why cant other companies use better materials for thier phones like apple?

[Oyeve]

Apple is maybe gonna shift to carbon fiber?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57520755-37/apple-once-again-rumored-to-be-eyeing-carbon-fiber/

Recent patent for mold technology.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...nd+isd/9/4/2012&RS=(AN/apple+AND+ISD/20120904)

Oy, the iRobots will revolt.

 

[WelshBloke]

When did aluminum become a premium metal? I like the solid plastic of my SGS2 and SGS3. It doesnt feel cheap at all.

This.

Its actually quite a crappy metal to make things with. I suppose its advantages are that theres lots of it and its light, but structurally, pure aluminium is horrible.

 

[Eug]

Oy, the iRobots will revolt.

That makes no sense. Like I said before, one does not need to have to have the phone made out of aluminum. As long as it's done well with good materials, people will love it.

Carbon fibre is definitely a good material to investigate for this purpose. If carbon fibre is good for bikes and planes, it may be good for phones too. In fact, it's not as if it's completely new. I think a few luxury phones came out years ago with carbon fibre.

This.

Its actually quite a crappy metal to make things with. I suppose its advantages are that theres lots of it and its light, but structurally, pure aluminium is horrible.

Well, they're usually alloys, and they work very well structurally, vs. the weight. There is a reason that most higher end bikes are made from aluminum, even if I personally prefer the feel of steel alloys.

 

[s44]

I dunno about you, but looks and feel matter to me for something I use every day. If you like bulky, creaky phones that don't feel well built, then good for you.

Every phone feels the same "builtness" when inside a TPU case.

P.S. I don't have an iPhone 5, so I can't really comment, but personally I think the iPhone 4 has the best build feel of any phone I have ever owned.

Which is ironic, since the i4 is probably the most easily breakable smartphone ever.

Anyway, different tastes for different folks, but I do think the 3 was Apple's best design.

 

[WelshBloke]

...

Well, they're usually alloys, and they work very well structurally, vs. the weight. There is a reason that most higher end bikes are made from aluminum, even if I personally prefer the feel of steel alloys.

Is the IP5 an aluminium alloy? I know its anodized but I was just assuming that the base material is pure aluminium.

 

[Eug]

I do think the 3 was Apple's best design.

The 3G was plastic, and had a serious cracking issue. Part of that was likely due to poor industrial design though, not just because it was plastic.

 

[openwheel]

people who think iPhones use "premium" material should check out some real "premium" material. Seriously....this is hilarious.

Sapphire crystal, I can understand. If Apple can use liquid metal, then YES!
Glass and aluminum? Please!

 

[Eug]

Is the IP5 an aluminium alloy? I know its anodized but I was just assuming that the base material is pure aluminium.

Dunno about the iPhone 5 per se and I'm not an expert, and furthermore, Apple hasn't released the specifics about the alloy used. However, a few out there in internetland who work with aluminum believe it's some form of 6061 aluminum that's used in the MacBook Pro. Why 6061? It's torsionally pretty strong without being too brittle, it's not overly expensive, it's widely available, and it's decent to work with. I do know that lots of bikes are made with 6061, although weldability is a characteristic that's valued there, and weldability is irrelevant for the MacBook Pro. However, that 6061 guess is just the opinion from a few people out there who post in forums. I don't know if that's true or not, or if it's some other kind of aluminum alloy.

No, it's not as if it's like it's some sort of high-dollar metal alloy, but those using the "it's not premium metal" argument are completely missing the point. The point is that it's got some significant advantages over plastic. But like I said before, just because it's aluminum doesn't automagically make it special. You can make crap out of aluminum, too.

I'm not too keen on the anodization though. Even well-anodized aluminum will eventually show the wear. OTOH, non-anodized aluminum will simply show scratches, which is a lot easier to tolerate than scratched anodized surfaces where the aluminum shows through. It looks horrible if there are a lot of such scratches on a black anodized surface.

