To continue its goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2030, Apple announced at the Apple Event that it will phase out leather iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands. Instead, the Cupertino company introduced a new phone case material, the FineWoven, which is made from durable microtwill, as the alternative to leather iPhone cases and other accessories.
Unfortunately, the FineWoven cases for iPhone 15 have received quite some complaints about how prone they are to scratches and stains.
Material matters a lot in making accessories we hold and use so frequently - it decides how well the case feels, how long the device can hold up, and how it looks.
Best Phone Case Materials
For a very long time, phone case materials are dominated by plastic, silicone, and leather – each has its advantages and disadvantages. But that doesn’t mean phone cases can’t be made from other materials.
As tech advances, people have begun to use high-tech materials to make phone cases and other accessories, such as aramid fiber, carbon fiber, and other composites.
Aramid fiber and carbon fiber phone cases have been increasingly seen in recent years.
Why Aramid Fiber is the Best High-tech Phone Case Material?
Aramid fiber is best known for its ultra lightness and incredible durability. Its toughness surpasses steel, glass fiber and nylon. And it’s chemically stable, meaning it’s resistant to abrasions, water, and sweat; it has an extremely low flammability, so it retains much of its strength at high temperatures.
Thanks to the excellent characteristics of the material, aramid fiber phone cases do not wear, discolor, or stain easily like leather or plastic phone cases. You can clean them with a soft, slightly wet cloth if exposed to sauce, oil, or coffee.
Don’t Mistake Aramid Fiber iPhone Cases for Carbon Fiber iPhone Cases
Aramid fiber aside, carbon fiber is another light and strong high-tech material that’s popular in the aerospace, military, and automobile racing industries.
PITAKA carbon fiber watch band
The difference is that carbon fiber comes in black naturally. In recent years, technologies that enable people to dye carbon fibers in different colors have gradually emerged. Still, colorful carbon fiber has yet to be popular. On the other hand, aramid fiber can be dyed easily into various colors.
After weaving, carbon fiber has this twill pattern with a greyish sheen, which many people find attractive. Black and grey aramid fiber fabrics showcase an identical pattern – that’s why some people mistake an aramid fiber iPhone case for a carbon fiber one.
The thing is, there aren’t many genuine carbon fiber iPhone cases out there given that carbon fiber is conductive – meaning it interferes with phone signals. So you have to be careful with the so-called carbon fiber iPhone cases.
PITAKA Makes the Best Aramid Fiber iPhone Cases
About eight years ago, PITAKA first produced an aramid fiber case for the iPhone 5. In 2014, PITAKA found that aramid fiber is lighter, thinner and more durable than many ordinary materials. They used aramid fiber or Kevlar from DuPont and managed to mold the high-performance material into phone cases that provide the ultimate comfort without compromising on protection after more than 40 processes including laser cutting, vacuum high-temperature forming, and hand-polishing.
Since then, PITAKA has kept exploring the possibilities with the material and phone case design, and has a few updates over these years.
600D Aramid Fiber iPhone Cases
D, short for Denier, indicates the linear density of the aramid yarn. The smaller the density, the more challenging it is to produce and process the material. But 600D aramid fiber is lighter and has a more delicate texture.
Starting from the iPhone 11, PITAKA used 600D aramid fiber to build the ultra light and thin Air Case for those who appreciate minimalism. Today, many customers are fond of phone cases made from 600D aramid fiber over 1500D ones.
Blending Aramid Fiber with TPU
Just one or two layers of aramid fiber fabrics are not enough to make the phone case more protective. But you can’t just add as many layers as you want; otherwise, the phone case will be so rigid that removing it from the phone is challenging. Therefore, PITAKA used aramid fiber and TPU as the primary materials to produce the protective MagEZ Case Pro series.
Many people may not realize that using two or multiple materials usually means joints or seams where those different materials meet. On the old version of PITAKA’s protective aramid fiber iPhone cases, you can find the seams between aramid fiber and TPU.
PITAKA sets great store by function and form. So they developed 3D Injection Molding Labeling technique two years ago to remove those seams and keep the phone case as sleek and slim as possible.
Fusion Weaving
As one of the first brands to make aramid fiber iPhone cases, PITAKA never ceases perfecting the phone case design. In 2021, after testing dozens of weaving methods and techniques, PITAKA introduced Fusion Weaving, a new way to weave aramid fiber fabrics, making intricate and stunning patterns possible on aramid fiber iPhone cases.
Traditionally, to have different colors or patterns appear on an aramid fiber fabric or phone case, the only way is to attach fabrics of different colors or patterns through splicing, inevitably leaving joints or seams between patterns. Thanks to Fusion Weaving, PITAKA was able to weave beautiful and colorful patterns as one piece of fabric on the same loom. The complex interlocking of warp and weft threads created a 3D texture with a tactile sensation.
Wrap-Up
Using a carbon fiber iPhone case is not recommended unless the maker makes it clear that it won’t interrupt the phone signal. If there aren’t any claims, check if the maker uses genuine carbon fiber.
And aramid fiber iPhone cases are the best alternative to carbon fiber iPhone cases. Actually, they are better in terms of colors, styles, and functions. And PITAKA has some of the best aramid fiber iPhone cases. Look no further!
