Is the iPhone "Illegal?"

Marques Brownlee
7 Apr 202413:31

Summary

TLDRThe video discusses the concept of vertical integration and its potential legal implications, using Apple's ecosystem as a case study. It highlights how Apple's products, like the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iMessage, are designed to work seamlessly together, creating a 'walled garden' that makes it difficult for users to switch to other platforms. The script touches on the US Department of Justice's lawsuit against Apple for alleged monopolistic practices, emphasizing the market dominance of iPhones in the US, especially among young people. It also compares Apple's strategy to that of other companies and markets, such as China's smartphone landscape, to illustrate the impact of competition and innovation.

Takeaways

  • 📈 Vertical integration is when a company creates products that only work with its own ecosystem, like a lens for a specific camera or headphones for a specific cable.
  • 🚨 Building a smartwatch that only works with a specific smartphone could potentially be illegal due to antitrust laws.
  • 🏢 Large companies often have two reasons for their public statements: one for the public and one that is the real, underlying motive.
  • 📜 The US Department of Justice has sued Apple, claiming that the company has an illegal monopoly, particularly in the United States with the iPhone.
  • 📊 The iPhone has a significant market share in the US, around 60%, and is even more dominant among young people, nearing 90%.
  • 🌐 Globally, the iPhone's market share is around 25%, showing a trend towards monopoly specifically in the United States.
  • 🧱 Apple's ecosystem is often referred to as a 'walled garden', with the iPhone at the center and high walls around it, making it difficult for users to switch to other platforms.
  • 🤔 The lawsuit against Apple highlights the company's strategy of making it difficult for users to leave their ecosystem once they've invested in it, using products like the Apple Watch and iMessage as examples.
  • 📱 Apple's iMessage is exclusive to iOS and is seen as one of the barriers preventing users from switching to Android, as it offers more features and better integration than standard SMS.
  • 🔧 Other companies also engage in similar practices, but Apple's market position makes their actions more scrutinized and potentially problematic.
  • 🌏 In markets like China, the presence of a super app like WeChat levels the playing field for various smartphone manufacturers, reducing the impact of a single company's dominance.

Q & A

  • What is vertical integration and how does it relate to the examples given in the script?

    -Vertical integration is a business strategy where a company controls several stages of its production and distribution process, often to reduce costs and increase efficiency. In the script, examples like a lens that only works with a specific camera or headphones that only work with a specific cable illustrate vertical integration, where a company creates products that are designed to work seamlessly only with their own ecosystem.

  • What is the legal concern regarding the development of a smartwatch that only works with a specific smartphone?

    -The legal concern is that such a practice could be seen as anti-competitive and potentially create an illegal monopoly, as it may restrict consumer choice and lock them into a specific brand's ecosystem, preventing them from switching to other brands without significant inconvenience or additional costs.

  • What are the two reasons a company might have for any public-facing statement according to the script?

    -According to the script, a company has a public reason, which is the official statement made to the general public, and a real reason, which is the underlying, often unspoken motivation behind the public statement.

  • How does the iPhone's market share differ between the US and worldwide?

    -In the US, the iPhone has a market share of about 60%, and it's even higher, near 90%, among young people. However, worldwide, the iPhone's market share is around 25%.

  • What is the 'walled garden' analogy used to describe Apple's ecosystem?

    -The 'walled garden' analogy refers to Apple's ecosystem being like a beautiful, luscious garden surrounded by tall, thick walls. The garden represents the appealing features and seamless integration within the Apple ecosystem, while the walls symbolize the barriers that make it difficult for users to leave Apple's products and switch to other brands.

  • How does the Apple Watch exemplify the 'walled garden' strategy?

    -The Apple Watch is designed to work perfectly with the iPhone, offering features like notification management, fitness tracking, and camera viewfinder. However, it does not work with any other smartphone, effectively 'wallowing' users into the Apple ecosystem and making it challenging to switch to other platforms without losing these integrated features.