 

[VashHT]

Meh I end up putting my phones in cases now anyways, I used to use them naked but the screens and bodies always end up scratched and dinged so now I go for full protection on them. My iphone 5 got a tiny scratch on the screen while I was waiting for my screen protector to come in the mail, pretty annoying since I was babying the thing and being extra careful with it.

 

[Phokus]

Meh I end up putting my phones in cases now anyways, I used to use them naked but the screens and bodies always end up scratched and dinged so now I go for full protection on them. My iphone 5 got a tiny scratch on the screen while I was waiting for my screen protector to come in the mail, pretty annoying since I was babying the thing and being extra careful with it.

This pretty much highlights why the iphone 5 was such a bad design. There's an almost 100% chance your phone will get 'dinged' or 'scuffed' w/o protection. The chance that you'll crack your phone isn't very big. But the whole point of the design was eye candy. But if you have to put your phone in a case to prevent dings and scuffs, what the hell was the point of making the phone 'pretty' but easily blemished?!

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

This pretty much highlights why the iphone 5 was such a bad design. There's an almost 100% chance your phone will get 'dinged' or 'scuffed' w/o protection. The chance that you'll crack your phone isn't very big. But the whole point of the design was eye candy. But if you have to put your phone in a case to prevent dings and scuffs, what the hell was the point of making the phone 'pretty' but easily blemished?!

same goes with cars. they're pretty. some people are extra cautious. they'll never let people wash their cars. they go early at 6am to park under a garage at work, etc etc.

saturn introduced the plasticky material that allows for dents and stuff.

but so what?

I put a case on my phone anyway, so I prefer a phone that's well built with nice materials than some cheapo plasticky creaker.

 

[Eug]

This pretty much highlights why the iphone 5 was such a bad design. There's an almost 100% chance your phone will get 'dinged' or 'scuffed' w/o protection. The chance that you'll crack your phone isn't very big. But the whole point of the design was eye candy. But if you have to put your phone in a case to prevent dings and scuffs, what the hell was the point of making the phone 'pretty' but easily blemished?!

That doesn't really make sense in the context of his complaint, because his scratch was on the screen.

Anyways, I suspect the white iPhone 5 won't look as bad scratched up as the black one. Is there any anodization at all on the white? I hope not.

 

[Blueychan]

This pretty much highlights why the iphone 5 was such a bad design. There's an almost 100% chance your phone will get 'dinged' or 'scuffed' w/o protection. The chance that you'll crack your phone isn't very big. But the whole point of the design was eye candy. But if you have to put your phone in a case to prevent dings and scuffs, what the hell was the point of making the phone 'pretty' but easily blemished?!

Not sure if serious ...

Plastic can be scuffed and dinged as well. People tend to be more protective of pretty things.

 

[Phokus]

same goes with cars. they're pretty. some people are extra cautious. they'll never let people wash their cars. they go early at 6am to park under a garage at work, etc etc.

saturn introduced the plasticky material that allows for dents and stuff.

but so what?

I put a case on my phone anyway, so I prefer a phone that's well built with nice materials than some cheapo plasticky creaker.

Except your phone comes in constant contact with other objects while your car doesn't. Bad analogy.

 

[Oyeve]

people who think iPhones use "premium" material should check out some real "premium" material. Seriously....this is hilarious.

Sapphire crystal, I can understand. If Apple can use liquid metal, then YES!
Glass and aluminum? Please!

Like this?

 

[Eug]

Except your phone comes in constant contact with other objects while your car doesn't. Bad analogy.

While I don't use a case, I keep my phone in my pocket when I'm not using it, and keep it away from keys and coins.

 

[WelshBloke]

... No, it's not as if it's like it's some sort of high-dollar metal alloy, but those using the "it's not premium metal" argument are completely missing the point. The point is that it's got some significant advantages over plastic. But like I said before, just because it's aluminum doesn't automagically make it special. You can make crap out of aluminum, too.

I'm not too keen on the anodization though. Even well-anodized aluminum will eventually show the wear...

