Among the various rumors about Apple’s new iPhone 17 lineup, one of the most curious centers on design materials. Apple will reportedly drop titanium from the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in favor of aluminum, and now we might finally know why.
Aluminum iPhone 17 Pro design may provide two key benefits
Mark Gurman writes at Bloomberg:
One other major change to the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max design will be a reversal: moving back to an aluminum frame after switching to titanium in 2023 with the iPhone 15 Pro. Aluminum is both lighter and dissipates heat far more effectively, which will be a nice change for anyone used to a 15 Pro or 16 Pro.
We’ve long known that aluminum was replacing titanium in the iPhone 17 Pro models, but it’s never been clear why.
Apple debuted titanium two years ago with the iPhone 15 Pro and pitched it as a premium feature.
Notably, though, iPhone 15 Pro suffered from overheating in certain conditions. I experienced this problem plenty of times myself, but never attributed it to titanium.
Though Apple did make some improvements to heat management with the iPhone 16 Pro, it’s still occasionally been an issue for me.
Gurman highlights weight and heat dissipation as two key benefits of Apple opting for aluminum this year.
And based on other rumors, it’s pretty easy to see why those benefits might be so important.
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