Apple Iphone 14 release has sparked widespread buzz, do you know what special material they are made of for the bezel? Let's find out together. |rapid cnc machining,rapid prototyping services


Regular iPhone: aircraft-grade aluminum metal


The regular version of the iPhone bezel uses aircraft-grade aluminum metal, which has several significant advantages.

Good heat dissipation: the thermal conductivity of the metal is unparalleled by other materials. The thermal conductivity of aircraft aluminum alloy is more excellent compared to stainless steel.

Good weight reduction: It is a lightweight and high quality material.

Excellent texture and good grip: lightweight, and easy to shape, low processing costs, the surface can do a variety of treatments to make it more corrosion-resistant, wear-resistant, easy to clean, beautiful and generous. For example, anodic oxidation (coloring), electrostatic spraying, electrophoresis, brushing, sand surface treatment, etc.

In the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft, large size aluminum alloy materials are often used to CNC milling and machining of monolithic aluminum alloy structural parts, replacing the traditional combined structural parts made of multiple aluminum alloy loose parts, which not only make the structural parts significantly reduce weight and improve service reliability, but also reduce the aircraft assembly process and manufacturing costs. This advanced design and manufacturing method puts forward very demanding requirements on aluminum alloy materials: the maximum thickness of aluminum alloy forgings or pre-drawn plates often needs to reach 150mm or more, and the comprehensive performance of different thickness parts is highly uniform, and at the same time, it also needs to have excellent strength - plasticity - fracture toughness - fatigue resistance - stress corrosion resistance and spalling corrosion performance matching.

Today's aluminum for aviation has developed to the third generation of aluminum alloy materials represented by aluminum-lithium alloy, and is used by many new aircraft types including C919. In addition, aluminum matrix composites and superplastic forming aluminum alloys are also the key research directions for aviation aluminum.


iPhone Pro: surgical grade stainless steel


Surgical grade stainless steel is an informal name that actually refers to some stainless steel that can be used for biological and human life or treatment. Surgical grade stainless steel is ideal for surgical equipment and implants because of its ease of processing, corrosion resistance, and high strength and durability. The more common type is 316 austenitic stainless steel.

Compared to the commonly used 304 stainless steel, 316 stainless steel has a higher nickel content, improving high temperature durability, mechanical properties and oxidation resistance. In addition, 316 stainless steel also contains molybdenum, which is not present in 304 stainless steel, thus further enhancing corrosion resistance.


Apple has filed many patents related to titanium cases, and in 2021 there were rumors that the iPhone 14 would use titanium bezels instead of aluminum and stainless steel. Titanium is much harder, however, the high strength also makes it difficult to etch. As a result, Apple has developed a sandblasting, etching and chemical process that can give the titanium case a high-gloss finish. Apple has also been researching the use of thin oxide surface coatings to deal with the problem of fingerprint staining. It appears that these studies are still in progress. What materials do you think will be used in future iPhones?