Titanium iPhone Is Cool, Too Bad It’s Not Real

I like the idea of this titanium iPhone body replacement, and that’s why it’s too bad it’s just a nice hyper-realistic 3D render. The fact is that, despite what the student who made it claims, it’s not real.

First, the making of a custom, very intricate titanium part like this is a complicated and expensive process, one that would require ultra-precise CAD work and manufacturing. For CNC you will need a very high resolution machine, and moulding is not available to mere mortals. Only someone at an aerospace company, a high-end prototyping shop or a factory would be able to pull this. That’s why you don’t see custom iPhone bodies in the market – I want them, please – unless they are Chinese mass-produced plastics.

But the most important thing is the fact that there is no such a thing as a “special titanium alloy that is RF transparent”. Titanium makes radio signal reception and emission very difficult. It’s a radio insulating material, which is why the Titanium PowerBook G4 had such a crappy Wi-Fi reception. Sadly, the alleged alloy simply doesn’t exist. And if it does, you would only find it at Boeing or Lockheed Martin’s secret development facilities. Or Area 51.

If he discovered it, I suggest he patents the hell out of it and sell it to the military. They would love it. There’s the issue of having the mute button in the wrong direction too, but it’s OK. If you can create objects from nonobtanium, you can rearrange the circuitry inside the machine, too. [Modmyi via Engadget]