I have a case on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I removed the other day to give it a good cleaning. Every time I remove my phone from a case, I remember how slim and sleek it is to hold and play with. Cases give a phone a completely different personality, and it is hard to believe that anyone actually likes the feel of them better.
Cases are a big business. In 2022 and 2023, there were about 1.5 billion phones sold in the world, and the protective phone cover market was about $21.4 billion in 2022. If you divide that by an average of around $12 per case, it comes to around 1.8 billion cases, or more cases than phones sold in those years. In fact, I find it jarring every time I see someone in public without a case. I can’t help but wonder, what would it be like to be so bold? So, recently, I started to ask myself: Should I go caseless with iPhone in 2024?
Why do people use cases on iPhones?
The biggest reason is protection from damage. iPhones today are more expensive than ever, with some approaching $1,500 or more. That is quite an investment, but not surprising for a device that we use far more than anything else in our daily lives.
When we spend a lot of money on something, we want to keep it protected from everything we can. Not only the iPhones expensive up front, but if you damage an iPhone, the cost of repairs can be equally expensive—hundreds of dollars or more for a screen repair or device replacement.
I am not a doomsday prepper or anything, but there are hard, rough surfaces everywhere. Most people work from home these days, but just inside your house, you will probably find hard surfaces that will destroy your phone, like countertops, tile floors, stairs, and concrete. It is no wonder that people want to slap a $6 piece of rubber on the iPhone to keep it from an inanimate beating. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I have never had a screen crack or had to replace an iPhone due to damage.
The other reason people want a case on an iPhone is for personalization. If you just search "insert iPhone model case" in Google or Amazon, you will find hundreds of options ranging all over in color, design, material, and personality. If you want a pink sparkle case, you can find it. Or maybe you want a pink sparkle case that can also be your wallet.
You can find thick cases, slim cases, clear cases, printed cases, silicone cases, and hard cases. You can find cases with dogs, cases with cats, purple panda cases, plush cases, battery cases, and even cases with kickstands and finger rings. Whatever it is that you want your iPhone to look like, chances are you can find it.
I tend to stick to simpler designs for my cases, but I can look back to my first cases bought on Amazon in 2012, starting with the iPhone 5. I have purchased over 40 cases since then, including for iPhones, Galaxies, Pixels, Motorolas, and Nexuses. I mostly bought them for protection, but some of them were for bold colors or features.
How to go caseless with iPhone
Some people out there including our own editor-in-chief Moses Johnson can’t stand the idea ofslapping a case on their beautiful, expensive iPhone. So, what is the case against cases? I think people just want to see the design. Apple spend hundreds of millions of dollars designing a beautiful, thin device. They go over every detail—how they look and how they feel in the hand—and some people just want to appreciate and experience the phone as it was meant to be. I can’t blame them. I have always been envious of the people willing to go caseless with iPhone.
I think of the age of modern full-screen devices and the prevalence of swiping gestures. There is no better response between your finger and the screen than when it is naked—your phone that is. So, if you are someone who would like to go caseless with iPhone but is having trouble getting around the idea of losing that protection, here are a couple of ways to do it.
First, don’t be clumsy. I know, that is easier said than done, and accidents are called accidents for a reason. But hear me out. There are a few things you could do to reduce the risk of damaging your iPhone while out in the world. For instance, don’t use it while walking. This seems obvious. Just use your phone when you are stationary and can devote your attention to that expensive marvel of engineering. You know there is nothing more important than checking that notification or responding to a Twitter troll at that moment, and your phone deserves your full attention, right? This should include when going up and down stairs, getting out of a car, and waiting in line.
I know we are not animals and none of what I just said is possible, so that brings us to the second option: insurance. In lieu of a case, you could pony up monthly for a protection plan from Apple or a wireless carrier and go caseless all day long. Sure, it is more expensive than buying a case, but can you really put a price on the enjoyment you get from whipping out a smooth metal and glass sandwich and swiping to your heart’s content? Maybe, because if you drop it, you could find yourself forking over $80 or $100 or more for repairs, and repairs could be hard to come by.
The third way to go caseless with iPhone is to not care. Resign yourself to the fact that you will probably drop your phone at some point when you are least expecting it, and enjoy the memories that the marks make.
Conclusion
Cases offer protection and personalization but hide the natural beauty of the hardware as it was designed. You can cover your expensive new toy with plastic, rubber, glitter, and accessories, or you can bare it all and risk everything by letting your iPhone flap in the wind. Either way, at some point, your phone will unexpectedly leave your hands and hit a surface that was not meant for polished metal and glass. Will you be sighing with relief, cursing the gods, or laughing about it later?
For me, I still can’t decide. So let me know in the comments what you think I should do. Should I risk it all for the best swiping experience, or keep my baby wrapped in silicone and enjoy perfection only when sitting on the couch?