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iPad mini Beware iPad mini Black Scuffs - Manufacturing Fault!

prvt.donut

prvt.donut

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2008
525
26
I would like to point out that anodized aluminium is very different to paint.

Please do not conflate the two.

Quote from Wikipedia:

Anodization changes the microscopic texture of the surface and changes the crystal structure of the metal near the surface. Thick coatings are normally porous, so a sealing process is often needed to achieve corrosion resistance. Anodized aluminium surfaces, for example, are harder than aluminium but have low to moderate wear resistance that can be improved with increasing thickness or by applying suitable sealing substances. Anodic films are generally much stronger and more adherent than most types of paint and metal plating, but also more brittle. This makes them less likely to crack and peel from aging and wear, but more susceptible to cracking from thermal stress
 
B

bcaslis

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2008
2,184
237
adamirox said:
This sounds like an accusation to me. U don't know how careful i was with it.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/10/11/ipad-mini-low-yield-rates-chassis/

And i didn't write this article either

Josh, my 6month old ipad 2 which i even use and carry with me to work looks 'fantastic' as well so that's not really about treating electronics well.
Click to expand...

I don't know how careful you were or weren't. However I'm not the one who posts a thread titled "Beware iPad mini". Sounds to me like someone with an agenda, not someone being objective.
 
shenan1982

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
adamirox said:
I bought mine last Friday. 4 days later I notice nasty scuffs on the ionised alluminium around the casing. There was not a single scratch anywhere else!
I had it for 4 days and it looked like the paint had simply peeled off. No other scratches anywhere else but the coloured alluminium bit. I´d been really looking after it all those...FOUR days lol

i did some research on the net and found there were leaks about this issue delaying ipad mini's release and similar problems with the iphone 5.

Other people are experiencing similar issues.

I returned mine today and luckily got a full refund.

If you've had this happen to you let ppl know and post your story. It's still early on but many people are noticing scuffs and paint peeling off already only a week into the device's release!

apple is really taking a mick with this!
Click to expand...

I'm thinking mfg fault and user treatment both played into this, likely the later more so.
 
Moneymiike420

Moneymiike420

macrumors regular
Jul 18, 2012
189
63
nishishei said:
This is why I always go naked with my devices. That way when it's scratched, you don't give a sh-t, and just keep using it for what it's used for. Too many people put their iToys in ridiculous cases. What is the purpose of being super thin and light when you have it in an inch thick case that weighs more?
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more I don't understand how otter box is in business still those are some of the ugliest bulkiest cases on the market
 
fenjen

fenjen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2012
352
24
unagimiyagi said:
Form over function.
Aluminum is a poor choice for Apple products.
It dents and it scratches. Some would say better that than heavy and shattering.
OP is right that there's really nothing that Apple can do to fix these scuffs. They'll either happen in the factory or over time when you own it. It was just a bad choice from their materials engineers. No matter how much Apple thinks that the anodized aluminum is good, it doesn't change the facts.
It's not some revolutionary manufacturing process. Perhaps other companies investigated and felt like anodized aluminum isn't very durable and abandoned the idea.
Much scuffier than good old soft touch plastic.
Soft touch plastic does not need to be cheap. Look at some of the stuff HTC is putting out. No one can knock their build quality, although for some unknown reason no one buys their stuff. But as an OEM they are top notch and a great design house. They're in last place, but they don't deserve to be from a pure product quality point of view.

To those who don't care about the chips/scratches, great. But it is Apple itself who bills these devices as works of art and the pinnacle of engineering. If you're going to hype it up, price it up, then any "backlash" that happens is 100% on Apple. They haven't delivered, plain and simple. I would say that if you bought a BMW and there was a chip, or a Cartier with a scratch, complaining is justified. Apple in the electronics world is just that. This is the game they try to play--sell hardware at very high margins. They are the high end and only dabble in the high end. Well, you're going to get some customers who expect a certain level of quality when you play in the high end. No sympathy from me whatsoever if a guy wants to return 10 iphones.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
H

HowardSmith

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2012
863
0
It is just common sense that anodized aluminum will not hold up in the long run. I think Apple choose the WOW factor over practicality and durability. My iPhone 5 was perfect when I got it and even though it has been in a case the whole time I have owned it, it is showing wear on the anodized surfaces.

You people who claim their naked device is still perfect after normal use are in denial. You need to get out in the real world and stop misleading yourself and others. My iPhone and pads are used as a tool and given reasonable care but not caressed like a baby!

Let the flaming begin:p
 
SpyderBite

SpyderBite

macrumors 65816
Oct 4, 2011
1,262
8
Xanadu
Why couldn't the scuff gate threads about the iPhone 5 just be copied and pasted here since the arguments about QR, engineering, design, and negligence are all the same?
 
T

Trat

macrumors regular
Aug 31, 2010
124
0
HowardSmith said:
It is just common sense that anodized aluminum will not hold up in the long run. I think Apple choose the WOW factor over practicality and durability. My iPhone 5 was perfect when I got it and even though it has been in a case the whole time I have owned it, it is showing wear on the anodized surfaces.

You people who claim their naked device is still perfect after normal use are in denial. You need to get out in the real world and stop misleading yourself and others. My iPhone and pads are used as a tool and given reasonable care but not caressed like a baby!

Let the flaming begin:p
Click to expand...
It is showing wear after usage! I almost cannot believe it: what mad company designs products that wear after usage? Would you also say the amount of battery cycles left before the battery charge holding starts blowing, has decreased after using it? That would undeniably be undeniable real world unmisleading too! I would get a battery case for that to prevent the wear.
 
