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Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

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Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#251

Post by ralfd »

cj wrote: post #32
Wistar wrote: post #3

Last night I encountered a 3 min+ ad on YT about the construction of the iPhone 17 Pro. A few seconds were devoted to the cooling system. I watched the whole thing. It was better than the video it interrupted. https://youtu.be/_-AS5DtDeqs?si=rTfubRDArVupqREt

Watching that video, the first thought I have is "So much engineering and I still need to buy a phone case with my new phone?" I'm guessing phone cases are still pretty much required if you drop your phone once or twice a month onto cement/asphalt/marble/etc from pocket height. I would be really curious to hear the internal debate at Apple wrt design tradeoffs + durability. E.g. how much of the iPhone design is only…

i never used a phone case since 2019

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#252

Post by golem14 »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #164
tw04 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Watching that video, the first thought I have is "So much engineering and I still need to buy a phone case with my new phone?" You can buy a $400m yacht and still need buoys when you dock it. Unless you want a phone that comes with a pre-installed rubber bumper around the outside, or we have some humanity altering discoveries in transparent materials science, you’re always going to have a case. Gravity and concrete…

Saying "gravity and concrete are undefeated" is not explanatory. In 25+ years of carrying a naked mobile phone everywhere I've never broken one. My lifestyle theoretically exposes me to significantly greater risk of damage than the average person too. I view phones as semi-disposable devices, so I take no special care or precautions. I am eternally baffled as to why people need cases on their phones. The observation…

2 unconventional reasons:

- hide the fact that you have the latest and greatest - use it to tuck in receipts or parking tickets between phone and case :)

a downside with the iphone is that some buttons, esp the camera button, are harder to use

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#253

Post by joshstrange »

IlikeMadison wrote: post #104
dotnet00 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because every Android or x86 thread gets filled with Apple fans doing similar things? This is just how these kinds of discussions go.

Wrong. The vast majority of Apple fans don't care about Android. I never see "Apple fans" going in threads about random Android stuff and talking about it. On the opposite, I see a lot of Android users complain and talk in every single videos regarding anything Apple on YouTube.

I will preface this with: Apple is _far_ from perfect, sometimes they even fail the “good” bar and I have serious issues with the direction they are going on some products/software. However, I see them as the lessor of two evils. I understand you might not agree, that’s just the conclusion I’ve come to.

> Wrong. The vast majority of Apple fans don't care about Android.

This is my experience as well. I prefer Apple products but I have Android phones/tablets (test devices) and know there are aspects where Android is better.

That said, I have some friends who make it their life mission to mention any Apple/iPhone failing to me. I just don’t get it. I literally never bring it up, or if I bring up anything Apple related it’s just me excited about a new device I got, never in the context of “look how much better it is than Android”. Even then, I’ve learned to temper my excitement lest they see it as an opportunity to tell me all the problems/issues they have with it. I don’t follow Android news closely, I don’t share “gotcha’s” about the hardware/os, etc.

It reminds me this scene in Mad Men [0], I literally do not think about Android or Android users but I know a couple Android users who seem to obsess over Apple products/users in a way I cannot relate to and do not understand. I can bet any negative Apple news will be relayed to me by them, I literally could not care less about the Android ecosystem issues (of which I see many).

[0] https://youtu.be/LlOSdRMSG_k

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#254

Post by numpad0 »

mikestew wrote: post #113
esseph wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same for ThinkPads.

And MacBook Pros. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Motion_Sensor Though I don't recall iPods having that feature, nor can I find anything online supporting that claim.

Macs had it as a machine feature. All others had it in the drives themselves.

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#255

Post by geden »

shinycode wrote: post #150
usefulcat wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood screen protectors. In 15 years I have never used a screen protector on any smartphone, and have also never had any scratches on the screen either. On average, I keep the same phone for 3-4 years (current phone is an iPhone 11, coming up on 6 years old).

It’s easy to understand, when the phone accidentally drops on concrete from >1m of height there is a great chance of shattering the glass. It happens to millions of person, myself included, no matter the care it’s an accident that can cost 300$ to repair. 10$ the screen protector is worth it. I guess you’re lucky !

Never used a screen protector, have been using iPhones since iPhone 3G, never shattered or cracked a screen.

