Friends, what you’ve heard so far is true. The new FineWoven cases and accessories from Apple for the iPhone are bad. Really bad. That’s what we’re hearing from the media that have been able to test the new iPhone 15 and its cases.
At The Verge, they explain that they’ve been turning them over for a week, looking at them from different angles, picking them up, putting them down, caressing them… Seven days later, they still can’t make sense of them. And they say it clearly, “FineWoven is very bad.”
FineWoven is a new fabric option that you’ll find on iPhone 15 cases, AirTag holders, and MagSafe wallets. Apple calls it “luxurious and durable microtwill.” There isn’t a YouTuber who isn’t disappointed with these cases.
Low quality and not cheap at all, that’s FineWoven
It’s silky, almost slippery to the touch, and costs $59 for any of the phone cases, $35 for an AirTag holder, and $99 for one of the new watch bands. They’re not the most expensive phone cases you can buy, but they are quite pricey for what the market offers.
Apple presents them as a kind of premium substitute for the leather accessories it stopped making. The company will no longer sell leather cases and straps for the iPhone because making them at Apple’s scale “has a significant carbon footprint,” according to Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environmental policy.
So, if you want a high-quality case for your iPhone, your new, more sustainable option would be FineWoven, or that’s what Apple has sold us.
But FineWoven is by no means the high-quality material that leather is. When The Verge’s journalist took the MagSafe wallet out of its box, she could clearly see some places where it already showed wear along the edges. And then there’s the fingernail test.
Allison explains that if you put one of these cases on your phone, you’re inevitably going to accidentally scratch it with your fingernails or it’s going to come into contact with your car keys.
And when FineWoven gets scratched, the damage is permanent. In their tests, the scratches were still there a week later, no matter how many times they tried to “polish” them by rubbing their finger over them.
“Leather cases had their issues, but when leather ages, at least it looks nice; not so with a dirty, dusty fabric case,” they explain.
Perhaps FineWoven would be acceptable if they cost half as much… or a third. Or maybe if Apple had never called it a “durable case.” The frustration is monumental.
