Today is iPhone 11 day, with all three varieties of the iconic smartphone having just gone on sale.
One of the less exciting parts of getting a new phone is deciding what case to choose to protect it. To help with your decision on cases, we’ve gathered all 17 of Apple’s official iPhone 11 era cases to demonstrate how they actually look.
Watch our hands-on video commentary as we unbox and go hands-on with every new Apple-made iPhone 11 case. We’ll take a look at every color and every style of case that Apple offers for this year’s iPhones.
Lots of iPhone 11 Pro Cases
There are 17 different iPhone 11 Pro cases in total, including silicone, leather, and clear. The baseline iPhone 11 only features three official case options from Apple — the clear case, and a black or white silicone case. Hence, if you’re looking for unique iPhone 11 cases, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have access to the full gamut of case options, including two $130 leather folio options for those that require the added convenience of driver’s license and credit card storage.
iPhone 11 Pro Cases video walkthrough
Clear cases
For the first time, Apple has developed a clear case for its entire new iPhone lineup. That means that the clear case is no longer relegated to its entry-level smartphone, the iPhone 11, but it’s also available for the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
I’m a fan of the clear case, if for no other reason than it allows me to enjoy a phone’s finish instead of hiding it behind layers of silicone or leather. Apple also notes that its clear case is yellowing resistant, which is a big problem for clear cases in general.
As an iPhone XR clear case user for nearly a year, I can vouch for the fact that Apple’s clear case does a good job of resisting yellowing, but it’s not perfect. After some examination, I’ve noticed yellowing around the Side buttons and Volume buttons on my iPhone XR clear case, although the overall condition of the case is much better than you’d normally expect from the bargain bin.
Silicone cases
Apple’s Silicone cases are iPhone staples, because they look and feel good in the hand, and provide adequate grip. Silicone cases don’t develop a patina like leather cases, so they remain closer to how they looked on day one, even after long-term usage.
Silicone cases can make it more difficult to negotiate your iPhone in and out of pants pockets, though, due to the amount of grip provided by the case material.
The build material also isn’t as nice as Apple’s leather cases, and in my experience, the silicone material doesn’t hold up as well over the long term.
Leather cases
As mentioned, leather cases begin to develop a patina after just a few days of use, and often look and feel quite a bit different than they do when brand new. For many, the patina is a desirable characteristic of leather, and the overall look and feel of the case is of higher quality than the silicone cases in Apple’s lineup.
Leather cases also enjoy added tactility, thanks to color-matched aluminum Side and Volume buttons. This is a characteristic that Apple’s clear and silicone cases don’t enjoy.
Leather cases are $10 more than silicone cases, but if you’re interested in the folio versions of the leather cases, expect to spend a lot more ($130). The folio cases are nice because they feature auto-sleep/auto-wake when opening and closing the flap, plus they allow you to keep your credit cards and debit cards together with your iPhone.
I’ve gone case-less for the past few years, and I don’t think I’ll ever look back. With the iPhone XS Max being so durable, and succeeding iPhones building on that durability, I just don’t see the need for a case in my personal usage. That being said, I understand that some people think it’s crazy to walk around with a $1000 phone with nothing protecting the glass.
The good news is that — as long as you’re an iPhone 11 Pro owner — there is a wide variety of first-party case options to choose from. If I had to use a case, I’d probably pick the clear case, but I’m also a fan of the pine green and Alaskan blue silicone cases, along with the saddle brown, red, and Meyer lemon leather cases.
Will you be purchasing a new case to go along with your iPhone 11? If so, which? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
