I put my (slippery) iPhones in cases because if I don’t they stop working. Your phone might not care that its screen is cracked but I very much do mind not being able to read the display and have to pay several hundreds to put it back the way it was vs spending 20$ or less on a case and screen protector so I can keep the original display intact and get 5-6 years of use out of the device.
When I drop it, I just have to swap the screen protector (a 2$ consumable you can buy on aliexpress) which takes 10 minutes vs having to pay 100x as much and wait a few days to get my phone back to swap displays (and maybe get a knockoff display with inferior performance)
IMHO it’s just wasteful not to spend so little time and money to make the device last several years longer.
I also buy the most expensive Apple phone and not put it in a case. My experience is quite different from your, perhaps unintentional straw man. Let’s take this assertion by assertion.
> I put my (slippery) iPhones in cases because if I don’t they stop working. Your phone might not care that its screen is cracked
I would be hugely bothered by a cracked screen or an otherwise non-operative screen. But Apple’s Pro level phones feature steel cases. This makes the phone very robust. I have yet to crack or otherwise damage my phone.
> have to pay several hundreds to put it back the way it was vs spending 20$ or less on a case and screen protector
Always get AppleCare Plus. It serves as my screen protector. If I ever did crack my screen service fee to fix a broken screen is $29.
> which takes 10 minutes vs having to pay 100x as much and wait a few days to get my phone back to swap displays
As per above the price difference between a case and AppleCare is minimal close to 0x as much.
And it doesn’t take days to have your screen replaced. Apple stores will do it in minutes within the space of a single service appointment.
iPhones are truly works of art and should be enjoyed without cheap plastic cases. Just make sure you have AppleCare Plus.
I guess we have very different use cases. The most I’ll pay for an iPhone is about 50$/year so I buy a couple year old used iPhone in near new condition for about 200$ tops. AppleCare itself isn’t free, it certainly costs more than a 10$ case and a 3$ screen protector. Plus you can’t get it for used devices.
Same as sibling for me, there are no Apple stores near where I live, I have to send it to a service provider who will send it to their service center and back to me, turnaround is easily a week.
I also find iPhones very slippery and super easy to drop. I don’t think it’s on purpose but I also don’t think it’s not not on purpose. I’d rather have my iPhone be a few mm thicker if it meant it’s not as fragile, I don’t care for a glass back that will break and is very hard to replace without paying hundreds, etc. I’d buy a fairly priced utilitarian iPhone that lets me do phone things (calls texts emails browsing) if they made one.
I guess I’m on the opposite side of your argument. I see it as “if I can keep something fully functional, in excellent condition, and without having to pay for repairs or buy extra parts for the cost of maintenance/protective equipment that costs a tenth of the device it protects, it’s a no brainer to spend that tenth and save my money + time in the long run (and reduce waste)”
> iPhones are truly works of art and should be enjoyed without cheap plastic cases. Just make sure you have AppleCare Plus.
I agree they are beautiful to behold. Nevertheless, if I want art, I'll go and buy actual art. My iphone is, foremost, a tool. If I have to wait an hour for it to be fixed, it's failed its purpose.
> Apple stores will do it in minutes within the space of a single service appointment.
I don't know how it is where you live, but I had to wait the next day for an appointment, and they held onto the phone for something like four hours. They also didn't honor the appointment hour, so I had to wait in line for 30 minutes.
I love my iphone otherwise, but this was just horrendous. I've lost half a day waiting around to fix the phone. This was for a battery replacement, not a broken screen, but the process is likely similar.
When I drop it, I just have to swap the screen protector (a 2$ consumable you can buy on aliexpress) which takes 10 minutes vs having to pay 100x as much and wait a few days to get my phone back to swap displays (and maybe get a knockoff display with inferior performance)
IMHO it’s just wasteful not to spend so little time and money to make the device last several years longer.