Apple’s iPhone 17 family includes my favorite hardware improvement in years

Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro is a big improvement over the more fussy iPhone 16 Pro. The vapor chamber and switching to aluminum from titanium both make a noticeable difference in sustained performance and improved thermal management. However, my favorite hardware improvement in years isn’t limited to the Pro series.

Ceramic Shield scratched easily and often

Don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate the improved thermal management system in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. But thermal throttling mostly bothered me on my iPhone 16 Pro Max when my display would go dim in outdoor lighting.

Scratches always bothered me.

In recent years, my iPhone display was always covered in subtle scratches that you only really noticed in low lighting — like indoors. They were especially visible when the screen was off. I’m convinced this is why always-on display was invented.

While soft scratches gathered all over the cover glass, the worst was the one or two deep scratches that managed to almost dig into the display. My satisfaction with my iPhone always dropped as soon as the first deep cut appeared.

The problem, I think, was Ceramic Shield. Apple engineered the cover glass to be more durable against drops. This means fewer cracked screens after common drops. The cost? A “softer” glass that was evidently more susceptible to showing other signs of wear and tear.

By the end of year one, the resale value of my iPhone was lower as a result.

Ceramic Shield 2 makes a real difference

Apple changed the formula with the iPhone 17 line. The company says Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass is three times more resistant to scratching. That’s exactly what the iPhone has needed, and Ceramic Shield 2 is on every new model.

Apple introduced Ceramic Shield 2 in September with the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Earlier this month, Apple introduced the iPhone 17e, adding MagSafe and a newer chip to the year-old iPhone 16e. Apple’s $599 iPhone model also uses Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass.

Apple still uses the original Ceramic Shield glass in places. Specifically, iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max use Ceramic Shield glass on the back.

This is a durability win since shattered glass on the back is no good. I also haven’t noticed scratching on the iPhone back glass, but there’s less back glass on the Pro models this year. Scratching on the back glass also isn’t as big of a deal since it’s not glass that you look through like the display on the front.

Admittedly, I’m a little nervous about calling Ceramic Shield 2 a win already. I’ll be more worried than usual about picking up the first scratch. But if it takes six months to notice a bad scratch on my iPhone this year, that’s about five months and three weeks longer than usual.

In another six months, I may be ready to advise anyone with a beat-up screen protector to try life without one for a change. For now, I’m just happy to say that I think Apple has markedly improved the iPhone front glass. It’s great that the improvement is on Apple’s most affordable iPhone, their most premium model, and each model in between.

How has your experience with Ceramic Shield 2 been so far? Let us know in the comments!