  • What is the issue with the blue bubbles and green bubbles in Apple's messaging system?

    -Blue bubbles represent messages sent between iPhones using iMessage, which offers features like typing indicators and high-resolution media. Green bubbles are for messages sent to Android phones via SMS, which lacks these features. The issue is that Apple refuses to make iMessage available on Android, creating a barrier for users who want to switch from iPhone to Android without losing the benefits of iMessage.

  • What is the significance of WeChat in China's smartphone market?

    -WeChat is a super app in China that integrates messaging, payments, and various other services. Its ubiquity means that as long as a smartphone supports WeChat, consumers are less concerned about the brand or specific features of the phone, leading to a competitive landscape where manufacturers compete on hardware and other features rather than on messaging platforms.

  • What would be considered illegal or wrong in the context of the smartphone market?

    -It would be considered illegal or wrong if a company like Tencent, which owns WeChat, were to create a phone that had special access to parts of WeChat not available to other phones. This would be akin to滥用市场支配地位, creating an unfair advantage and stifling competition.

  • What is the main purpose of the lawsuit against Apple as discussed in the script?

    -The main purpose of the lawsuit against Apple is to challenge the company's practices that may be contributing to its dominant market position and to encourage a more competitive landscape. The aim is to reduce the 'walls' around Apple's ecosystem, allowing for more choice and innovation in the smartphone market.

  • How does the script suggest the smartphone market should ideally operate?

    -The script suggests that the smartphone market should operate on competition and innovation, where consumers can choose based on the merits and features of the products, and where there are fewer barriers to switching between brands. This would lead to a more vibrant and dynamic market landscape with numerous 'gardens' and minimal 'walls'.

  • What is the role of Dbrand in the context of the video script?

    -Dbrand is mentioned as a sponsor of the video. They produce phone cases, specifically the Hydrodip cases, which are highlighted for their unique designs, attention to detail, and the grip they provide to prevent phone drops.

Outlines

00:00

📱 Vertical Integration and Legal Monopoly

The first paragraph discusses the concept of vertical integration and its potential legal implications. It uses the analogy of a company creating exclusive products, like a lens for a camera or headphones for a cable, to explain how this practice can lead to monopolistic behavior. The segment highlights the recent lawsuit against Apple by the US Department of Justice for allegedly being an illegal monopoly, specifically focusing on the iPhone. It mentions the high market share of iPhones in the US, particularly among young people, and contrasts it with the global market share. The speaker introduces the idea of a 'walled garden' to describe Apple's ecosystem, where the iPhone is at the center and other Apple products like the Apple Watch and AirPods are designed to work seamlessly only with it, creating barriers for users to switch to other ecosystems.

05:02

🌐 The Walled Garden: Apple's Ecosystem Barriers

This paragraph delves deeper into the concept of the 'walled garden', emphasizing how Apple's ecosystem makes it difficult for users to leave once they've invested in it. It provides examples of how Apple products like the Apple Watch and AirPods are designed to work flawlessly with iPhones but not with other smartphones. The segment also discusses the iMessage system, which offers advanced features when used between iPhones but reverts to basic SMS when messaging Android phones, and Apple's refusal to make iMessage available on Android. The speaker suggests that these barriers are part of Apple's strategy to retain users within its ecosystem, and while not necessarily illegal, they contribute to Apple's dominant market position.

10:06

🌏 Global Market Dynamics and the Impact of WeChat

The final paragraph shifts focus to the global market dynamics, particularly in China, where Apple does not hold a monopoly position. It highlights the role of WeChat, a super app that integrates various services, and how it levels the playing field for smartphone manufacturers. The speaker suggests that because all phones have access to WeChat, consumers are more likely to choose based on hardware features and other factors. The paragraph contrasts this with the US market, where Apple's dominance is more pronounced. It also touches on the potential for future legal developments and the introduction of RCS to the iPhone, which may not significantly change the messaging landscape. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of competition and innovation in the smartphone market and encourages viewers to stay informed about ongoing legal and market developments.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Vertical Integration

Vertical integration refers to the practice of a company controlling multiple stages of its production or distribution process. In the context of the video, it is used to describe how a company might create a new product, such as a lens or headphones, that only works with its own devices, thereby controlling the entire ecosystem and potentially limiting consumer choice.

