Those FineWoven articles always crack me up. With it being officially September my case is within a few weeks of being a year old and behold! Yeah, it’s underwhelming. It just looks like a case. Appleinsider has been quick to jump on every negative social media post to declare these as some sort of failure but there doesn’t seem to be any first hand experience. Mine is just fine and it isn’t like I treat it gingerly. It’s the first Apple made case that I have gotten that has survived a year. Mind you, I never got a leather one.
Anyway, I really wonder what the difference in usage is that causes other people’s cases to look so terrible and mine to be perfectly fine.
Yeah, personally I really like mine. Those who couldn’t feel and see the quality of the weave and materials are correct in ignoring the product but those who intentionally destroyed it or damaged it make me a bit sad for causing the failure of this product.
Am I wrong to believe that animals are not killed for their leather alone? Would it not be better to source real leather, certified to be a by-product only?
Some animals are raised specifically for leather but the majority of leather is a byproduct of the meat industry.
But that is a moot point. Apple didn’t move away from leather due concerns about animal welfare. They moved away from leather because the process of taking a hide and making it into a leather product is environmentally taxing. There are processes to produce leather that more environmentally friendly but they aren’t scalable and they skew to being more expensive.
The hides themselves can be used in other ways that aren’t as rough on the environment so it’s not like they are going to waste if they aren’t converted to leather.
The leather industry itself has been in decline for a decade. There are various reasons for this and the reality is that Apple is just joining the rest of the world in dumping leather.
Not only is commercial tanning environmentally toxic, it's toxic to the humans working in the industry. Check out the statistics sometimes.
As you say, there are more environmentally friendly ways to tan leather, such as using the brains of the animal, and our own urine, among others, as our paleolithic ancestors did, those are definitely not scalable in the way commercial leather tanning is.
FineWoven should be remembered, alright. It should be remembered as another boondoggle by Apple—leather has been used by mankind since the beginning of time and likely for a long time to come. It doesn’t make Apple a moral cut above everyone else for ending its use of leather—it just cost them a lot of money. So did the “100% green/renewable energy” (which isn’t really green OR renewable) initiative. It doesn’t seem to matter much right now, but if Apple continues such practices, they will lose their place as a stock market leader. A company has to stay lean and mean in any business to survive, and Apple isn’t doing so. I certainly don’t have a problem with a company having moral standards, particularly if they aren’t contrived ones, but empty calorie morals will end up bankrupting them.
it just cost them a lot of money
How so? Do you have any information that we don't?
So did the “100% green/renewable energy” (which isn’t really green OR renewable) initiative
Again, how is that costing them money? While a lot of that stuff may be "marketing", the idea is still correct and it is where everyone should be headed.
but if Apple continues such practices, they will lose their place as a stock market leader.
Apple has lost (to MS) and regained it "leader" position. None of it however having to do with "green" practices.
but empty calorie morals will end up bankrupting them.
We're a looooong way from that. Apple has steadily built an eco system of devices and services, that have solidified its position as market leader.
Minor missteps like "Fine woven" cases, isn't even a blip on the radar for companies of that size.
Going to replace my iPhone 12 this year. I have used and liked Apple's leather cases since my first iPhone. They were perfect for my needs. Hopefully, they'll announce some new super-de-duper, environmentally friendly leather making process that will help them save face and return to leather cases.
Good questions—Apple lost money on the Finewoven products through lost sales and production costs for products that sat on the shelf. They lost millions of dollars by ‘investing’ in green energy for this reason: They will never make their money back on their investment compared to using conventional energy sources. Solar energy and similar attempts at alternatives to fossil fuel or nuclear energy sound great on paper but cannot compete with them. I’m not saying that they will never be able to compete because there’s always the slight chance that there will be a technology breakthrough, but it is unlikely. The laws of physics are a harsh reality and it will be a long time, if ever, before we are not dependent on fossil fuels. Apple will eventually bleed itself out if they keep using their available capital for such things as these; it won’t happen tomorrow, but it will at some future time, mostly by a thousand rapier cuts. (Note that I haven’t discussed their self-driving car project, which was another boondoggle.). On a related note, it is Quixotic for the state of California to mandate that all cars be electric by 2035–it is an impossibility—90% of the population can’t afford them.
