Grovemade’s iPhone cases combine handsome craftsmanship with a decent level of protection

Grovemade’s team of craftsmen always does a fantastic job making accessories for Apple’s products that take advantage of top quality natural materials. With the Walnut & Leather Case (there’s also a Maple & Leather Case), Grovemade has made another great case. I’ve been using one on the iPhone Xs Max.

Easy to install, it provides a wood bumper around the sides of the Apple smartphone with a stick-on leather back. The black tanned leather is a perfect match for darker iPhone models (such as my space grey smartphone), while the Maple & Leather Case’s lighter wood and natural leather look better with iPhones of lighter hues.

The outer bumper is made of four machined pieces that are box-jointed together, then hand-sanded to for smoothness before being finished. The power switch and volume toggle have pass-through wooden analogues on the outside of the case, and there are passthroughs for the mute switch, speaker, and Lightning port .

The wood frame is light, but tough. That said, it’s not built to prevent your iPhone from serious drops, spills, or dings. The Walnut & Leather Case is designed to look good while providing a decent amount of protection. 

The case itself will show scratches over time. You’ll find that this either adds to its “character” or annoys you.

The leather backplate is attached with a single-use adhesive, so this isn’t your case if you want to swap cases frequently. When you put that backplate onto the phone, it’s going to stay there until you take it off. 

The new Grovemade cases fit the iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max, and Xr and cost $129.

Apple World Today Rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★