💡Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a single company or entity has exclusive control over a product or service in a particular market. In the video, it is discussed in relation to the US Department of Justice suing Apple, alleging that the company has created an illegal monopoly in the United States through the iPhone, due to its dominant market share and the ecosystem it has built around its products.

💡Walled Garden

A walled garden is a metaphor used to describe a closed ecosystem where a company tightly controls the user experience and restricts access to third-party products or services. In the video, Apple's ecosystem is likened to a walled garden, with the iPhone at the center and high walls preventing users from easily switching to other platforms or products.

💡Smartwatch

A smartwatch is a wearable electronic device that functions as a companion to a smartphone, offering features such as notifications, fitness tracking, and communication tools. In the video, the Apple Watch is highlighted as an example of vertical integration and a component of Apple's walled garden, as it works seamlessly only with the iPhone and not with other smartphones.

💡iMessage

iMessage is a messaging service developed by Apple that allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, and audio messages over the internet. It is exclusive to Apple devices and is not available on other platforms. In the video, iMessage is discussed as a key element of Apple's walled garden, with its features and seamless integration being a significant factor in user loyalty and the difficulty of switching to other platforms.

💡Market Share

Market share refers to the percentage of the total market that a particular company or product holds. It is a measure of a company's relative size in its market. In the video, the discussion of market share is used to highlight Apple's dominance in the US smartphone market, with the iPhone holding a significant portion of the market, particularly among young people.

💡Competition

Competition refers to the economic activity of striving for a superior position in a free market. It encourages innovation, efficiency, and better products or services. In the video, the discussion around Apple's market position and its ecosystem highlights the importance of competition in preventing monopolistic practices and promoting a healthy market landscape.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas, methods, or products to improve or create new value. It drives progress and is often spurred by competition among companies. The video suggests that the legal actions against Apple are aimed at fostering a more competitive environment, which in turn would encourage innovation across the smartphone industry.

💡Antitrust Laws

Antitrust laws are designed to promote competition and prevent the formation of monopolies that could harm consumers and the economy. In the video, the lawsuit against Apple by the US Department of Justice is an example of antitrust enforcement, aiming to ensure that companies do not abuse their market power to the detriment of consumers and fair competition.

💡Consumer Choice

Consumer choice refers to the variety of options available to consumers and their ability to select products or services based on their preferences. The video argues that Apple's ecosystem, while offering a seamless and integrated experience, may limit consumer choice by making it difficult for users to switch to other platforms or products.

Highlights

Vertical integration is when a company's products only work with each other, creating a closed ecosystem.

Building a smartwatch that only works with a specific smartphone could potentially be illegal due to antitrust laws.

Large companies often have two reasons for their public statements: one for the public and one real reason.

The US Department of Justice has sued Apple for allegedly being an illegal monopoly, specifically targeting the iPhone.

Apple's market share in the US is around 60%, and it's even higher among young people, nearing 90%.

Globally, Apple's market share is about 25%, showing a trend towards monopoly in the United States.

Apple's ecosystem is likened to a walled garden, with the iPhone at the center and high walls around it.

The Apple Watch is cited as an example of Apple's vertical integration strategy, working seamlessly only with the iPhone.

Using non-Apple smartwatches with an iPhone results in a loss of many integrated features, creating a barrier for users to switch ecosystems.

Apple's iMessage is a significant factor in their ecosystem, with blue bubbles offering more features than green bubbles used for Android.

iMessage is not available on Android, which is seen as a barrier to switching and a method to retain users within the Apple ecosystem.

