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Striking out on third party 12 Pro Max cases.

imwjl

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Apr 26, 2011
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Well, now two brands I've liked for modestly priced cases have had either impossible or poor phone fit. I also see Specks I've liked are 1/2 price at Best Buy with some poor reviews.

I cringe at the price but it means an Apple Silicone is waiting for pickup later to join the leather. I need something easy to clean (pandemic friendly?) because I get exposed to high risk and grime when I'm doing support and projects in our stores.

To be fair, I am somewhat picky and can't stand the fat, many shape or grooves molded and cases that are popular. The 12 PM phone also pushes it for size. I just hope the my first Apple Silicone since 6S Plus is more durable. Slim opaque TPU types have lasted.

With luck and the phones shipping the brands I've liked in the past will fix their stuff but I have to be in the high risk places using a phone sooner.
 

Craig

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I have really liked my Speck cases in the past, and I enjoy their "grip" features... I can see why others do not. I have never had issues with a Speck case. That being said I realized I have about 8 cases for my XS Max (that I am getting ready to sell) that I never use. I sometimes put a different case on my phone... 2-days later realize I don't like it and always go back to the Apple Leather or Apple Silicone. This year when I got my 12 Pro Max I ordered a Silicone and Leather case and so far have not removed leather. I have not even opened the box for the Silicone, but may today to see if it improves my signal on the phone (which currently sucks, but is a different subject).

Amazon has 100s of 3rd party cases. I don't think "in-store" due to covid is a great option, as I feel they did not really STOCK UP as they did not expect in-store shopping.
 

imwjl

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Apr 26, 2011
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I have really liked my Speck cases in the past, and I enjoy their "grip" features... I can see why others do not. I have never had issues with a Speck case. That being said I realized I have about 8 cases for my XS Max (that I am getting ready to sell) that I never use. I sometimes put a different case on my phone... 2-days later realize I don't like it and always go back to the Apple Leather or Apple Silicone. This year when I got my 12 Pro Max I ordered a Silicone and Leather case and so far have not removed leather. I have not even opened the box for the Silicone, but may today to see if it improves my signal on the phone (which currently sucks, but is a different subject).

Amazon has 100s of 3rd party cases. I don't think "in-store" due to covid is a great option, as I feel they did not really STOCK UP as they did not expect in-store shopping.

FWIW, Apple Store is about 3-400 feet from one of my work locations so I just picked up the dark green "Silicone". It seems nicely improved over the last one I had. Maybe I'll return the leather one where those have been favorites.

This not using or liking the porous leather not about the case as it is once or few times a week I have to get around retail check stands and POS stuff in pandemic. I'm washing and spraying with cleaners a lot these days.
 

Chuck_IV

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Apr 12, 2016
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I have really liked my Speck cases in the past, and I enjoy their "grip" features... I can see why others do not. I have never had issues with a Speck case. That being said I realized I have about 8 cases for my XS Max (that I am getting ready to sell) that I never use. I sometimes put a different case on my phone... 2-days later realize I don't like it and always go back to the Apple Leather or Apple Silicone. This year when I got my 12 Pro Max I ordered a Silicone and Leather case and so far have not removed leather. I have not even opened the box for the Silicone, but may today to see if it improves my signal on the phone (which currently sucks, but is a different subject).

Amazon has 100s of 3rd party cases. I don't think "in-store" due to covid is a great option, as I feel they did not really STOCK UP as they did not expect in-store shopping.

I have used the Speck Presidio grip on my last 4 phones(starting with the 8). I was all set to get one for my 12 pro Max but after seeing what they did to the Presidio “2” grip case, I passed on it.

It no longer has the rubber ridges and is just a hard plastic with a coating on the thing that while it adds a little grip(nothing like the previous rubber ridges), it also is now a fingerprint magnet.

I have no idea, who at Speck thought this was a good direction to take, but they lost a long time customer here.

I picked up a Torras Diamonds series case for my 12 Pro Max, which has a somewhat grippy frame and a clear back. I also picked up a Miracase Liquid Silicone case that feels really good but I haven’t really used it much yet.
 
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Daedalus

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Nov 10, 2020
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Well, now two brands I've liked for modestly priced cases have had either impossible or poor phone fit. I also see Specks I've liked are 1/2 price at Best Buy with some poor reviews.

I cringe at the price but it means an Apple Silicone is waiting for pickup later to join the leather. I need something easy to clean (pandemic friendly?) because I get exposed to high risk and grime when I'm doing support and projects in our stores.

