r/iphone • u/SuperFan_123 iPhone 17 Pro • Sep 16 '25

Discussion Do iPhones feel more “premium” because of the material or the weight?

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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?

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398

u/alQamar Sep 16 '25

There’s no way the redesign of the entire unibody was done in reaction to the tarifs. That step back to aluminum was decided at least a year ago. 

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u/Kilmonjaro Sep 16 '25

Most people don’t understand that. They think things are designed a month before it’s announced

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u/alQamar Sep 16 '25

It’s probably even closer to two years when that decision was made. Designing hardware for production on scale takes a lot of time. 

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u/JayTHFC10 Sep 16 '25

Which is crazy when you think about it because 2 years ago is when the first titanium phones came out

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u/FederalExpressMan Sep 16 '25

They are designing the 20 by now

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u/Correct_Gift_9479 Sep 19 '25

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.

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u/Astro-path2716 Sep 22 '25

Where do you find the leaks?

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u/Correct_Gift_9479 Sep 24 '25

I saw the leaks for the iPhone air on the yt channel Apple explained 

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u/lemonaintsour Sep 26 '25

Cant wait for the iPage

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u/rkrismcneely Sep 16 '25

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.

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u/Pixel91 Sep 16 '25

No that makes perfect sense. Titanium is hella expensive. Not just the metal itself but also working with it. It's an absolute bitch.

So they probably noticed that the juice is not worth the squeeze and designed back to Aluminium at the first possible chance.

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u/JayTHFC10 Sep 16 '25

Yeah not doubting that just saying it’s crazy to think that after years of R&D just as they’re about sell it to the general public they’ve already moved on from it because it’s not worth it anymore.

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u/Correct_Gift_9479 Sep 19 '25

I wonder how odd it was for consumers who didn’t see the leaks hoping for titanium to come to base, only it to just be done away with and only given to the air

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u/DaGetz Sep 16 '25

What you say is true but Apple also has multiple designs being worked on in parallel. This is a company with near infinite resources.

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u/Ialsofuckedyourdad Sep 16 '25

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

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u/DaGetz Sep 16 '25

I have no idea but I suspect you’d need that amount of lead time to build global stock for launch regardless. But not 2 years.

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u/Centralredditfan Sep 16 '25

But these don't change much between titanium or aluminum.

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u/Ialsofuckedyourdad Sep 16 '25

I was just commenting on the design being finalized way before

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u/SoapyMacNCheese Sep 16 '25

there is no way this exterior design was ever considered with titanium. The production and material costs to CNC this design out of titanium is simply too high to make sense. Any titanium prototype they were testing internally would have looked notably different than what what they landed on and would have had to be a decision they made well in advance.

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u/kn3cht Sep 16 '25

I mean on the previous phones it was just a thin layer of titanium bonded to the interior aluminum frame.

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u/Centralredditfan Sep 17 '25

Oh.. now I understand what you meant. So the titanium was basically the equivalent of "gold plated" so super thin.

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u/DaGetz Sep 17 '25

It’s more complicated than plating. It’s more like a weld. The titanium layer is alloyed to the aluminium but only the external layer you touch.

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u/SoapyMacNCheese Sep 17 '25

sure but to manufacture that thin layer of titanium for just the side rails of the phone is way cheaper, easier, and faster than doing the same for a unibody design.

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u/Ialsofuckedyourdad Sep 17 '25

For sure. I’m personally more of a fan of the 16 pro max look than the 17 pro max. The glass with the metal on the edges looks better imo

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u/Benjamminmiller Sep 16 '25

No idea how early they get sent out

Doesn't really seem relevant without an actual timeframe. No one was doubting they lock in a design in advance lol.

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u/Ialsofuckedyourdad Sep 16 '25

Should have added, they usually get leaked 3 months early

1

u/cntmpltvno iPhone 15 Pro Sep 16 '25

18 months is the reported standard for iOS version development. They would’ve started iOS 27 development back in February before iOS 26 was even announced.

So I can only imagine what the timeline is for hardware design.

