Apple Watch. Now it's only using it on the Apple Watch Ultra, with rumors swirling across the internet that the company is planning an iPhone 15 with a titanium frame, and we're asking ourselves, "Why on earth?"
Rumors are reporting that the iPhone 15 Pro should have rounded edges, with Apple moving away from the current straight sides and returning more to the design of a combination of the iPhone 5C and iPhone X. In fact, it should look like if you look at the 14 or 16 " MacBook Pro in profile. However, it doesn't matter how the frame of the device will look, what is more important is what it will be made of.
iPhone 5C
Weight comes first
Titanium is stronger and lighter than steel, which is stronger and heavier than aluminum. The basic iPhones are made of aluminum, while the Pro models are made by Apple from aerospace steel. Therefore, he currently only uses Titan in the Apple Watch Ultra, but if he were to use it in the new iPhones, he might want to bring these two products even closer in design. But why use a noble material for such a common thing as a mobile phone? So "green" Apple should realize that it is a waste of natural resources.
apple watch ultra
Of course, we do not know if the rumors are based on any verified facts or if it is just a sensation. One way or another, we can pause over the use of titanium in the case of a mobile phone frame. At the very least, the iPhone 14 Pro is extremely heavy, considering it's just an ordinary mobile phone (that is, it's not foldable). Its weight of 240 g is really high, when the heaviest thing on the device is the front and back glass, not the steel frame. The latter follows only after that. So using titanium could make the device a bit lighter, or at least not have to gain weight with the next generation.
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Hardness comes second
Titanium is hard, which is its main advantage. So it makes sense on a watch that is susceptible to external damage, but on a phone, which the vast majority of us still protect with a cover, it's nonsense. It's nonsense also because its significantly greater technological application has been hindered by the high price of pure metal production. That's why the Apple Watch Ultra costs 25 CZK and not 15, which is why it would clearly mean an increase in the price of the iPhone itself, and none of us really want that anymore.
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Although titanium is the seventh most abundant metal in the earth's crust, it is a mineral wealth that Apple would properly decimate with the tens of millions of iPhones sold. Of course, such sales cannot be expected from the Apple Watch Ultra. Instead of precious metals, the company should rather focus in another direction, also with regard to its "green" philosophy. Because bioplastics can be the real future, they only have a flaw in that they can be relatively fragile. But making a phone frame out of corn and throwing it into the compost after it's used up sounds better and greener after all.
In addition, such a material is also light, so it would be an advantage in this as well. So, if only improved technological procedures could be invented, which, apart from resistance, would also solve the heat removal from the insides of the device, then maybe in the future we will meet a real successor to the "plastic" iPhone 5C. Personally, I would not oppose it at all, because it is not plastic like bioplastic. After all, mobile accessories are now starting to be made from it.
I completely agree with you, Mr. Editor.
I don't know if something that costs $2/kg and that's an unprocessable amount on earth can be considered a precious metal.
Ultras don't cost 25k because they're titanium, but because that's where their pricepoint is in the portfolio:
– 45mm LTE AW8 costs 16,4k,
– steel 45mm AW8 with LTE costs 23,5k,
– Ultra costs 25k.
The difference of 1500 is certainly not for the material of the case, but mainly for the extra technology.
With titanium, the most expensive metal is not the metal itself, but its processing. All its advantages are at the same time one big disadvantage if you want to make anything out of it…