I have ended up with a new iPhone,[^1] and with a new phone comes a new case.[^2] My de facto case for years has been Apple’s leather case. This year, that’s [impossible](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/09/apple-debuts-iphone-15-and-iphone-15-plus/). > To further reduce impact on the planet, Apple will no longer use leather in any new Apple products, including iPhone accessories. I’m sure leather case makers threw a party during this year’s keynote. I wager business is booming for those them. When I decided to get a case, I went straight to John Siracusa’s recommendations from [ATP 501: Torsional Rigidity Check](https://atp.fm/501). Ryan London’s page doesn’t seem to exist and I don’t care for the look of the 14 Pro Max [iteration](https://ryanlondon.com/products/leather-iphone-14-pro-shell-case-magsafe-black?variant=). I looked at Bullstrap and was deterred by the near $100 price tag and the *apparent* lack of a metal button for the Action Button. Then, while promoting some Chapter Select stuff on Twitter, I saw Quinn Nelson [ask](https://x.com/SnazzyLabs/status/1703287101448765593) about leather cases. I went down the reply rabbit hole and looked at Andar, Nomad, and Bellroy. I had a Bellroy case for my Pixel 7[^3], but never liked the overall feel. No Bellroy for me. Next up was Andar. They have this slick red leather case (and other colors), but there’s a cutout for the Action Button. No metal button like power and volume. This would make the Action Button difficult, if not impossible, to press quickly to, you know, take action. No Andar for me. Nomad has a plastic-y looking bumper and a leather back. I don’t want a plastic/rubber/silicone case. I want to feel leather in my hand. No Nomad for me. Now I was left with the Amazon searching and SEO, clickbait articles. None of these stood out. I took a brief look at Mujjo. It has metal buttons all around, but there weren’t enough reviews on the cases over time for me to be satisfied with a $60 purchase. I also wasn’t a fan of the word “MUJJO” stamped across the backside in hideous font. With all this searching, I came away baffled that case makers seemed unprepared for the departure of the mute switch. That seems impossible to me, since case makers get these specs ahead of time to, you know, make cases. Often, case makers are a prime source for [leaks](https://9to5mac.com/2023/08/07/iphone-15-pro-case-leak-action-button/) on the design of the new iPhones. Why is no one making a full-blown leather case with four metal buttons. It seems like a simple design task. I go to reddit for recommendations and the champion is Bullstrap. Scrolling the comments, one person [claims](https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/16j81sq/comment/k1g5xw2/?context=3) they reached out to Bullstrap support. The claim is that Bullstrap will be using a metal button instead of a cutout and that the photos are just of the 14 Pro Max case. The reply right beneath that says that support told them “no confirmed info yet on the 15.” So I took a gamble on the Bullstrap case. I’ll find out come November. --- [^1]: Hopefully more on that soon with an exit review. [^2]: I was going to try and go caseless, but the phone felt a little too slippery on the back. Plus, I have a one-year-old daughter and I miss the feel of leather. [^3]: I still have that case somewhere…