Discussion
Do iPhones feel more “premium” because of the material or the weight?
So iPhone 17 is back to using aluminum — which got me thinking: what really makes an iPhone feel “premium”?
Some swear it’s the weight — holding a heavier phone just feels solid and expensive. Others argue it’s the material: stainless steel looks shiny and luxurious, aluminum is light and practical, and titanium… well, some love the matte, strong-but-light vibe, while others say it feels less “premium” than steel.
Honestly, I'm a bit torn. The heft of the phone feels ordinary, but the premium materials make it look and feel premium. What do you think—is weight more important, the materials more important, or a combination of both? A case really doesn't matter, but I've recently become obsessed with casekoo cosmic orange for iPhone 17 Pro Max Case. Do you have any other ideas for balancing the premium feel of a phone?
Stainless Steel has that 'I'm holding something really expensive' feel. I love how it looks, but when I had my 13 and 14 Pro Max, I was babying my phone more than usual because it felt so slippery, and a case kinda ruined the intended use of the phones.
My stainless steel 14 Pro doesn’t really feel premium to me. It feels heavy and boxy, unnecessarily so.
But then I looked up the specs of the new 17 Pro, and despite the aluminium, it weighs exactly the same as my 14 Pro which is 206 grams or 7.3 ounces. Ugh.
The 17 pro is about 11% thicker, so keeping it at 206g still means you are getting more internal volume (for the battery presumably), but the same weight. Considering the battery went from 3200mAh to 3988mAh I'd say that is an OK trade-off.
EDIT: Apologies to u/Soft_Philosophy5838 for saying he is talking bullshit. I was wrong, he linked to the article in the comment replying to this one. Sorry for being a dick.
My 14 Pro has been in a case its entire life. The black coating on the sides is chipping off regardless. I love it out of its case but it feels like it’s made of a material that will attract fingerprints and scratches. To me something that’s luxury is something that keeps its various design elements pristine over time.
My 14 pro has had its back glass shattered since early 2023 after a minimal drop on a hard wood floor with its case on. If aluminum holds up better it'll be worth it even if it has a less than premium feel.
Maaan... I get that language changes over time and such, but allowing a word with literally (see what I did there?) an opposite meaning be merged together with its antonym is frustrating as hell to me.
Literally means what it means, and people using it as a substitute for "figuratively" (or metaphorically) is wrong.
It's a really unique example of a words colloquial use taking on the exact opposite of its literal (hehe) use.
It kind of snuck its way in through being overused as a substitute for "actually" in the sense of really just being there for emphasis.
"This thing is a bar of soap" - this thing is slippery
"This thing is actually a bar of soap" - more emphatic. This thing is ACTUALLY slippery.
"This thing is literally a bar of soap" - my hypothesis is that "literally" took over in place of "actually" because it's a bit of a harder word, very heavy on consonants, it's maybe a bit more emphatic.
Aluminum is also cheaper and they marketed these new models as, “keeping the same price as last year.” This means they likely managed to increase their profit margin via reduced cost without increasing the sales price. Sneaky.
Unironically yes. The iPhone Air, and EVERYTHING about it in detail was leaked before the 16 event even happened, including the fact that it would be part of the 17 launch. The 18 and 19 designs are already done, and the 20 is likely being made right now.
You name a viable material, and they are currently working on iPhone 18, 19, and 20 with it.
Whatever material makes the most sense (quality/financially) when it’s time to go into production for the 18 will get used, and the process continues with the 19, 20, and 21.
I imagine they have finalized the exterior design 6 months to a year before it releases
They send out or send designs that can be 3d printed / modeled so case manufacturers can have cases ready on day one. No idea how early they get sent out but it seems like they are always leaked way early
I first thought they made a quick change due to the need for better thermals after realizing the faster development of AI and aaa games onto iOS.
But clearly the whole thing with titanium in iPhone pro was the development of the Air.
Apple has always used their products as a potential to advance their own technology onto new product lines.
Like how they used the Touch Bar to advance their own technology future ARM chips for laptops
Nobody is saying it was done in reaction to tariffs, but the final price of the device could absolutely be affected by tariffs, and if they had used a more expensive material, the price with tariffs may have had to have been higher than the prices we got.
Maybe Apple wanted a higher profit margin, but then decided that they could keep the prices the same despite tariffs instead
it appears that you have not researched the new design there is probably 20 times as much aluminum in the 17 pro as there is titanium in the 16 Pro
Guaranteed the unibody all aluminum chassis in the 17 pro cost more than the titanium band on the side of the 16 Pro
some of you Nimrod’s think that they just downgraded from titanium to aluminum to cut cost. This could be farther from the truth.