I started using a silicone case with iPhone 6S as found it was slippy. Have a leather case for iPhone 15 Pro but considering going naked again.

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#256

Post by frizlab »

garbagewoman wrote: post #180
frizlab wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been caseless forever. If I drop the phone and it breaks I’ll bring it to repairs (I used to do it myself but it’s more complicated now and I don’t have the time anymore anyways).

Have you heard about cases? They prevent damage

They are also making the phone bigger, heavier, uglier and just not a joy to use anymore.

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#257

Post by Y-bar »

Aurornis wrote: post #66
0_____0 wrote: post #16

This is a heat pipe. A technology from the 60s. Your laptop almost certainly has heat pipes in it. They usually use alcohol rather than water as the phase change material though. The (relatively) novel thing is that it's packaged small enough to be in a phone. I suspect the only reason it hasn't been used in handhelds more is because the TDP of mobile processors wasn't high enough to warrant it.

Vapor chambers and heat pipes use some of the same physics concepts, but a vapor chamber is significantly more effective for spreading heat across a large area. They’re also harder to manufacture and more complex. Have you ever seen a CPU or GPU heat sink that has 5-6 heat pipes in parallel because they need to spread the head over a larger area? A vapor chamber is an upgrade over heat pipes in applications that aren…

On one side it’s cool. On the other, it’s a hot chip.

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#258

Post by xanderlewis »

cj wrote: post #32
Wistar wrote: post #3

Last night I encountered a 3 min+ ad on YT about the construction of the iPhone 17 Pro. A few seconds were devoted to the cooling system. I watched the whole thing. It was better than the video it interrupted. https://youtu.be/_-AS5DtDeqs?si=rTfubRDArVupqREt

Watching that video, the first thought I have is "So much engineering and I still need to buy a phone case with my new phone?" I'm guessing phone cases are still pretty much required if you drop your phone once or twice a month onto cement/asphalt/marble/etc from pocket height. I would be really curious to hear the internal debate at Apple wrt design tradeoffs + durability. E.g. how much of the iPhone design is only…

Phone cases are not required. I’ve been using an iPhone 12 for nearly five years now — and yes, I’ve carelessly dropped it plenty of times, onto very hard surfaces.

It’s got a couple of tiny dents in it, but the screen is untouched and it works like new. I’ve never used a case.

In the iPhone 4 era, if you were unlucky enough to drop your phone even once onto a table the screen will have almost certainly instantly shattered into a million pieces. But that’s far from true now; things have come a long way. The ‘No Case Required iPhone’ is already here.

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#259

Post by jffry »

0_____0 wrote: post #118
Aurornis wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vapor chambers and heat pipes use some of the same physics concepts, but a vapor chamber is significantly more effective for spreading heat across a large area. They’re also harder to manufacture and more complex. Have you ever seen a CPU or GPU heat sink that has 5-6 heat pipes in parallel because they need to spread the head over a larger area? A vapor chamber is an upgrade over heat pipes in applications that aren…

Perhaps it's just that in retrospect, it seems a relatively small jump from heat pumps to vapor chambers. Do you know if the vapor chambers operate at reduced internal atmospheric pressure? Unless I'm missing something, in order to get the liquid-gas phase boundary to a useful temperature, you'd have to bring the pressure down to, idk, 10kPa (boiling point of water is ~50C)? That would complicate manufacturing for su…

> Do you know if the vapor chambers operate at reduced internal atmospheric pressure?

Indeed they do. A random search found this company that manufactures vapor chambers and they have a short discussion: https://radianheatsinks.com/vapor-chamber-heatsink/

Re: Vapor chamber tech keeps iPhone 17 Pro cool

#260

Post by latexr »

sedatk wrote: post #236
wlesieutre wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$120/year on an iPhone 17, or $140/year on Air, Pro, and Pro Max Even for one year that's more than I'd spend to avoid using a phone case, and if I keep it for five years again that's $700. There are other benefits to AppleCare (a case doesn't cover theft or loss) but I'm not very worried about any of them.

AppleCare One is about $240/year and covers three devices. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/07/apple-introduces-appl...

AppleCare One has been a string of horror stories. Can’t even properly handle you having one Mac with multiple accounts, and you can’t go back to the plans you previously had if they’re discontinued, leaving you with worse service for more money.
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