It was 2017. Jony Ive and the design team at Apple were about to kill the home button, but the real drama was happening on the flip side. If you look at an iPhone X from the back, you aren't just looking at a piece of glass. You're looking at the exact moment the smartphone industry decided that "premium" meant "fragile and vertical."
Honestly, it’s easy to forget how weird that camera bump looked at first. We were all used to the horizontal pill shape of the iPhone 7 Plus. Then, suddenly, Apple drops this vertical traffic light on the top left corner. People hated it. Critics called it awkward. But fast forward a few years, and nearly every budget Android phone on the planet was copying that exact silhouette. It’s funny how that works.
The glass sandwich that redefined "Premium"
The back of the iPhone X wasn't just about aesthetics; it was a technical necessity. Apple had stayed away from glass backs since the iPhone 4S, sticking with the sturdy, matte aluminum of the 6 and 7 series. But aluminum is a nightmare for induction. You can't pass electricity through a metal plate—at least not efficiently enough for consumer standards.
To bring Qi wireless charging to the masses, Apple had to go back to glass. They used a dual-ion exchange process to strengthen it, but let’s be real: it still shattered if you looked at it wrong. I remember the early drop tests from SquareTrade. They literally labeled the iPhone X the "most breakable iPhone ever."
The shift to glass changed the tactile experience of the phone. It felt denser. It felt like jewelry. But it also meant that for the first time in years, the iPhone X from the back was a fingerprint magnet. If you bought the Space Gray model, you spent half your life wiping away smudges with your shirt sleeve. The Silver model was a bit more forgiving because the white under-glass finish hid the oil, but that polished stainless steel frame still caught every microscopic scratch.
That vertical camera bump wasn't just for show
Why vertical? That's the question everyone asked.
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It wasn't a "vibe" choice. It was a space problem. Because the front of the phone was dominated by the new TrueDepth camera system (the notch), there simply wasn't room to mount a horizontal camera module internally. The sensors, the dot projector, and the infrared camera took up all the real estate at the top center. To fit the dual 12MP sensors without making the phone thicker, Apple had to rotate the stack.
Breaking down the optics
The top lens is your standard wide-angle, while the bottom one is the telephoto. Sandwiched in the middle? That’s the Quad-LED True Tone flash and the tiny microphone hole.
- The Telephoto lens actually got a massive upgrade here. Unlike the iPhone 8 Plus, the X version featured Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on both rear lenses.
- This made a huge difference for low-light portraits.
- It also meant the camera bump had to be slightly more pronounced.
If you lay an iPhone X from the back down on a flat table without a case, it wobbles. It's annoying. It's the "table rock" that has haunted iPhone users for nearly a decade now. But that sacrifice allowed for the f/2.4 aperture on the telephoto lens, which was a significant jump from the f/2.8 on the 7 Plus. Better bokeh. Sharper zoom. It was the price we paid for better photos.
Material science and the "Surgical Grade" lie
Apple loves their adjectives. "Surgical-grade stainless steel." It sounds like something NASA would use. In reality, it was Type 316L stainless steel. It’s durable, sure, and it provides a beautiful structural "wrap" that transitions into the glass back.
But here is what they didn't tell you in the keynote: the Silver version’s frame was bare steel. You could actually polish out the scratches with a bit of Cape Cod metal polishing cloth. The Space Gray version, however, used a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating to get that dark, smoky chrome look. If you scratched that, you were out of luck. You couldn't polish it because you'd just rub the color right off.
Branding and the missing text
One of the coolest things about looking at an iPhone X from the back is what isn't there.
Look at an older iPhone 6. It has a wall of text. "Designed by Apple in California," the model number, and a bunch of FCC regulatory icons that looked like a chemistry textbook. With the X, Apple finally got permission to move those regulatory markings into the software menus (General > Legal & Regulatory).
The result? A back that just said "iPhone." No "S," no model number, nothing. Just the Apple logo and the word iPhone. It was the peak of Jony Ive's minimalism. Later models would eventually remove the word "iPhone" entirely, leaving only the logo, but the X was the transition point into that ultra-clean era.
The repair nightmare nobody talks about
If you cracked the back of this phone, you were in for a bad time.
Replacing the screen was easy enough. Replacing the back glass? Apple’s official solution was basically "replace the whole phone." Because the glass was fused to the internal frame and the camera housing was welded over the top of the glass, you couldn't just pop it off.
Third-party repair shops had to use literal high-powered lasers to burn the epoxy off the back of the glass without melting the internals. It was a violent, smoky process. If you see an iPhone X from the back today that looks a little "off"—maybe the Apple logo is slightly crooked or the glass doesn't sit flush with the frame—it’s probably a cheap aftermarket back-glass replacement.
The legacy of the vertical stack
The iPhone X was a "Ten," not an "Ex." It was meant to be a bridge to the future.
When you look at the iPhone 15 or 16 today, you can see the DNA. The rounded corners of the glass, the centered logo (which moved down in the iPhone 11), and the camera placement all started here. It was a gamble. Apple was betting that people would accept a thicker, heavier, more fragile device in exchange for a screen that felt like it was floating in your hand.
They were right.
The iPhone X from the back became a status symbol. It was instantly recognizable in a sea of aluminum slabs. It signaled that you were holding the $999 future. It’s a design that has aged remarkably well, honestly. Even now, nearly a decade later, an iPhone X in good condition doesn't look like a "vintage" phone. It looks like a modern tool.
Actionable Insights for iPhone X Owners (and Buyers)
If you are still rocking an iPhone X or looking at buying one as a secondary device, keep these specific points in mind to protect that iconic rear design:
- Check the Camera Seal: The glass cover over the vertical camera module is prone to cracking if the phone is dropped on its corner. Because it's a single piece of sapphire crystal, a crack in one lens often spreads to the other. Use a case with a "lip" that rises at least 1.0mm above the lenses.
- Polish the Silver, Leave the Gray: If you have the Silver model and the stainless steel edges look dull, a $5 jewelry polishing cloth will make them look brand new. If you have the Space Gray, do not use abrasives; you will ruin the PVD finish.
- Battery Bulge Warning: Because the back glass is so tightly glued, if your battery starts to fail and swell, it won't just pop the screen—it can shatter the back glass from the inside out. If you see your iPhone X from the back starting to "lift" or if there's a gap between the steel and the glass, get the battery replaced immediately.
- Qi Compatibility: The X was Apple's first-generation wireless charging coil. It can get very hot. To preserve the glue holding the back glass on, avoid using high-wattage "fast" wireless chargers that don't have built-in cooling fans, as the heat can eventually degrade the adhesive.
The iPhone X remains a masterclass in how to turn a technical limitation (the vertical camera) into a global design trend. It’s a beautiful, if fragile, piece of tech history.