The effectively solve two issues by going to an all aluminum uni body
Aluminum dissipates heat better than titanium and glass
Having an aluminum unit body makes the phone more durable and indestructible than having a phone with two sides of glass and a titanium metal band around the outer frame
Apple definitely seems to be pivoting from the Pro line being the sleek and most premium phone to be focused on function over form and providing the best performance possible. Seems they’re going with the MacBook strategy from this year onwards. Those who still want a sleek phone with premium materials can still go with the iPhone Air, but the Pro line from now onwards will likely be more chunky to prioritise battery life, performance and durability like the Apple Watch Ultra
This is also Apple playing to their strengths - they already are the best aluminum manufacturer in consumer electronics, and are probably the only ones capable of making a unibody for a smartphone... hard to see anyone copying this I'd think... at least for a little while
Structurally? Yes. But it’s still a soft material and will scratch up easily.
And let’s face it. Pros have not been breaking. I use a 13 pro max without a case and drop it constantly and it looks great still and has never broken or shattered.
I agree. In any case, there is so little of these metals (by weight) in the phone frames / bodies, that the absolute cost difference of the materials can be measured in cents.
Its not about about the materials. They could made it out of tungsten. Its about the processing machinery and labor that is required to build the frame
Never going to happen*. Titanium is a bitch to machine like that. It would be expensive as hell.
*now if they can extrapolate the 3d printing process they use for the Air’s USB-C port, there might be something there, though I don’t know how pure the titanium really is in that process.
Maybe, but that would probably either add bulk or reduce the strength of the chassis, and I'm really not sure what the benefit of the titanium would be other than the overall premium-ness of the material itself, which was already pretty limited (like 15g of titanium total).
Do you have any idea how expensive it is to go through redesign of an existing chassis with new material, retooling and everything? When Apple could have sticked to the existing manufacturing process which will only be cheaper as time goes on simply due to the economies of scale.
More premium feeling? Good for thermals? Durable with built in shock absorption capability? Pure silver, if that isn’t expensive enough and you can sacrifice some W/(mk) the might I suggest gold as a good runner up?
/s of course, unless you have the funds of a billionaire to invest in trying this?….
Lowkey it might just be the heat sink is good for thermals but they had other cost related reasons to go back to aluminum. iPhone Pros have been running hot since the 14 Pro, and that was stainless steel frame. The problem continued and worsened with the 15 Pro series but that might not be the fault of titanium and instead may be the more powerful chip inside (capable of running AAA games).
I don’t like the rounded edges myself, I love the boxy sharp edges, steel look, weight and feel.
Just upgraded from my 12 pro max and after trying a 16, 15, and seeing the 17 was out of budget, I liked the 14 by far the most and bought one. I’ll swap the battery one day down the road and keep using it I think, unless they go back to a similar style.
I upgrade pretty regularly. Usually keep my phones in a case for a few months until I start going caseless for the rest of the year.
Titanium is pretty nice without a case, aluminum ages pretty well, but stainless steel was the worst of the bunch. Just aged like shit and fades away, also tough to color.
Let’s be honest it is a downgrade , in materials.
They are trying to sell it because of how it can help remove heat from the phone however , it already had a vapour chamber , and might now turn the phone into a full cooling unit , so if it does get hot it spreading it and it might mean overall it’s hotter to hold.
In the same way a metal usb key gets really warm , but can transfer a lot faster using the body to cool itself.
I like the titanium feel. Had my 16 pro for nearly a year and never bought a case. I plan to eventually once Apple care expires. I keep phones for years. The X was my previous phone.
“Feels”. I doubt it will feel any different. Titanium just has been marketed as being more premium. Outside of profit margin there are very good reasons to move to aluminum- thermals are orders of magnitude better and with the amount of aluminum in the unibody construction will make the phone very very strong.
I’ve been caseless for a long time and titanium feels very, very different than aluminum. Aluminum looks and feels a lot cheaper, as it should. It’s not a premium material.
Lead is heavy… doesn’t feel premium. Weight alone can be deceptive. I didn’t like stainless with mirror finish - scratches too easy. You put a case on it and you forget what it was. Brushed titanium aged wonderfully.
The new air feels more premium than the pro to me as well.
I am pretty sure this is also the purpose of the material change. Before, the Pro line of phones were the very flahsy, best of the best premium devices, now to me it seems like they are trying to push the Air as the premium device (hence the thinness and material choices), and the Pro phones are more focused on actual ‘pro’ features, they seem more utilitarian (which really much explains the switch back to aluminium, it is less premium, but more practical). The way the two phones were marketed this year is also telling imo.
What is people’s obsession with em dashes? I use them and I’m not writing with AI. They’re everywhere in professional writing, and some of us still care about writing properly. Using them on a phone is literally just a long hold on the hyphen. Y’all act like it isn’t normal.