To be fair, I am somewhat picky and can't stand the fat, many shape or grooves molded and cases that are popular. The 12 PM phone also pushes it for size. I just hope the my first Apple Silicone since 6S Plus is more durable. Slim opaque TPU types have lasted.

With luck and the phones shipping the brands I've liked in the past will fix their stuff but I have to be in the high risk places using a phone sooner.

Working in a Hospital and building out 5 of our Covid test sites the best advice I can give you if you are worried about things like Covid if first do not lay your phone down on anything but your personal work area, second wash your hands or use hand sanitizer whenever you touch anything and carry several prep pads with you. It is some simple things but these rules have kept my team of 18 people covid free.

If you are truly concerned get yourself something like the Phone Soap
 

imwjl

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Apr 26, 2011
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Working in a Hospital and building out 5 of our Covid test sites the best advice I can give you if you are worried about things like Covid if first do not lay your phone down on anything but your personal work area, second wash your hands or use hand sanitizer whenever you touch anything and carry several prep pads with you. It is some simple things but these rules have kept my team of 18 people covid free.

If you are truly concerned get yourself something like the Phone Soap

We're a high end independent small grocery chain so have been dealing with build, clean and supervision issues for a long time now. Because of scale - cart cleaning for example - we have some cleaning machines that mist chemicals but also have cleaning supplies at shared spaces all over the facilities.

In Feb/March transition I just removed screen protector on the XS Max and went to a very smooth TPU type case. Even before that I was always in a strict regiment or routine of hand and phone cleaning.

It seems to me I still need to keep the combo of liquid, chemicals and cloth cleaning going.

Regardless, I really like the new iteration of Apple Silicone more than in the past. I might just return the leather one as much as I always liked them. I'm sure time will mean 3rd party cases will improve. Time will also let me know if the new iteration or style of silicone case lasts longer. The leather edges didn't tear like silicone did.

I've been aware of the UV cleaning products and have seen the ones that also charge your phones.
 

imwjl

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Apr 26, 2011
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I bought random cases from amazon, casetify, redbubble, Case-Custom, etc. I choose cheap ones and change them a lot.

That was my habit but the first few tries were no go. I hate to admit it but the Apple Silicone seems much nicer than the last time I had one.
 

Raneciansamaiya

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Apr 23, 2010
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That was my habit but the first few tries were no go. I hate to admit it but the Apple Silicone seems much nicer than the last time I had one.

I'm a case addict! Lol I have Apple's MagSafe Silicon cases and Casetify. Apples MagSafe cases this year are BY FAR the best silicon cases they have produced. All these cases are pricey but worth it!
 

phlamethrowre

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Feb 5, 2014
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I’m very impressed by this $13 Incipio. It’s a 2 piece case which I usually don’t care for. This one pulls it off in a very slim fashion. It’s not bulky and offers good protection. The hard shell is textured but not too textured. It doesn’t show smudges and has a nice grippy feel.
 

imwjl

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Apr 26, 2011
1,399
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I’m very impressed by this $13 Incipio. It’s a 2 piece case which I usually don’t care for. This one pulls it off in a very slim fashion. It’s not bulky and offers good protection. The hard shell is textured but not too textured. It doesn’t show smudges and has a nice grippy feel.

Thank you. That's been a good brand for me in the past. I'll look.

Confession: The Apple Silicone I didn't always care fore are REALLY nice in gen 12 iteration. It's very tempting to choose another color and just do that swap for cleaning when I get home. I'm guilty of falling for the attention they gave to all of physical design, feel and look.

My guess is it won't take long for better third part choices over the two that were fail.
 

popkurn611

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Nov 13, 2016
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Thank you. That's been a good brand for me in the past. I'll look.

Confession: The Apple Silicone I didn't always care fore are REALLY nice in gen 12 iteration. It's very tempting to choose another color and just do that swap for cleaning when I get home. I'm guilty of falling for the attention they gave to all of physical design, feel and look.

My guess is it won't take long for better third part choices over the two that were fail.

I got 2, switch them up on the daily lol. I couldn’t just pick one color!
 

phlamethrowre

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Feb 5, 2014
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Stopped by Best Buy and picked up a Black Apple Leather Case for my 12 PM. They’ve gone up to 59 this year btw. It fits perfectly and is very sleek and pocket friendly. I thought about getting an Apple Silicone case but I just can’t deal with all the pocket lint it attracts.
 

BuckyBadg

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Aug 10, 2011
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I’ve got a clear silicone plastic case on order, due in this week for my iPhone 12 PM. It is a slimmer fit but perfect for my pleather belt-fixed case.
 

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