Taking the case off my iPhone 15 Pro Max makes it feel like a brand new phone (UPDATE: First drop)

When I bought my first smartphone, the first-generation iPhone back in 2007, I went without a case. Even as I switched to other phones like the BlackBerry Storm and then the Motorola DROID, DROID 3, DROID 4, and HTC One (M8), I never thought about buying a case mostly because I felt that it would cover up the rear design of the phones. And I felt that with the way I was babying my devices, a case wasn't needed.

There was no epiphany or any special moment that I can point to as the moment I decided to buy a case. But when I bought the Pixel 2 XL in 2018, I decided pick up protection for the phone. Considering I had the black/white model that has become lovingly referred to as the "Panda," many times I thought about taking the case off. But the truth is that the case saved the phone many times. Thus, when I switched to the iPhone 11 Pro Max early in 2020, I went a little overboard and bought an expensive case from one of those premium manufacturers whose ads you see on television all of the time.

Buying this $70 case was actually worth the price. After more than three years, when I traded in my iPhone 11 Pro Max for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the older phone was in outstanding shape. I don't want you to think that you need to buy an expensive case to get great protection. Before I purchased the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I had bought the Pixel 6 Pro and used the same case brand and model I put on the Pixel 2 XL. The case was $15 both times and the two cases did a great job protecting my Pixels.

So that brings me to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I was protecting the phone with a FineWoven case from Apple. But recently, I decided to see how the phone felt without the case on and it was amazing. Without a case, you can appreciate how thin the iPhone 15 Pro Max really is. And the phone feels magnificent in the hand without a case.

But what happens if I drop the phone? Since removing the case, that hasn't happened-yet. But I think back to Apple's advertising slogan, "Relax, it's iPhone." You might recall the iPhone 12 ad called "Cook" and it has nothing to do with Tim. Some guy is using his iPhone to help to cook some complicated meal and he is getting flour all over the phone. He drops the phone on the floor, a pepper shaker lands on the display, and the iPhone even lands face-first on the bottom of a pot inside the sink. 

The cook merely washes off his iPhone and moves on to the rest of his day without a single concern about his device. "More durable than ever," says Apple at the end of the ad, "Relax, it's iPhone." And that is the brilliant tagline that Apple has stayed with over the last few years.

So for now, my iPhone 15 Pro Max is naked and I'm digging the unprotected look and feel of the phone. But there will come a time when the phone drops to the floor. After all, it's just human nature. My hope is that without a case, I will be able to relax thanks to the "ceramic shield," which Apple calls the toughest glass on a smartphone. However, knowing how paranoid I get whenever I drop my phone, I expect that eventually this experiment will end and I'll end up buying a case for my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Honestly, taking the case off my iPhone 15 Pro Max really does make it feel like a brand-new phone. But that is my opinion. Keep in mind that without a case, you are potentially exposing your expensive phone to some serious damage. If you do decide to go without a case on whatever phone you use, does it feel like a new phone to you? What is your take on going without a case? Let us know by typing your comments in the comment box below.