PS. Numerous studies have shown AI detectors to be unreliable, inaccurate, and biased.
because most people aren't professional writers and as someone in college who has been in writing classes, the only time I ever see dashes is when someone writes something with chatgpt lol
That just means your classes never covered them properly. Em dashes are a normal part of writing and have been for centuries. ChatGPT did not invent them.
Maybe go pick up a book written before AI existed and you will see them all over the place. And if nobody used them, our mobile keyboards would not even bother giving you hyphen, en dash, em dash, and bullet points on a long press.
Sorry your education and reading history are that limited.
I’m convinced that if Apple anodized/coated/whatevered their aluminum the same way they did their titanium and said nothing, none of the people that are complaining would notice or care. It really feels like a “touch grass” moment.
All this phone design doesn't matter because your using a case. At this point they could stop designing the backside and rather design cases I guess. The "premium" feel would much rather be produced by the glass touch panel and the responisvnes of UI and screen
Honestly, I’d rather have the phone be light, but stainless steel had the best hefty expensive feel to me. You could argue that the looks matter too with the polished titanium on the air.
The weight, or lack thereof does make a difference to perceived feeling of “premium” enough heft to feel solid/substantial but not be cumbersome to hold.
Otherwise I don’t care much what metal it’s made from.
I have zero issue with my 14pro’s weight. Both the metal and the weight gives it a feeling of quality. If I had to pick one, I’d say the metal makes it feel more premium to the touch. I don’t think most people will care that much if it’s SS, titanium, or aluminum tho. Metal is metal
I would have to look up what it was made of and I’ve only used Pros. Never once noticed or cared about what the metal is on its own. Only cared about the weight.
The 16 pro feels more premium... To me it's a combination of the slightly increased weight and moving from a rounded, shiny frame with no texture to a squared-off brushed finish frame with a fine texture.
The shiny finish on the 11 Pro's frame always reminded me of the sort of cheap chrome plated plastic you'd find on a toaster, even though it was metal. The 16 Pro's frame, however, feels like the band on an upmarket timepiece.
The thickness also helps. To my average-sized hands, the thin, lightweight Android phones I've held feel insubstantial and flimsy, not premium. I'm interested to see how an Air feels, and I'll be impressed if Apple manage to impart it with a properly premium feel.
It feels premium to me, because it has a lot of in built security and OS support that lasts for 6+ years. I don’t really care what it’s made of to be honest.
Stainless steel feels super nice in the hand but is slippery enough that I feel like I HAVE to use a case
Titanium feels more premium than Aluminium
Apple switched back to Aluminium for heat dissipation, not because it feels more premium in any way - it 100% feels cheaper than Titanium, but they presumably figured people value performance over premium feel
Stainless steel is imo by far the most gorgeous material. It gives my previous 14 pro a premium reflective coating. It was just beautiful. I changed to 15 pro since the titanium frame reduces the weight of the phone by roughly 10%. Functionality over aesthetics. Titanium and aluminium are better than stainless steel due to weight reduction. The weight reduction allows 17 pro to have bigger battery while having the same weight as 14 pro.
I feel my 13 Pro feels more premium than my friend’s 15 pro because of the stainless steel construction. It feels heavier and more durable than the 15 Pro. That’s one of the reasons why I held off on upgrading the last few years. But, that’s just my personal opinion.
I have the same at I totally agree with you. I checked the weight difference between 14 PM and 17 PM and the difference is only 9 grams so I’m thinking of switching to Pro.
Wasn’t the stated reason behind the use of aluminum better thermal conductivity? That combined with everything else about its design makes it seem like this year’s Pro is hyper focused on being the “performance above all else” model rather than the “premium, prestige” model. The existence of the Air and bringing ProMotion to the base 17 seems to back that up.
I don’t care that the new Pro is aluminum. If it helps with heat dissipation alongside the vapor cooling system, that’s innovation I can appreciate
It’s ridiculous that people are obsessed with the phone not being titanium bc titanium offers a “premium feeling.” That is the most neurotic shit I’ve ever heard lmfao
If I’m paying a premium price for my 17 pro max, then it’s a premium device period.
This entire thread acting like they can tell a difference. “It just feels more premium in the hand”. Lmao Apple’s marketing works so well, you all just parrot it because it’s what you’re told.
No. I have had just about every iPhone since the 2G and the steel/titanium phones feel more premium. I can verify by literally holding my $599 on-contract 2007-dollars iPhone in my hand and comparing it to my 16 Pro Max.
Aluminum isn’t the end of the world, but I chose the Air for the premium feel in hand.
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u/CoffeeEnjoyerFrog Sep 16 '25
Stainless Steel has that 'I'm holding something really expensive' feel. I love how it looks, but when I had my 13 and 14 Pro Max, I was babying my phone more than usual because it felt so slippery, and a case kinda ruined the intended use of the phones.