The lawsuit against Apple also touches on Apple Pay and the exclusive use of the iPhone's NFC chip.

The Pixel Watch is another example of a product that only works with its own ecosystem, in this case, Android phones.

The legal battle is not about the individual features but about addressing the power and control one company has in a commodity market.

In China, the smartphone market is more competitive, with various manufacturers vying for consumers' attention based on hardware features.

The lawsuit aims to reduce barriers, promote competition, and encourage innovation in the smartphone market.

Dbrand's Grip Case is highlighted for its unique design and features, including its attention to detail and button quality.

The Grip Case's texture is designed to prevent phone drops, adding an extra layer of protection for the device.

Transcripts

00:00

- So if I build a new lens

00:02

and my lens only works with my camera,

00:05

then that's vertical integration.

00:08

Or if I build new headphones

00:11

and my headphones only work with my cable,

00:15

that's vertical integration.

00:17

Now, if I build a new smartwatch

00:19

and my smartwatch only works with my smartphone,

00:23

be careful that might be illegal.

00:28

That's a bit of an oversimplification,

00:29

but let's talk about it.

00:31

(upbeat music)

00:34

So this is a developing story

00:35

and will continue to develop for years,

00:37

but I feel like it all comes down to something

00:39

that I've at least noticed in talking

00:41

to all these big companies, all these very public,

00:45

multi-billion dollar companies, they always have two reasons

00:48

for any public-facing statement that they make.

00:52

There's the reason for the public,

00:55

and then there's the real reason.

00:56

So there's just some news this past week

00:58

of the US Department of Justice suing Apple saying

01:00

that they are an illegal monopoly in the United States,

01:03

the iPhone specifically.

01:05

Now, whenever there's legal proceedings,

01:06

obviously things get very complicated,

01:08

and I won't even pretend

01:10

to be diving into this at a super deep level.

01:12

But this is also interesting to me

01:13

because of all the stuff with the things

01:16

that we talk about every day

01:17

which is just smartphones and gadgets.

01:18

And of course this is a pretty US specific thing,

01:21

like obviously they're being sued by the US,

01:24

but also their dominance,

01:25

Apple, the iPhone is the most popular in the US.

01:29

So I think these are some numbers we should keep in mind.

01:32

In the US the iPhone is at like 60% market share,

01:36

and it's even way higher up near 90% with young people,

01:40

like it is ridiculously dominant.

01:42

But worldwide, the iPhone is at about a 25% market share.

01:46

So the iPhone is specifically trending towards a monopoly

01:50

in the United States.

01:51

(upbeat music)

01:55

So here's where it gets really interesting.

01:56

I would like to live in this analogy for this video,

02:00

which is, you've heard about people describing

02:02

Apple's ecosystem as a walled garden before,

02:05

this could not be more true, right?

02:07

There's this really, really nice, beautiful luscious garden

02:10

and in the middle of that garden is the iPhone

02:13

and it has these really tall,

02:15

thick walls all the way around it.

02:17

So in an ideal world, right, you are just picking

02:19

between different options

02:20

for a product based on its merits, based on its features.

02:23

So you just look at the whole lineup and you go,

02:26

yeah, I like this one the best.

02:27

And that's how you make your choice, right?

02:29

Sick.

02:30

But with this one, the claim is

02:33

Apple is making it really, really difficult,

02:36

once you've chosen theirs

02:38

to ever switch to anything else.

02:40

So with this analogy, again, it's really the walls

02:43

of the garden that we have the issue with.

02:46

So I'll give you, I'll do two examples.

02:48

So take the Apple Watch, right?

02:49

This is one of the examples

02:50

in the Department of Justice's 88 page PDF

02:54

that they've submitted.

02:55

The iPhone and the Apple Watch work perfectly well together

03:00

and only together.

03:02

It's a feature, it's by design.

