The word “Patina” is nice to say, but it’s not a word I thought I would associate with an iPhone. Patina is the attractive softening effect of materials, especially metals, that discolour due to aging and exposure. It’s the green layer over copper that gives the Statue of Liberty a distinctive look, and it gives the copper top plate of a Leica camera a satisfying look of natural wear.
After switching to the rather impressive iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier this year, time was called for when packing up my venerable iPhone 13 Pro as I packed it up to be sent to my colleagues in the suitably patinated historic city of Bath. During this process, my iPhone caught the light pouring in from the office windows on one of the rare sunny days London can enjoy.
That electromagnetic radiation radiated 90 million miles from Earth’s nearest star, playing off the stainless steel sides of my old iPhone. A cacophony of metallic hues and colors blossomed on the sides of the iPhone 13 Pro: a pleasant mix of purple, blue, silver, and an almost bronze hue.
This wasn’t the first time I noticed the rainbow discoloration on the aging stainless steel iPhone chassis, but after six months of using the titanium-embraced iPhone 15 Pro Max, things changed. While nice and light and soft to the touch, Apple’s best premium iPhone lacks patina potential.
Now there are probably many of you reading this article who are turning your collective noses up at hastily taken photos of a discolored iPhone. People dedicated to keeping technology in pristine condition and wrapping the best phones in rugged cases find the idea of such metal aging a travesty.
In my opinion, such a patina is special. It takes a soulless, if slick, smartphone and it seems fallible. Fallible equals soul.
Perhaps this appreciation stems from an interest in mechanical watches; seemingly outdated devices for this millennium, but also objects that chip, scratch and age gracefully. There is nostalgia when you look at a beloved object – a timepiece, a worn leather jacket – and appreciate its imperfections. The wear and tear persists into one’s story and relationship with the object.
If that materialistic metaphor confuses the mind, think of patina as the wrinkles we develop over the course of a long-term relationship. I’m not as sharp and smooth as I once was, but my face tells a story of time well spent and lessons learned.
Am I putting too much weight on (ironically) pickled stainless steel? Of course, but it’s Friday night and there’s time for such beautiful, light-hearted frivolity.
Do I think we’ll benefit from the iPhone 16 returning to stainless steel? Of course not – I’ve already raved about titanium on phones.
There’s a small part of me that will miss the patination on my iPhone 13 Pro. It marked an enjoyable smartphone journey, highlighting the switch from Android to iPhone. Perhaps it could act as a touchpoint for Apple to inject some new colors into the rumored iPhone 16 Pro; I can dream.