Devir Kahan

I’ve never been a big fan of cases.

I always felt that, especially with Apple products, companies work really hard to get devices as slim, clean, and sleek as possible. They work really hard to make sure that whatever device you’re using is as light as possible, and is designed just so that it feels good while being held.

And you’re going to ruin all that with a case?

I don’t use a case on my iPhone, and most probably never will. Apple made the thing to be a beautiful little block of glass. Precision engineered to be as slim and light as possible. It just feels perfect when you hold it. A case - any case - ruins that. If you have an iPhone and use a case, take it off for a second. Just hold it ‘naked’ for a second, and remember how it’s supposed to feel.

Now I’m sure at this point, if you use a case, you probably just want to yell something along the lines of “But cases protect my phone! What if I drop it?!”. To that I say, let’s just be honest here. Especially with an iPhone, where cases don’t even cover the screen, if you drop your phone, it’s breaking. The second that thing hits concrete, the screen is cracking no matter what you have on it’s back. And if you drop it some place and it doesn’t break in some way, then it wouldn’t have broken if there was no case on it either.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not denying the fact that there is probably some sort of slight chance, that, if you drop your phone a certain way, the case may save it (and break itself instead). Plus, some people just straight out feel safer with a case on their phone. And if you’re someone that drops your phone a lot, I hear you.

(Also, Apple practically fixed this whole issue with their iPad 2 Smart Cover, as it simply covers the screen and is both functional, easily removable, and it adds essentially no weight or bulk whatsoever. I would definitely use a Smart Cover with an iPad 2 despite my following - and previous- arguments against cases as they don’t really hold up against it - it is, after all, a cover - but I don’t have an iPad 2.)

But I never drop my phone. Aside from the fact that I like it very much, just the knowledge that having to replace it unsubsidized can be close to $600, makes me treat the phone like gold. I’m telling you. I have never dropped it. And that’s not even to say that I never will. But it is to say that given the off-chance that I do, the chances of a case saving the phone are just not worth never being able to use the elegantly sleek and thin phone that I payed for.

That’s why I prefer a ‘naked’ iPhone, and as I said, most probably always will.

Oh, and I never even brought up the fact that while I have tested dozens of cases and some certainly are very clearly superior to others, no piece of plastic is worth even close to what some companies are charging for it. I’m looking at you Incase.

Of course, the title of this article has the word ‘debate’ in it for a reason. Not everyone is going to agree with me on this. And thats fine.

But I’m never ruining my beautiful iPhone with a case. Never.