03:04

That's how they are.

03:05

So two parts of that are sketchy.

03:07

One is the Apple Watch works really well with the iPhone

03:11

in a way that no other smartwatch can.

03:15

And two, the Apple Watch does not work

03:19

with any other smartphone.

03:20

So look, I don't think it's a surprise

03:22

that when Apple built a watch, they gave it all kinds

03:24

of integrations with the iPhone.

03:26

So you can see them working perfectly together.

03:28

You can see and dismiss your notifications,

03:31

you can reply to messages, track your fitness.

03:34

You can even use it as a shutter for your iPhone's camera.

03:36

All these features that they just plug

03:37

right into the iPhone, they work great.

03:39

And I think that's even what Apple would tell people.

03:41

They would agree like, this is how we made it

03:44

so that they work amazingly well together.

03:46

This is vertical integration.

03:47

It's awesome.

03:49

But there's also the real reason.

03:52

Because the truth is now if you try

03:54

to use any other smartwatch with the iPhone,

03:57

you just don't get nearly as many of those useful features

04:01

from being super well integrated.

04:03

If you try to use like a Garmin smartwatch for example,

04:05

you don't get the viewfinder for the camera,

04:07

you don't get the fitness tracking through Apple Fitness,

04:11

you don't get quick replies,

04:12

you don't get even image previews for your text messages.

04:15

You don't even get to choose

04:16

which apps show you notifications.

04:18

It's just all or nothing.

04:19

So if you choose an iPhone, then next, when you're looking

04:22

for a smartwatch to buy, there's kind

04:24

of only really one good full fledged option,

04:27

which is the Apple Watch.

04:29

This is also true, by the way, to various degrees

04:31

with AirPods and AirTags

04:35

and various other things in Apple's ecosystem

04:37

because they all are great when you have an iPhone

04:40

and work super well with it, but work horribly

04:43

or not at all when you don't.

04:44

So that is part of the,

04:46

that's the walls around the ecosystem

04:49

that make it really hard to leave.

04:51

Because if you now wanna switch from the iPhone

04:54

to the Android phone, you're not just switching phones,

04:57

You have to now get a new phone and a new watch

05:01

and new headphones and a new tracker and all this stuff

05:05

because they all worked so well with the iPhone

05:08

and so horribly with anything else.

05:10

So that is a real barrier

05:13

to people leaving this ecosystem once they get into it.

05:16

So another example is the whole blue bubbles

05:20

and green bubbles thing that they do.

05:23

I've already made an entire video about this dynamic.

05:25

If you haven't already seen it,

05:26

I'll leave a link with a like button below

05:27

if you wanna watch it.

05:28

But basically today, when iPhones message other iPhones,

05:31

they have tons of features and typing indicators

05:33

and high res media, and those are blue bubbles.

05:35

And when they message Android phones, it falls back to SMS,

05:38

which is slow, low res, unencrypted trash

05:42

that is green bubbles.

05:43

And Apple just refuses to make iMessage work on Android.

05:47

The Department of Justice actually literally references

05:49

a video of Tim Cook on stage at a conference

05:52

where he says this.

05:53

- it's tough not to make it personal,

05:56

but I can't send my mom certain videos

05:58

or she can't send me certain videos.

05:59

And so we leave-

06:00

- Buy your mom an iPhone.

06:02

(everyone laughing)

06:04

- All right.

06:05

- And this is so poetic just because, you know,

06:08

obviously he's got this smile of like,

06:09

you guys all know it's true,

06:11

but also it goes back to what I said at the beginning,

06:14

which is with any of these public-facing decisions,

06:16

there's the answer that they give the public.

06:20

And then there's the real reason.

06:21

You know, originally iMessage was built back in the days

06:24

where text messages were basically paid per text.

06:27

Like every SMS cost money, hence the green.

06:31

So iMessage would work over the internet and be unlimited

06:34

and it would offer way more features

06:35

and they'd build onto it over time.

