During its “Wonderlust” event, Apple spent a considerable amount of time discussing its progress toward its environmental impact goals, and one of the commitments it made was to stop using leather for iPhone cases and Apple Watch straps in favor of recycled materials. This is a pretty big deal since Apple’s premium case/strap material has long been leather. Its replacement is a new material that Apple calls FineWoven, which it describes as a “durable and elegant microtwill with a soft, suedelike feel. The material is made from 68 percent post-consumer recycled content and has significantly lower carbon emissions compared to leather.”
But is it any good? Well, many early reviews aren’t favorable. Here’s Chance Miller, writing at 9to5Mac:
Apple’s new FineWoven cases for iPhone 15 are a huge swing and miss. They suck. Apple should remove them from sale and refund everyone who’s already bought one. You could pretty much stop reading the story at this point…
And here’s Allison Johnson, writing at The Verge:
Folks, what you’ve heard so far is true. Apple’s new FineWoven iPhone cases and accessories are bad. Like, really bad. I’ve been puzzling over them for the past week, looking at them from different angles. Picking them up, setting them down, petting them. Seven days later, I still can’t make sense of them and have no other choice but to say it out loud: FineWoven is very bad.
The gist of most of the complaints about FineWoven is that if it’s scratched, those scratches are seemingly permanent, and that the material stains easily.
I do wonder if some of the negativity of these reviews centers around the fact that people are heavily scrutinizing this material and actually trying to see how much force it takes to damage it. The Verge article mentioned a staffer intentionally putting several scratches in the case with his fingernails.
I’m actually writing this piece on an iPhone 14 Pro Max in one of Apple’s leather cases. The back of the case has multiple noticeable scratches and the edges show a lot of patina. Now, to be fair, leather tends to wear well, even when it looks well used, and it may be that FineWoven doesn’t. It’s also certainly true that as a suede-like textile it’s by nature going to be easier to stain.
I had the chance to spend some time with a friend’s iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier today, and even more than the phone itself, I was interested in seeing, and feeling, his FineWoven case. I had no idea what kind of first impression it would make, and I’d already read many of the negative reviews.
I actually quite liked it. The edges feel similar to the Apple leather case while the back is soft. The texture is a little difficult to describe and I think people are going to either love it or hate it. I actually really liked it. It definitely has a suede quality to the feel.
Long term, I am concerned about durability. If customers wind up replacing these more frequently than they would have an Apple leather case, then it’s going to undermine Apple’s environmental impact goals, and it’s going to frustrate customers. But I think we’re just going to have to check back after three, six, and twelve months to see what the world has done to these cases.
Junk! Played with one at the Apple Store today, simple fingernail press leaves permanent marks, total zero of a case!