Their glass is actually more scratch resistant than the metal. Of course metal doesn't usually shatter.

I'm pretty careful with my phone, but I've dropped it in a way that I'm sure would have done serious damage if I hadn't had a case. Three times that I recall off-hand. So there is no way I'd not have a case on this.

Which bugs me because my 6s+ is still awe inspiring when I take it out of the case... but my case is a bit rugged, and the feel and thinness of the phone are completely lost with it. Yet I feel compelled to use it... too much risk of serious damage otherwise.

I’ve dropped my bare iPhone 7 probably more than a dozen times, sometimes on hard surfaces, with apparently zero damage. Very impressive materials, though I do worry about the waterproofing.

Who cares about scratches though? I don't care about scratches on the back of my phone. I do care if it shatters entirely, though!

I care because I sell my phones when I upgrade.

The real question is - who wants wireless charging? This is how they achieve that..

I would like it. It's not a super big deal to me, but I'd like it. In my car. As a part of the holder. Otherwise, meh.

In my car I hate dealing with cables.

My 2018 Odyssey minivan has a wireless charging pad option, right where I always keep the phone. Still have to plug it in to use CarPlay though. :(

The Nexus 5 had both wireless charging and a non-glass back, along with plenty of other phones.

And even if they were somehow mutually exclusive, I'd still take a non-fragile back over the ability to wirelessly charge.

I don't think Apple would ever have a plastic back on a premium device. The Nexus 5 back was not "premium", it was a soft touch plastic.

I think the key for wireless charging is a not-metal back. Glass or plastic would both work.

iPhone 4S was my first and favorite smartphone. Glass front/back with a metal edge.

Back when phones were hand-sized they were a lot harder to drop.

Completely agree. It was the most beautiful of all iPhones. It was bound to get shit the next iteration. After all, gotta iterate right? Gotta do something different, "better"...

Interestingly enough, they iterated to something that I think is far uglier than any other model, and then frustratingly have stuck by it for three years, four years by the time they might possibly replace it.

iPhone 4/4S design was awesome.

It's funny how Apple is calling this an all-new glass design when other phones on the market have a similar design and Apple themselves had this design five years ago.

> all-new glass design

It's technically true, it is all new. No other phone was the same (just very very damn similar). Yes, it's a cheap marketing phrase that's meaningless, kinda par for the course with an Apple keynote.

It is an all-new design - they never said or even implied that being all glass was new, but it is clearly an all-new design.

No kidding, iPhone 4/4S was a paramount of iPhone design and it all went downhill from there. I was almost literally crying when I had to upgrade my iPhone 4 that got unbearably slow and dated, to monstrosity that is iPhone 6.

Why not get an iPhone SE?

I actually think it's disappointing that the SE has it's own release schedule. I simply want a small phone with the same high end internals, but I'm not willing to wait and see if a new SE will come in spring. By that time it almost makes sense to wait for the next iPhone...and probably repeat this thought process.

The SE should be part of the yearly refresh.

I did!

I'd actually switched over to Android after the iPhone 4S, to an Xperia Z3 compact from fall 2014. That was competing against the iPhone 6 when Apple had apparently abandoned what I consider to be comfortably sized phones.

With the iPhone SE I was happy to come back.

It was not available when iPhone 6 came out.

and it created a wonderful market for people sell replacement back glass.

still does it really matter? how many phones are not in cases?

The iPhone 4 was my favorite device, design-wise, I've ever owned. I love the glass on both sides and am excited to see it return.

It was necessary for the wireless charging.

My old plastic/rubber back Nexus 5 had it. The glass is there for more than just wireless charging.

I think apple would be laughed out of Cupertino if they came out with a rubber iphone.

Not saying there is anything wrong with that... my moto x had a faux leather back. really cheap, but the phone was nice.

They wouldn't call it rubber, they'd use some space age sounding term for it and journalists would eat it right up.

"Polymer" is the word you're looking for. It's used all the time in the firearms industry, which tends to value functionality over form more than Apple does, I guess.

It used to be machined aluminium. So yeah, the glass was needed.

No way Apple would put plastic or rubber bodies in their devices.

iPhone 3 was definitely plastic, and it was horrible. Especially when the benchmark was set with the beautiful original iPhone.

Like they did with the iPhone 5c?

Yes, because I don't like slippery phones. Let's wait for the drop tests.

From what I recall hearing from Apple peeps 6+ years ago, it causes people to fetishize the phone more as a fragile object they have to protect and personalize.