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Aug 04, 2023

Forget stainless steel

Sorry to all of you stainless steel fans out there…you’re wrong. Titanium is the way to go. Sign up for the most interesting tech & entertainment news out there. By signing up, I agree to the Terms of

Sorry to all of you stainless steel fans out there…you’re wrong. Titanium is the way to go.

Sign up for the most interesting tech & entertainment news out there.

By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use and have reviewed the Privacy Notice.

Up until now, the Pro models of the iPhone have always featured a stainless steel frame, and that’s historically been a great move by Apple. In comparison to aluminum, stainless steel is stronger, more resistant to dents and scratches, and overall a more premium material that, especially when it is polished, looks fantastic — until you touch it at all. Then, it turns into a fingerprint magnet that, while being strong, looks like garbage.

Despite stainless steel being a fingerprint magnet, I — and likely many of you — have never really needed to worry about that part since almost everyone puts a case on their iPhone anyway. With the added protection of a case, the stainless steel frame is even more beneficial for everything except one: weight.

If you’ve ever picked up a regular iPhone and then picked up a Pro model, you can immediately tell that the Pro iPhone comes with a hefty difference when it comes to just how heavy it is. Of course, some of that has to do with the fact that the Pro models contain more technology like a LiDAR sensor and a whole extra camera. However, a lot of that also has to do with the fact that the regular iPhone models use an aluminum frame whereas the Pro iPhone models use stainless steel.

In general, aluminum is about 1/3 the weight of stainless steel, so it’s no wonder that the Pro iPhones have gotten so heavy — especially the iPhone Pro Max models. They’re huge and freaking heavy! For all of us with Pro models, we all know the “pinky pain” we experience when we try to hold our iPhone one-handed with our pinky underneath the phone for support for too long. I’ve enjoyed having my iPhone 14 Pro but, after coming from the iPhone 13 mini, I hate all of that extra weight that stainless steel adds to a phone that I keep in case most of the time anyway.

This is where titanium can come to save the day. The iPhone 15 Pro is rumored to be ditching stainless steel for titanium, and I really hope that rumor comes true. As someone who was hesitant about getting the Apple Watch Ultra, fearing that its size would make the watch too heavy, I was amazed at just how light it has felt — and a lot of that has to due to the fact that Apple chose titanium and not stainless steel for the housing.

In general, titanium is about twice as light as stainless steel and, while it can scratch easier than its counterpart, it is much more durable to denting. Since most of us are sticking our phones in a case anyway, I’d rather take the extra durability in terms of denting over scratches. You can really scratch the frame of an iPhone 15 Pro if it’s in a case (unless you have a really weird phone case).

As iPhones have gotten larger, they’ve inherently gotten heavier. More features mean more components and that means additional weight. However, Apple discovered the secret to making a flagship product while making it surprisingly light when they created the Apple Watch Ultra. I’ve been using mine for almost a year now and it still looks brand new — even without the benefits of a case.

While we’ll likely lose that satisfying glint of the polish in the reveal video if the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max switch to titanium, that is a moment I’m willing to forgo if it means a professional-level product that weighs significantly less than its predecessor. Now, Apple just needs to make good on the rumors of an iPhone Ultra!

Joe Wituschek is a Tech News Contributor for BGR.

With expertise in tech that spans over 10 years, Joe covers the technology industry's breaking news, opinion pieces and reviews.