The wide availability of aluminum and access to CNC machines with not so crazy prices open up a broad range of possibilities, but Scotty from the Strange Parts channel never stops halfway. In fact, he invested almost a year of his time and thousands of dollars to create an iPhone 12 case completely out of aluminum, from a single block. Needless to say, the huge number of curves, holes, and spaces required by the hardware turned the project into something not for the faint of heart.
Despite all the smart features they pack, smartphones are dumb devices in a very particular way: Their customization margins are almost nonexistent. Beyond an external case for protection and an extra shield on the module, the user can do nothing with them. In fact, basic maintenance tasks like replacing a battery or changing a USB port if it gets damaged become a nightmare.
Obviously, there are some exceptions to the rule (the HMD Fusion comes to mind almost immediately), but there are no alternatives for popular devices, unless... we follow the DIY route. That's exactly what Scotty from Strange Parts did, the same youtuber who built an iPhone from separate parts in China and upgraded his iPhone 6s to 128 gigabytes. This time, he decided to build the entire chassis of an iPhone 12, starting with a simple block of aluminum.
An iPhone 12 Made of Aluminum
Now, none of this would be possible without two essential resources: the official technical diagram with all dimensions, and a CNC machine up to the task. The diagram is already available on the internet, but it doesn't include the internal dimensions of the case. This forced Scotty to sacrifice a damaged iPhone 12 case, removing a layer of material at a time, scanning the result, and measuring the rest by hand. The machine, on the other hand, was provided by sponsor Makera, which offers its Carvera CNC line with prices ranging from $2,100 to $5,200.
Even with all this in his favor, Scotty took almost twelve months to reach his final design, with several moments that were pure torture. There is nothing fun about destroying $65 drill bits, and he also had to build multiple supports to mount the case in the correct position. He was also forced to remove all wireless charging, simply because aluminum interferes with its operation... but he took a relatively generic iPhone 12 and turned it into something unique.