06:37

Adding encryption and reactions

06:39

and typing indicators, all this stuff.

06:41

And Apple people and Apple themselves

06:43

would probably all agree like this is,

06:45

it's just a thing that Apple built

06:46

that's way better than SMS.

06:47

Like it's not their fault, SMS sucks,

06:50

they just made a better thing.

06:53

So yeah, of course, yeah,

06:54

they're gonna build their own version of a thing

06:56

and it's not illegal to not also develop it for Android.

06:59

They just made their own thing for the iPhone.

07:02

But also Tim Cook's quote,

07:05

"just buy your mom an iPhone"

07:07

is the other equally valid point.

07:09

It's the real reason.

07:11

There are plenty of internal emails

07:13

that have surfaced over time

07:14

with Apple executives openly talking about

07:16

how giving iMessage to Android would make it easier

07:19

for people to switch to Android from the iPhone.

07:22

iMessage is clearly one of the walls of the ecosystem

07:24

and it's probably one of the biggest thickest walls.

07:27

Like ask any young person in the US today

07:30

why they use an iPhone.

07:32

And I think a lot of them would probably tell you

07:34

something to do with iMessage.

07:36

So is this stuff that they're doing illegal,

07:40

I guess is the question,

07:42

or maybe even another way to phrase it is,

07:43

is Apple making other products worse

07:46

or are they making their own products really good

07:50

and then not letting other things

07:51

outside the ecosystem have access to those things?

07:55

It's kind of both, honestly.

07:57

But the thing is,

07:59

they're not the only ones doing a lot of this stuff.

08:01

They are just the ones that happen to be

08:03

in this pseudo-monopoly position right now.

08:06

Like the Pixel Watch for example

08:08

does not work at all with the iPhone.

08:10

It just works perfectly with Android phones.

08:12

But is anybody that mad about that?

08:15

You know, RCS is announced to be coming

08:17

to the iPhone at some point in 2024,

08:19

but I can almost guarantee

08:20

it'll probably still be green bubbles.

08:23

It will probably be the absolute bare minimum

08:26

of supporting RCS

08:27

and they will probably still be delineating very clearly

08:30

between iPhone to iPhone, iMessage

08:33

and iPhone to Android something else.

08:35

And there's even more to this lawsuit,

08:37

like Apple Pay is another one.

08:38

How no other services can use the NFC chip on the iPhone.

08:43

Super apps is another one.

08:44

Like if you wanna look at all this stuff,

08:46

I will link the best stuff I can find down below.

08:48

So my take is Apple is technically yet guilty

08:53

of all these things.

08:54

They're doing all stuff,

08:55

but in the walled garden analogy,

08:58

it's like they have built up a really, really nice garden.

09:02

And Apple would say like, look, our garden, it's so green

09:04

and luscious and beautiful.

09:06

They've built the most beautiful garden

09:08

with the most people in it,

09:11

but they've also built up the biggest walls

09:13

around that garden.

09:14

And so Apple would love to say, look,

09:15

everyone's chosen our garden

09:17

and they're all staying in our garden.

09:18

That's how great it is.

09:19

But even if you saw another greener,

09:21

softer, better garden somewhere else, the walls to escaping

09:26

to getting to that are just way too high.

09:29

So it's less that each individual thing that they're doing

09:32

with the products working well together is illegal.

09:35

And it's more that they feel like they have to do something

09:39

about this one company having so much power and control

09:44

in smartphones, which is here,

09:45

it's essentially a commodity.

09:47

It's just like a thing that everybody has.

09:49

So I wanna leave you with this.

09:51

You remember at the beginning

09:52

when I talked about how Apple's ridiculously dominant

09:54

in the US and these crazy numbers, like 90% of young people.

09:58

The crazy thing is they're super, super popular here,

10:01

but as I mentioned, they are not a monopoly anywhere else.

