Well, it finally happened yesterday and I dropped my iPhone 14 Pro Max face down onto concrete. Luckily as well as being #mistergeek I’m #misterriskaware and #misterselfaware and I had both a case and a screen protector installed. The case took the brunt and the screen protector shattered on the corner, BUT my lovely iPhone is unscathed. I don’t know how people go caseless.
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I’ve never gone caseless. I try to keep my phone in pristine condition to maximize the resale vaule when I’m ready to upgrade. It’s a shame because the design of the iPhone is beautiful but I don’t want to risk damaging such an expensive device.
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I don’t use a screen protector. Just a minimum case by Totallee, and dumb luck. 
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Yes, not dropping the phone on concrete is key to the case-less experience!
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caseless with AppleCare+ so I know what the max is to fix. I have mini so it’s different feel anyway, on the bigger phones I like a case for grip but never use a screen protector.
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I haven’t been caseless since the iPhone 5 because the 6 and later are engineered to be much easier to drop. I’m only on an 11 Pro so don’t know how the “new” square edge design changes the calculus.
That said… the only Apple product I have dropped outside is an iPad. Onto concrete, but it just got a slightly flat corner and the glass lifted a tiny bit in that corner. It’s the only Apple product I’ve stopped using and not sold. I have had a temporarily caseless iPhone 11 Pro slide off the bed onto carpet a couple of times.
This is why I have a hard time justifying AppleCare.
I go caseless. All my previous iPhones were cased but I decided that I did not want to add weight and ugliness to my beautiful shiny iPhone when it was new. Of course now it has a broken screen.
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I’ve watched with horror as my phone fell onto concrete several times over the years and every single time I have been grateful to Otterbox when I picked it up unharmed. I know I will probably run out of luck one day, but I’ve already been saved several times by the same case. Paid for itself over and over.
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Sorry for your loss.
My original iPhone, purchased in ‘07, survived without a case until I replaced it with a 4S. That phone got a bumper and every iPhone since has worn a minimal case.
Everyone has an iPhone these days so it’s likely no one noticed when you purchased a new one. But now that it has a broken screen a few people might 
. Protect your bank account, buy a case. And when you’re safe at home, sitting on your couch, you can remove the case and appreciate your beautiful, shiny iPhone.
Then put it back in its case.
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It’s a vintage iPhone 8+ (2018?) and the screen was cracked last year, but it is still working. It was bound to be replaced sooner than later, I guess this is the year.
I always use a case, and also purchased a belkin screen protector from the Apple Store. My phone fell off my couch and the screen protector cracked. I called belkin and they sent a new one out went to the Apple Store and they installed it no questions asked. I don’t know if my screen would’ve cracked if I didn’t have a screen protector on it but the guy Apple at the Apple Store seems to think it would’ve cracked.
I had the same experience as @Jjm - to a tee! Smacked my new iPhone 14 Pro Max five days after I got it. I thought I’d smashed the screen at first, but was completely relieved to discover that it was just the protector that got damaged. Belkin sent a new one out and now it’s all pretty again!
Caseless here, currently with AppleCare+ with an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I love the big screen but the case would add to the bulk too much. Plus I love the beauty of the bare iPhone.
I’ve dropped my phone a few times over the years but nothing more than scratches/nicks here and there. But it has never fallen face-down. (My son, on the other hand, managed to crack his screen even WITH a case and a screen protector.)
I use a minimal case only because I find the thing too slippery without one!
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I think I’ve written on here before about my own carelessness. In fact I’m writing this on an iPad Pro with a cracked screen that I did a month after I bought it, as a replacement for the previous iPad with a cracked screen rolls eyes very hard (I haven’t replaced it again as a punishment.) But is my iPad in a case, or perhaps at least has a screen protector? Nope. Seems a bit pointless now.
I recently replaced my iPhone (last month!). I had a week with my new phone before the new Otterbox screen protector arrived. It was a white knuckle ride 
(For real, the phone was not allowed in any pockets, or on arm rests.) It did have an Apple case, but I think the screen protector is more important than the case.
When my iPhones are a bit older I like to live life on the edge and take the case off sometimes, but I’ve learnt that even if you go caseless, you always put a screen protector on. I sort of resent putting a case on really. It’s a beautiful device and I don’t want it bulkier and heavier with a case.
And the Apple Watch? I tried a case, I thought it seemed a good idea - that screen is just asking to be smashed. I didn’t like the case so I took it off, and then much later swung my arm into a brick wall (by accident), which shattered it. My current watch screen has deep scratches on it but I don’t remember how I did them.
Apple probably ought to make these things with bulletproof glass or something. Whatever they use currently isn’t passing my tests.
Interestingly, I dropped an old (maybe 2015?) MBP down a flight of carpeted stairs (by accident) and it was fine - only a tiny notch on the lid from its adventure. They should make the phone out of whatever they make the MBP out of 
You and @ismh should get together and share war stories! I shouldn’t say this because just as soon as I do, I’ll break something, but I have never damaged an iPhone, iPad, AW, or Mac. I have a stainless steel AW, so it has a sapphire screen, which helps. I have an Apple MagSafe case on the phone and the Magic Keyboard on the iPad. For whatever reason, I don’t drop my stuff. 
Having written that, I’m going to be nervous just waiting for a humorous divine providence teaching me that “pride comes before a fall” (yes, pun intended!). 
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I’m in the always-in-a-case group. I’m pretty clumsy so I get one that is “military-grade drop-proof”, whatever that means. Part of the reason is that I like to use my iPhone for as many years as I can get out of it and the case certainly helps with that.
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I have been caseless for years. I make sure to always have a screen protector, they come in 3 packs and have save me on many occasion. I am clumsy, but for some reason have spared my phones in the past - not sure how 
I don’t like the bulk of a case, even the minimal cases, so naked it is!