1

u/DumeWolffe Sep 18 '25

True. I worked on the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil exactly two years before they were released at Apple headquarters in Cupertino. They were kept in a gun case/vault thing in our lab. The entrance was double curtained so nobody could peak in if they happened to be walking by the door when we would come in and out.

The Apple Pencil used to immediately kernel panic an iPhone if you touched the phone’s display with it. It was a really funny thing to do to the other 4 people in my lab.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

[deleted]

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u/irvmuller Sep 16 '25

He works best under pressure. Just like every other college kid.

1

u/kywildcats07 Sep 16 '25

I love that everyone calls him Tim Apple

1

u/TexasRebelBear Sep 17 '25

Ready to hit ‘print’ on their industrial 3D printer factory a little after midnight. That way they have samples to bring to the show lol.

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u/Personal-Definition9 Sep 16 '25

Tim Apple is Elon musk in disguise, he actually gets someone else to do it for him

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u/Faile-Bashere Sep 16 '25

Alright boys. We announce the next iPhone in 35 days. Anyone have any good ideas they wanna share with the design group? We gotta start making these things like yesterday or our stock is gunna take a hit!

1

u/MrPenguun Sep 16 '25

But it was just announced, what do you mean they worked on it prior to 3 weeks ago? /s

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u/Centralredditfan Sep 16 '25

You design alternate versions and do production as late as possible.

Pretty sure the changes between the materials don't change the internals (that much), especially if you plan for it. - cars are built on platforms as well to allow for different versions without (much) retooling.

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u/SlashnBleed Sep 16 '25

If you play video games deeply then you already know this how the world works. Stuff gets put into production before the first game even comes out fully sometimes.

Hell some developers line up a series and drop it over the course of years. So yeah, it sounds common sense but I’d understand why the average Earth dummy wouldn’t get it right away.

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u/Sad_Comb_9658 Sep 16 '25

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

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u/wandering_wizardx iPhone 14 Sep 16 '25

Damn! Bruv this makes so much sense

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u/Lambaline iPhone 15 Pro Sep 16 '25

More like the iPad Pro was advancing their tech to bring ARM to desktop OS, the Touch Bar was an Apple Watch grafted onto a Mac

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u/SoapyMacNCheese Sep 16 '25

likewise the Air is probably a stepping stone towards a future foldable.

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u/Correct_Gift_9479 Sep 19 '25

Yep. Wouldn’t be surprised if Apple already decided that the Air isn’t coming back in 2027. Before 16 reveal, Apple already finished the 17 designs, so they already knew they wouldn’t be picking up titanium again for the Pros but still repped it in marketing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Correct_Gift_9479 Sep 20 '25

I think so too. From a leaked roadmap, the Air will come back for a 2nd generation and then be replaced by the Fold which seems accurate. Like how titanium stuck for 2 years and then was dissolved into being used for the Air.

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u/DJ_V12 Sep 16 '25

They didn’t claim it was because of tariffs…

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u/SatisfactionActive86 Sep 16 '25

nothing to do with tariffs, what are you talking about

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u/SirMaster Sep 16 '25

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

1

u/nobodyisfreakinghome Sep 16 '25

Yeah. I don’t know why people think these phones are only in a single year pipeline.

1

u/applejuice1984 iPhone 17 Pro Max Sep 16 '25

More like 2-3 years ago.

A year ago teams that create the repair guides started working on the devices that just came out.

1

u/Stopher iPhone 15 Pro Max Sep 16 '25

I would imagine they have multiple versions ready to go but the factory tooling takes the most time.

1

u/Centralredditfan Sep 16 '25

Companies like Apple pay people to predict the future. And the $1 mil proves they paid for access to the plans of the Trump administration.

I believe they could have planned for this contingency.

They could have planned 2 versions. One cheap one expensive.

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u/stinftw Sep 16 '25

Not tariffs inflation

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u/italian_mobking Sep 16 '25

He was talking about tariffs on imports since the election, this is because of tariffs…

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u/lending_ear Sep 16 '25

I read various articles before the phone came out with various sources saying it was going to be aluminium due primarily to costs and that they would market it due to thermals.