10:05

And why?

10:07

Why is that true?

10:08

How are they so popular here

10:10

and they're doing all the same stuff in other places,

10:12

but they're not a monopoly in other places?

10:14

And so I think of China for example.

10:15

China is another huge smartphone market

10:18

where WeChat is kind of like this super app.

10:22

It's a huge thing.

10:23

Like it's messaging, it's payments,

10:26

it's also calling a taxi and also paying your bills

10:29

and ordering food, groceries, like WeChat is everything.

10:33

So just as long as your phone has WeChat,

10:36

then the rest is kind of doesn't really matter,

10:38

it's up to you.

10:39

And so in China there's this incredibly vibrant,

10:42

innovative landscape of all these smartphone manufacturers

10:45

competing like crazy, like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo

10:49

and iPhone is in there too.

10:50

But they're all just competing ruthlessly

10:53

with hardware features

10:54

and with other stuff to try to get your attention

10:56

to maybe pick their phone

10:58

'cause it's just what you're into.

10:59

They all have WeChat.

11:01

So in a market like that,

11:02

people will buy your phone based on

11:04

if it's actually better or not.

11:08

Meaning there's lots of gardens

11:10

and very few walls around those gardens.

11:13

That's what a good competitive landscape looks like.

11:16

Now, what would be maybe illegal

11:18

or a wrong thing to do is if WeChat or the makers of WeChat,

11:22

if Tencent made a phone

11:23

and then they gave their phone special access

11:26

to certain parts of WeChat

11:27

that suddenly no other phone could get, then monopoly.

11:31

So this lawsuit and all this legal versus illegal stuff,

11:34

it's mainly just a way to try to poke some holes

11:38

and get closer to that level of lower walls

11:42

and more competition that makes everybody better.

11:44

Then we're actually competing on innovation again.

11:47

But it's something that will be evolving

11:49

for a long time over time.

11:50

So it'll be interesting to keep an eye on.

11:52

And speaking of things that might be illegal,

11:55

shout out to Dbrand for sponsoring this video.

11:57

So you might have heard about,

11:59

unless you've been living under a rock,

12:00

you've heard about their grip case by now.

12:02

So I've got their latest Hydrodip cases here

12:04

and I gotta say the name matches it perfectly.

12:08

You know, these days a lot of phone cases

12:09

are just kind of boring plastic shells,

12:10

but with Dbrand they're kind of playing with some stuff

12:13

and these are some crazy colorways

12:15

and these trippy hydrodipped patterns.

12:17

Plus with the Gold Rush one,

12:18

if you catch it under the right light,

12:20

you'll notice a little low key metallic effect

12:23

under this matte finish, which is sick.

12:25

Now in addition to the impact protection

12:27

that you expect from premium case, perfect.

12:31

Grip cases also have

12:32

what I would consider attention to detail.

12:34

So that's two things.

12:35

First of all, these buttons, they're just really cliquey,

12:40

they're nice, they're probably better

12:41

than the actual phones buttons.

12:43

But also, in general,

12:44

like we've all eventually dropped a phone,

12:47

whether it's like out of a car

12:49

or on your face while watching a YouTube video.

12:52

It happens.

12:53

Ideally, this case prevents it

12:56

'cause it's in the name, it's the Grip Case.

12:58

This texture is pretty nice at that.

13:01

So it's hopefully gonna prevent that sort of drop stuff.

13:04

But in the case you do drop it then, yeah, should be fine.

13:09

It's good.

13:09

So yeah, if you wanna,

13:11

if you're a case person,

13:12

I would say at least get yourself a nice Grip Case.

13:14

I'll leave a link below.

13:16

But that's it.

13:17

Thanks for watching this video

13:18

and lemme know what you think about these features

13:20

and the iPhone and everything going on with it.

13:22

And I'll catch you guys in the next video.

13:25

Peace.

13:26

(upbeat music)

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