A

adamirox

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 10, 2012
16
0
Trat said:
It is showing wear after usage! I almost cannot believe it: what mad company designs products that wear after usage.
Click to expand...

wear after only a few days of careful usage? wtf? there was not a scratch on mine elsewhere apart from the bezel. it simply peels off. poor finish. nothing else. why do some people have such a problem with this. enjoy your device if urs doesn't do that. some people's have had this and not due to their carelessness

----------
reputationZed said:
You named you iPad2 Josh?
This forum just gets stranger and stranger
Click to expand...

haha noo... I was refering to another user who had posted something earlier on. Not the iPad! LOL

thanks for that. cracking a joke was much needed in this thread. Some people are really pissed that there is something bad said about the ipad :) grrr!
 
J

jedolley

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2009
1,780
7
I'm not going to deny that some or anyone is having this issue. I however, am not. I've had my black iPad mini since launch and have inserted/removed it from about a dozen cases already and have used it nekkid from time to time and the back still looks fine. I have to wipe it down now and again due to finger prints, but no scratches, scuff, or any other mysterious marks. I'm not even babying it as much as I normally would since I know I will be exchanging it for LTE version once they come in.
 
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J

jedolley

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2009
1,780
7
fenjen said:
How are you going to get them to take the iPad back so you can get the LTE version.
Click to expand...

I got my mini from Best Buy and i'm a Premier Silver RZ member so I get 60 day returns/exchanges on all purchases.
 
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S

syd430

Guest
unagimiyagi said:
Form over function.
Aluminum is a poor choice for Apple products.
It dents and it scratches. "
Click to expand...

Like the iphone 5 and larger ipad, these are essentially disposable consumer products, not hand-me-down Leica cameras from the 70's.

Aluminum is a great choice for its obvious weight benefits. Who cares about scuffs. Again, these are just cheap consumer products. The design of the back iphone 5 is jaw droppingingly sexy, and this is comming from someone that thought they wouldn't be able to improve the design of the iphone 4 at the time
 
fenjen

fenjen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2012
352
24
syd430 said:
Like the iphone 5 and larger ipad, these are essentially disposable consumer products, not hand-me-down Leica cameras from the 70's.

Aluminum is a great choice for its obvious weight benefits. Who cares about scuffs. Again, these are just cheap consumer products. The design of the back iphone 5 is jaw droppingingly sexy, and this is comming from someone that thought they wouldn't be able to improve the design of the iphone 4 at the time
Click to expand...

Cheap consumer products?... What?
 
fenjen

fenjen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2012
352
24
For everyone who want´s to know how it looks. This is after 4 days of usage and being pretty careful. There are two more more spots. These are just two of them.
 

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MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Well I have both an iPhone 5 64gb black and and iPad mini 64gb black.

I have a Glas.T screen protector on the 5 but nothing more, and the iPad mini s naked.

Both are pristine with not traces of issues with scuffs or scratches. Any little marks have just wiped off when cleaned with a microfibre cloth.



Whilst undoubtably there will be those devices that do get scuffs, and whilst some instance of this will be manufacture issues, others will be merely user neglect/uncare of the device.

Certainly the photo link (rear of device with fading corner) posted on the thread looks more like a manufacture defect, but others I have seen on the net are most certainly user created.



However in my experience I usually find in forums posters who are most vocal and sensationalist in posts tend usually to be the ones who break something and latch into any other persons genuine issue with manufacturing to divert the blame from their own doorstep. Not always, but often....

----------
fenjen said:
For everyone who want´s to know how it looks. This is after 4 days of usage and being pretty careful. There are two more more spots. These are just two of them.
Click to expand...

Define 'pretty careful' ? That means you were not being totally careful and thus conversely implies that you were also 'partially careless'... ;)
 
wrkactjob

wrkactjob

macrumors 65816
Feb 29, 2008
1,357
0
London
Had to line up in a store today just to have a play with a mini, (strangely no queues for the equivalent android devices?)...on her turn the 8 year old girl in front of me straight into 10 minutes of furious Angry Birds.....3 weeks and 10,000 people playing with these models with no care what-so-ever.

Scratches?....couldn't see anything that would give me concern.

Can only sympathize with the OP for his misfortune, but they seem pretty well built!
 
D

Deasnutz

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2011
268
62
fenjen said:
Cheap consumer products?... What?
Click to expand...

He's right. Maybe not "cheap" respectively, but definitely mass produced accessible consumer products. iPad mini moreso.

Apple no longer serves a unique subset of the market. Walmart bitch!
 
P

peacenfunk

macrumors member
Aug 29, 2010
87
12
Had mine a week now, no scuffs or scratches.
Not fussed about the scuffs and scratches if I had any. As long as the screens ok don't bother me. Will say I have a smart cover though
 
fenjen

fenjen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2012
352
24
peacenfunk said:
Had mine a week now, no scuffs or scratches.
Not fussed about the scuffs and scratches if I had any. As long as the screens ok don't bother me. Will say I have a smart cover though
Click to expand...

I'm not bothered by it's condition as it is now, but more by how it will look in a year, or even two. The reflective silver is distracting in my opinion. I wonder if I could just rub sandpaper all over the edge and then paint it. I'm not that handy when it comes to things like that, so could anyone with some insight in that tell me if that would even be a possibility.
 
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