Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products.
Apple quietly kills its terrible FineWoven iPhone cases
The material is still available on a MagSafe wallet and some Watch straps.
Hey, there were good intentions! The FineWoven case was pitched, just about a year ago, as a leather substitute. Instead of the environmentally-unfriendly animal byproduct, Apple wanted us to buy cases made from 68 percent post-consumer recycled content.
The material looked a little similar to leather in press shots, but the reality was a material that was smooth and scratchy at the same time, a surface that was easily marred by the exact sorts of objects it might share space with in a bag. In short: a fantastic opportunity for third-party iPhone case manufacturers.
When leather gets old, it gets... nicer? There's a patina. When Finewoven cases got even a few days old, it got scratched and blotchy. It's not a huge surprise, then, that there are no new FineWoven colorways, or any iPhone 16-compatible FineWoven cases, period. They're gone.
It isn't the end of FineWoven completely. The material will live on in a MagSafe wallet, available in four different colors, and more Apple Watch straps. If you are looking for a new (but official) iPhone look, how about, randomly, these Beats-themed iPhone 16 cases? They're not microtwill; they're hard plastic.
Catch up on all the news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!
