Fine, Woven

Apple’s fine mess of a “premium” iPhone 15 case

Look, the world doesn’t need yet another post piling on to the new iPhone 15 leather-replacement cases. But here I am anyway. I just can’t help myself. My initial gut reaction upon receiving the case a couple weeks ago still stands. The “FineWoven” cases are bad. Well, that’s not fair. They’re not bad bad, but they are bad relative to expectations for Apple products. And they’re worse than both the leather cases that preceded them and the silicone variety which not only still exist, but are cheaper. What was Apple thinking here?

Well, presumably they were thinking about the environment as the keynote a couple weeks ago made very clear. And sure, that’s noble. But you have to believe that if Apple was going to replace their leather premium cases with another type of case they could have come up with something better than the end result that is FineWoven. Or, at the very least, they could have offered them at a cheaper price than the leather variety, perhaps knowing they wouldn’t be as well received. Because Apple has people working there. And I’ve yet to meet anyone who loves these cases.

But Apple doesn’t do “cheaper”! This is the company which sells a $20 “polishing cloth” (compatible with the iPhones 15, by the way!). I get that, but the price is definitely a big part of the backlash here. These cases just don’t look worth $60. Again, relative to the old cases — which, arguably weren’t worth $60 either. Apple put itself in this comparison pickle.

I suppose they thought the eco-consciousness would win the day. It has not. Again, a great goal, but you just can’t make a premium case that looks like the FineWoven case looks, you just can’t. It looks like a cheap third-party knock-off of a premium Apple case. It feels better than that, but not so much so that it overcomes that look.

And the feel, having had one for over a week now, is just okay. It’s sort of like a cross between felt and your grandparents’ old couch. Or at least, my grandparents’ old couch. I’m sure that technically-speaking, FineWoven is impressive. Like Arcteryx or whatnot. But the material just isn’t great for a case. And I haven’t even irrevocably scratched mine yet!

The above is mainly commenting on the backside of the case, of course. The much bigger issue are the sides of the case. Which is what truly makes the case look cheap. At best, they look like faux-leather glued on. At worst, they look like pieces of plastic glued on. I believe I happened to choose the color, taupe, that looks the worst.¹ But they all don’t live up to the nice, uniform standard of Apple’s previous cases.

The sides also feel better than they look, sort of a cross between the woven back and faux-leather. But they’re just not great. And for this price, the whole thing should feel and look great.

Beyond all that, the case is now even harder to get on (and off) than the previous versions. This is likely due to the iPhone 15 Pro’s new titanium buttons, but again, it’s just not a great experience. At least the new “Action” button means that you won’t constantly trip the mute/un-mute toggle when putting it on and taking it off. But you may take a picture (or whatever else you have the Action button set to do).

Further, the case suffers from the same issue that the previous many generations of Apple cases have: unevenness. Because the camera bump is so large on the back of modern iPhones, these cases have to feature a raised “lip” to protect the camera area. But that means the device can’t lay flat when on its back. And actually, it oddly teeters when touched. There’s no great solution to this — a “wedge” case where the entire top is extended, which could put the iPhone at an angle to read a bit better when lying down face-up? — but it adds to the lack of “premium” feel here.

Another idea: a FineWoven MagSafe “case” which “snaps” on and is actually just a piece that protects the back of the device.² This would also eliminate the “lip” that extends over the front of the iPhone screen (and, importantly, protects it). With the screen extended a bit on the iPhone 15 Pro, this lip is even more annoying when using the main “swipe up” action. I wish Apple would give us a cut out at the bottom for the swipe-up. But again, just protecting the back would solve for that. But again, it wouldn’t protect the screen, which is the most important thing here. So maybe Apple should bring back the bumpers!³ Or take my FineWoven MagSafe idea and incorporate some sort of side shield that helps to protect the front.

We’re way too deep into this idea now, but I have always liked the original case that Amazon made for the Kindle Oasis. It magnetically latched on to the back and had a front part that came over the top when not in use. It’s easy to use and rather nice. Of course, Amazon quickly discontinued them, I believe because the magnets didn’t hold well for some people who put the device through more paces out and about than I did (I still use that case!). But Apple gets magnets. They could do this.

Anyway, for now, my solution is to use the MagSafe Wallet (and actually I use a third-party one, by Moft, which I also like more than Apple’s) to boost the whole device up so the back bump is negated. In fact, that MagSafe wallet is what I’m likely to use as my main case instead of FineWoven, which I may just try to return. It won’t offer much in terms of protection, but it looks a hell of a lot better. And it feels so much better in that it allows you to feel the titanium sides of the iPhone 15 Pro — perhaps the key feature, design-wise of the new phone. As bad as the FineWoven case feels, that’s as good as the iPhone 15 Pro titanium feels. And looks.⁴ It’s a weird dichotomy! The best of times (for the iPhone design), the worst of times (for the iPhone case design).

This is just a miss by Apple. They’re rare, but they happen. And when they do, you get 1,100+ words on them,⁵ before I’ve even written a word about the iPhone 15 Pro itself.

¹ None of the colors are great. Many look like yes, a grandparents’ couch. But taupe actually reminds me of something else: the shit-brown Zune!

² I do continue to appreciate that MagSafe allows the iPhone to know the color of the case when putting it on. A nice, subtle little touch.

³ Antennagate!

⁴ We haven’t even talked about how it works — a key part of design, of course. I imagine the case works as well as other cases, protecting against falls. But I’m not going to test it. The case buttons are fairly nice, I guess?

⁵ And I even held myself back from using the “you a big FineWoven, won’t you back that thang up” joke here. Until now.