Mobile phone industry giants join forces to enter an era of innovation in the mobile phone industry

"Titanium" may be the most popular word in the recent mobile phone market. September’s iPhone 15 Pro, October’s Xiaomi 14 Pro titanium limited edition, and the upcoming Samsung S24 Ultra all use this somewhat “novel” material.

The good news is that titanium metal can indeed bring higher hardness to mobile phones, and the drop resistance and scratch resistance of mobile phones have been improved. The bad news is that everyone You should have guessed that compared with the previous mainstream aluminum alloy and stainless steel materials, the production cost of titanium metal is extremely high, and it is generally only used in various high-end watches and aviation parts, so Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said at the press conference The phrase "the cost of the titanium version is 1,000 yuan higher than the regular version" is not nonsense.

(Photo source: Xiaomi official website)

In order to give everyone a thorough To explain all the key points about titanium metal, Xiaolei went to major websites and the comment areas of our articles to collect some hot comments, and tried to use this article to tell you everything about titanium metal.

They are all titanium metal, why has Xiaomi become heavier?

The first question is also Xiaolei’s on various platforms A common question that everyone will encounter is, does titanium make mobile phones heavier or lighter? According to the parameters on the official website, the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro is 187g, which is 19g lighter than the previous generation, while the weight of the titanium version of Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro is 230g, which is 7g heavier than the ordinary version. The results of the two are completely different, which naturally leads to doubts.

(Picture source: Apple official website)

What is certain is that , Titanium alloy is indeed heavier than mainstream aluminum alloy. After checking the data, we can find that the specific gravity of aluminum alloy is about 2.7, while the specific gravity of titanium alloy is about 4.4-4.5. Titanium alloy is obviously heavier in the same volume.

So why is the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro reduced so much? Don’t forget, the iPhone 14 Pro uses a stainless steel frame. Generally, the specific gravity of stainless steel is between 7.6-8, which is much heavier than titanium alloy and aluminum alloy. Therefore, it is not that titanium alloy will lose weight, but that the original Apple is somewhat " "It's too heavy", and the frame can be made much lighter by changing any material.

(Photo source: Xiaomi official website)

There is another one You may not have noticed the details. The aluminum alloy of the iPhone is only reflected in the frame. The back cover of the fuselage is still made of ordinary glass. However, Xiaomi’s titanium alloy version fills the frame and back panel, which can The weight increase of only 7g is already a very good result.

Second question, Lei Jun said at the press conference that "the production cost of the titanium version is 1,000 yuan more expensive than the regular version." Is this bragging or the truth?

Titanium metal currently on the market can be roughly divided into two categories. One is titanium alloy, which costs about 300 yuan per kilogram. Real pure titanium metal (content in More than 99%) the price can exceed 1,000 yuan per kilogram. More importantly, titanium alloys are extremely difficult to process. The environmental requirements for light smelting alone are very demanding. In addition, cutting is difficult, it is easy to absorb impurities such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon in the air during thermal processing, it has poor wear resistance, and the production process is complex. A series of reasons such as these lead to the extremely high cost of titanium alloys.

(Photo source: Apple official website)

Therefore, using titanium Mobile phones made of metal are definitely heavier and thicker than traditional aluminum alloys. The reason why Apple is slimming down is simply because the previous iPhone was heavier.

Are Xiaomi and Samsung following the trend?

Of course not. The iPhone 15 Pro series was only released in September this year, and the Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro titanium version was launched at the end of October. It is impossible for Xiaomi to A large number of titanium mobile phones were produced within a month. Some readers may say that we all knew at the beginning of the year that the iPhone would use titanium frames. How could Xiaomi, as a mobile phone manufacturer, not know this?

Here is a simple knowledge about the mobile phone industry. The research and development cycle of a mobile phone is generally between one and a year and a half, which means that before the Xiaomi 13 series is released, The Xiaomi Mi 14 series has already been decided and is waiting for production and post-adjustment. It is basically impossible to create a new series temporarily.

(Photo source: Xiaomi official website)

But one thing netizens are right about is that Apple has indeed led the trend of titanium metal. I believe that in addition to Samsung and Xiaomi, more and more mobile phone manufacturers will launch titanium metal versions in the future, and it is certain Yes, the price will not be too "outrageous", because the number of titanium metal versions is not large to begin with, and mobile phone manufacturers are still in the stage of losing money and making money. When more and more manufacturers enter the market, the price of titanium metal processing will It will inevitably fall, and the price of titanium mobile phones will become more reasonable by then, and may even replace the previous aluminum alloy and 304 stainless steel.

The titanium frame of the iPhone 15 Pro cannot be said to be a representative of the current cutting-edge processing technology. It can only be regarded as the level that mainstream processing technology can achieve. Industry insiders also revealed that the processing methods and precision required for Apple's titanium frame were already met by the technology in the industry a few years ago. For it, it is more about solving the problem of scale.

Will titanium become the new mainstream?

Although everyone knows that titanium alloy has higher hardness, it does not actually mean that it is more resistant to falling than aluminum alloy and stainless steel. The higher hardness represents its The shock-absorbing effect will be greatly reduced, and when the phone falls below, it will be directly transmitted to the internal components, making the screen and back cover more fragile. Although both Apple and Xiaomi use ultra-high-strength screen glass, don't have high expectations for the phone's drop resistance, otherwise the repair cost will be far beyond your imagination.

(Photo source: Apple official website)

In addition to drop resistance In addition to being inferior to traditional aluminum alloys, titanium alloys also have a very obvious shortcoming - poor thermal conductivity. The thermal coefficient of traditional aluminum alloys is generally in the range of 80~200 W/m·K, which is an extremely excellent thermal conductive material, while titanium alloys The thermal conductivity is around 6~20 W/m·K, and the specific value is determined based on the specific alloy composition. This is also one of the reasons why many iPhone 15 Pro users reported that their phones were overheating.

Therefore, in Xiao Lei’s view, applying titanium metal to mobile phones is not a particularly good choice. It is not so much a new material as a The new marketing method allows consumers to feel the so-called "innovation" and flex their muscles. It is a very successful marketing plan.

What is certain is that the successful promotion of Apple and Xiaomi will make aluminum alloy materials the next "blue ocean market." According to relevant data, global titanium ore production in 2022 About 8.673 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. my country's titanium ore production will reach 3.144 million tons in 2022, accounting for 36% of global production, a year-on-year increase of 10.05%. The two major fields of chemical industry and aerospace account for 73% of the demand for titanium processing materials, and the demand share has continued to increase in recent years. It is expected that the demand share of the consumer electronics field is expected to increase significantly starting from 2023, reaching 12% in 2025. By then, the production and manufacturing costs of titanium alloys will be significantly reduced, but by then mobile phone manufacturers are expected to start tinkering with other new materials and conduct a new round of marketing.

(Picture source: Xiaomi official website)

So for us ordinary For consumers, titanium alloy is not necessarily "noble" than aluminum alloy. Its practicality in mobile phones is not high, so when we face these "aluminum alloy" mobile phones, we should not be too enthusiastic about them. It is also a good choice to wait until it is completely mature to buy it.

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