Why have none of the major players tried integrating a case? Making a ruggedized version? They could probably do a lot better and find ways to innovate with something integrated.

Why do they ignore the fact that so many people use cases (and the market opportunity)? It's almost a defect at this point. Some people like the personalization but I think a lot of people just want something that won't break when you drop it...

> Why do they ignore the fact that so many people use cases (and the market opportunity)?

Apple sells cases.

There are ruggedized phones available. The market is small.

You can get away without a case with a modern iPhone for longer than most people assume.

The average person does better with a $10 sacrificial case layer that snaps on to their phone that can be replaced whenever they want or if it gets damaged.

Lots of reasons. The most obvious ones that come to mind:

1. People like a variety of custom cases that themselves have features (eg wallet cases random designs etc). If it’s built into the phone that customization capability is worse because you now have two layers of protection making for a very thick and heat-insulating design.

2. It’s valuable to have partners that make accessories for your device. If you kill that line of business for them, other things may go away and those partners will want to work with you less.

3. An integrated case will still suffer cosmetic damage. But now without the option to replace, you’re stuck with that damage.

I’ve had phones before that rugged enough to not want a case. It’s great, I wish there were good options like that today. But I think I prefer a separate case. When mine gets enough wear and tear, I replace it and it feels like I have a whole new phone.

> Which most people are going to immediately cover with an insulating layer of plastic or silicone.

Or their hand. Or their pocket.

It’s fine. It’s planned.

The cooling solution’s job is to spread the heat around as much as possible so it can be dissipated in the limited conditions available.

When the bare phone is in your hand and it's quite a bit warmer than body temperature, your hand may very well be carrying away more heat than ambient air exchange would be capable of.

For phones that heat up enough to need it, the screen also acts as a way to dissipate heat. Unless you put an extremely thick screen protector on there, the phone will still be able to get rid of some heat through the glass.

I do wonder how this will affect benchmarks, though. I can imagine the phones running slower in practice compared to reviews because the reviewers don't put a case on there.