Apart from subjective issues I'm not sure aluminium does have any advantages over plastic for phones. I don't have any particular problems with it but I don't really see the pull myself.

I've got some anodised aluminium pans that are years old and take a real beating but they are standing up quite well.

 

[Eug]

Well, granted, it seems Apple's anodization may not be the greatest.

I do suspect though that the scratches would be less common in my pocket than my wife's purse. She's got all sorts of crap in there including keys, and sometimes just throws everything in there in a pile.

 

[Zaap]

I hope that's sarcasm, otherwise lol wut. Iphones shatter all the time because there is minimal absorption capabilities in the metal frame. IPhone designs may look and feel nice, doesn't make them terribly durable. Thus everyone ends up with some damn case and it now becomes how 'cool' of a case you can get.

Exactly. I'm sick of hearing about this build quality bullshit like everyone should make their phones out of glass.

Almost everyone I know with an iPhone4 has cracks and chips in it, or has outright destroyed it. The back on my wife's is shattered and she now has to keep in in a case that practically holds it together. And sorry, I think the iP4 looks ridiculous and fugly as sin in a big bulky case- defeating the whole argument over how good it supposedly looks in the first place.

Meanwhile, my Droid X was built like a tank. I dropped that thing I don't know how many times over 2 years and it still looks brand new. Now that was great build quality.

Hopefully the 5 is much better, but I haven't been impressed with ip4 build quality at all.

 

[Aikouka]

If I remember correctly, you can't use metal in your back if you want NFC or wireless charging to work. The SGS3 has NFC, which means that it cannot have a metal back.

Meh I end up putting my phones in cases now anyways, I used to use them naked but the screens and bodies always end up scratched and dinged so now I go for full protection on them. My iphone 5 got a tiny scratch on the screen while I was waiting for my screen protector to come in the mail, pretty annoying since I was babying the thing and being extra careful with it.

Putting your iPhone in some sort of case is actually good for monetary reasons. I traded my iPhone 4S 64GB into Amazon for $500, which when sounds rather good when you consider that I paid $399 for it and its original MSRP was $849 (i.e. $849 - $500 = $349 < $399).

 

[Skurge]

Samsung Wave 1, 2 and 3
Samsung Ativ S/Omnia
Motorola Razr
Nokia Lumia
HTX One Series

All those phones are glass, aluminium, Kevlar or polycarbonate. There are Android and Windows phones there. They are all MUCH MUCH stronger and durable than an iphone.

My SGS creaked a lot and had a ton of scraches from daily use and when I dropped it on the pavement and rolled down onto the tarmac. It survived though. Without a case.

My Gnex is beautifully built. It may be plastic, but it doesn't creak, it doesn't have any panel gaps, the pastic is extremely durable, so is the glass.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

functionality always trumps style for me. why would anyone want glass on the back of their phone. thats just a part thats begging to be dropped and broken. i wouldnt want to have to pay apple prices for android phones either.

 

[Phokus]

They should sell iphones pre-scuffed because that's a much more accurate representation of what the phone is going to be like after a few weeks.

 

[Demo24]

My Gnex is beautifully built. It may be plastic, but it doesn't creak, it doesn't have any panel gaps, the pastic is extremely durable, so is the glass.

Mine too, heck mine took a 4ft drop onto concrete (of course the one day I didn't have it in a rubber case) awhile back which other than nicking up the plastic backing didn't do anything (might have fixed it, haven't had any usb problems since 😛). Taken several other somewhat more padded drops, no more nicks, no scratches, no cracks, etc. I now no longer care, I know this phone can survive and if it breaks I might feel a touch proud.

 

[Eug]

Exactly. I'm sick of hearing about this build quality bullshit like everyone should make their phones out of glass.

Almost everyone I know with an iPhone4 has cracks and chips in it, or has outright destroyed it.

Hmmm... I don't know a single person in my circle of acquaintances that has significant damage for their iPhone 4 phones. One guy I know has even dropped his twice, once onto concrete, and it has no cracks. Some scratches though. So, I guess my anecdotal data cancels out yours. 😛