The iPhone has one of the most slippery surfaces of almost all objects I own. It looks great in photos and ad videos but completely incompatible to the goal of safely holding it in the human hand. Things have became so bad with iPhone XS that I have never seen anyone using it without some ugly sleeve. If anyone has dared not using case/sleeve, they would experience heart wrenching drop out of hand within their first week of use.
Do you think this is good design? Why do you think this would happen at design-first company like Apple?
It's a bad design feature that is sadly common across premium smartphone brands - e.g. the Pixel 3 is also quite hard to grasp. One thing where I think lower-end phone design tends to be better, a function of their lower priority on aesthetics.
It's the fault of wireless charging. Premium phones used to have metal backs, but that is incompatible with wireless charging so we are cursed with glass for eternity now.
For most part, I haven’t had a case on my XS since launch. Love the feel. Have yet to drop it. I do put a case on it when I’m doing things like camping or taking photos at amusement parks.
Do you think this is good design? Why do you think this would happen at design-first company like Apple?