BTW, I am not a Apple hater—I have multiple Apple devices. I just see their long term viability as being in jeopardy. It’s a similar thing with the U.S. Government’s profligate spending—33 trillion dollars in debt and growing—it doesn’t bode well for the future. Trying to artificially force a an energy technology change before its time is part of that problem.
Samsung worked with Kvadrat in 2020. Together they launched covers upcycled from used PET bottles. Apple could have worked with Kvadrat or someone else doing fabrics right. Instead we had to wait and all we got the FineWoven mess that combines bad quality, greenwashing, and penny-pinching.
Apple should go back, find the right partners, and give us FineWoven 2.
Good questions—Apple lost money on the Finewoven products through lost sales and production costs for products that sat on the shelf. They lost millions of dollars by ‘investing’ in green energy for this reason:
>> Do you work at Apple and have inside information to confirm this? Your answer is no.
mbmoore said: They will never make their money back on their investment compared to using conventional energy sources. Solar energy and similar attempts at alternatives to fossil fuel or nuclear energy sound great on paper but cannot compete with them.
>> Do you work at Apple and have inside information to confirm this? Your answer is no.
mbmoore said: (Note that I haven’t discussed their self-driving car project, which was another boondoggle.).
>> WOW! so generous of you not to comment on something that not many people know anything publicly about. Do you work at Apple and have inside information to confirm your comment? Your answer is no.
Maybe Apple is simply refocusing its FineWoven production on making cases for the Newton?
I applaud Apple for pulling out quickly when they realized they had a clunker on their hands. If nothing else it demonstrates that Apple does not suffer from sunk cost bias.
I have an Apple leather case on my iPhone XS which dates from 2018. The case looks obviously used, but in a good way, like well kept leather shoes. If I were to keep this phone another 6 years, I'm confident that the case would go the distance too.
One good way to be environmentally responsible is to built stuff that lasts.
“Apple was convinced enough of its need to stop using leather that it went all out.” — Oh please, just another virtue signal that went wide of the net. How about offer Finewoven or another alternative to those who care and leather to those of us who are not idiots?
I got a leather case with my 13 pro almost 3 years ago now. The case has been awesome and looks great. Even the areas I've scuffed (like when it fell on the pavement) have 'healed' and look good. I honestly think it's one of the best cases I've owned.
I looked at the fine woven cases in the apple store and even the ones in the Apple Store didn't look great. We'll see what Apple comes out with as a replacement but as of right now I'm looking at 3rd party leather cases. The end result of apples misguided foray with fine woven is they lose a sale and the leather case still gets purchased, just from someone else.
Note - I'm sure there are people for whom the cases work fine. There are also some people whose iPhones look new after 3 years with no case. Fine woven will not go down in history as one of Apple's better products.
Comments
but if Apple continues such practices, they will lose their place as a stock market leader.
Samsung worked with Kvadrat in 2020. Together they launched covers upcycled from used PET bottles. Apple could have worked with Kvadrat or someone else doing fabrics right. Instead we had to wait and all we got the FineWoven mess that combines bad quality, greenwashing, and penny-pinching.
Apple should go back, find the right partners, and give us FineWoven 2.
One good way to be environmentally responsible is to built stuff that lasts.
—
Oh please, just another virtue signal that went wide of the net. How about offer Finewoven or another alternative to those who care and leather to those of us who are not idiots?
I looked at the fine woven cases in the apple store and even the ones in the Apple Store didn't look great. We'll see what Apple comes out with as a replacement but as of right now I'm looking at 3rd party leather cases. The end result of apples misguided foray with fine woven is they lose a sale and the leather case still gets purchased, just from someone else.
Note - I'm sure there are people for whom the cases work fine. There are also some people whose iPhones look new after 3 years with no case. Fine woven will not go down in history as one of Apple's better products.