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Is your black iPhone 5 scuffed, chipped or scratched?

  • Flawless

    Votes: 1,158 46.1%
  • Flawless because I put a case on it.

    Votes: 198 7.9%
  • Scuffed out of the box

    Votes: 820 32.7%
  • Scuffed/scratched shortly after

    Votes: 334 13.3%

  • Total voters
    2,510

Takeo

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2004
794
609
Canada
no the bezel on the iphone 4 and 4s was stainless steel the white will have the same problems just less visible

Stainless Steel and Glass are exponentially more scratch-resistant than soft aluminum. Even though it was a "heavy" phone, you have to admit... the 4/4S was a very attractive and sturdy design. But I'm okay with the trade-offs involved with soft aluminum. I love how thin and light the 5 is. I will just get a white one and skin it.
 

Ca1i

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2012
9
3
You can repair swirls and light scratches, you can't repair the dings and scuffs on the iPhone.


You can if the dings are actually bits of glue in disguise ;). Seriously, I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me my dings were glue either. I was shocked that the very obvious dings on my black bezel were glue...very stubborn, very reflective glue.
 

macchiato2009

macrumors 65816
Aug 14, 2009
1,258
1
no the bezel on the iphone 4 and 4s was stainless steel the white will have the same problems just less visible.
edit (iPhone 5s Bezel is aluminium)

Stainless Steel and Glass are exponentially more scratch-resistant than soft aluminum. Even though it was a "heavy" phone, you have to admit... the 4/4S was a very attractive and sturdy design. But I'm okay with the trade-offs involved with soft aluminum. I love how thin and light the 5 is. I will just get a white one and skin it.

i wonder what would the difference in weight between the alu and the stainless steel bezel

they should have used stainless steel on the iphone 5 to avoid this kind of very stupid issue just to save a few grams :(
 

Takeo

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2004
794
609
Canada
i wonder what would the difference in weight between the alu and the stainless steel bezel

they should have used stainless steel on the iphone 5 to avoid this kind of very stupid issue just to save a few grams :(

Stainless is significantly heavier than aluminum. Think about it... not a great apples to apples comparison but think of the difference between the weight of an empty pop can and the weight of an empty soup can. I know the soup can is thicker material... but yah... steel is much heavier than aluminum. And it might not be as easy to mill... or at least it would be harder on the bits. But I agree... it would have been nice to either have something more durable and long lasting without any kind of surface tinting (like anodization)... like an alloy or liquid metal.
 

Psycho Mantis

macrumors member
Feb 19, 2012
89
0
California
You can if the dings are actually bits of glue in disguise ;). Seriously, I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me my dings were glue either. I was shocked that the very obvious dings on my black bezel were glue...very stubborn, very reflective glue.

Hopefully that's all it is! The scuffing is what really bothers me, I've already seen it on multiple demo units at the Apple store. :eek:
 

enophi1

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2008
521
0
UK
Mine is week 37, white 64G, right out of box I can see small dents/nicks in the chamfered edge in two places ... some right under the home button and some on the back edge. See pics. I know it doesn't affect the performance, but c'mon, this is Apple, totally not expected.

My white one was made in Week 33 in C3 factory in China.

I put my top hat and monocle on and did a sweep of the entire surface

116t11w.png


No nicks at all, it's flawless , yet my 4S has one tiny nick on the edge, but it's not noticeable or bothersome so I simply do not care.

I knew the black anodized back plate would be an issue when I saw the keynote, so decided to go for white again.
 

macchiato2009

macrumors 65816
Aug 14, 2009
1,258
1
My white one was made in Week 33 in C3 factory in China.

I put my top hat and monocle on and did a sweep of the entire surface

Image

No nicks at all, it's flawless , yet my 4S has one tiny nick on the edge, but it's not noticeable or bothersome so I simply do not care.

I knew the black anodized back plate would be an issue when I saw the keynote, so decided to go for white again.


Monday, i'll return the black and go for the white, will keep for 2 weeks with intensive use and if the problem returns again, this time, i'll make the move back to the 4S
 

bitslap47

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2007
634
353
Apple Care sent me to a local store, an hour away, to get my black swapped for a white. They said they confirmed stock and noted the case to allow the swap.

Drove to the store, no stock.

They are now checking another local store, also an hour away. I told them if they can't guarantee that the store will swap it for a white, and that a white will be held until I arrive, they will be sending me a shipping paid box to send this one back.

I'll be perfectly fine using a spare 3GS I have laying around.

I understand they are under heavy load right now but the product and CS are both sub standard at the moment. Best to simply return it and wait a few months.
 

jfrancis04

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2010
608
174
Wirelessly posted

bitslap47 said:
Apple Care sent me to a local store, an hour away, to get my black swapped for a white. They said they confirmed stock and noted the case to allow the swap.

Drove to the store, no stock.

They are now checking another local store, also an hour away. I told them if they can't guarantee that the store will swap it for a white, and that a white will be held until I arrive, they will be sending me a shipping paid box to send this one back.

I'll be perfectly fine using a spare 3GS I have laying around.

I understand they are under heavy load right now but the product and CS are both sub standard at the moment. Best to simply return it and wait a few months.

Absolutely ridiculous. Other ppl being offered free accessories but you and I are offered nothing and urged to go straight to the apple retail store instead.
 

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
there is a huge difference between being careful not to drop it, not to make something hit it or fall on it

and having to extra protect it to avoid scratching it, especially considering the price

i don't give a damn saving some weight by having an expensive disposable smartphone

i am now crossing fingers for a class action to take place and a massive recall

they have to replace this stupid defective alu bezel by a stainless steel one ! :mad:

Sorry to disappoint, but a "massive recall" will never happen for a cosmetic issue like this unless something in the phone affects its use or its deemed unsafe. Yes, given the price tag, these things should be f'n flawless. Apple needs to get on top of its QC. Maybe we'll get free cases or something out of this, if we're lucky, or $10 tops out of a class action lawsuit after like 5 years, but don't hold your breath for a recall.
 

enophi1

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2008
521
0
UK
Monday, i'll return the black and go for the white, will keep for 2 weeks with intensive use and if the problem returns again, this time, i'll make the move back to the 4S

I would, because getting another black might lead to the same situation again and again.

I really really wanted the black this time around, but as soon as I saw the keynote speech, I instantly knew what was going to happen.

I also wanted to go nekkid with the white 5 but have caved in and bought the Spigen leather pouch, I used one for the 4S as well.

I am pretty careful with my things, but I shelled out £700 for this phone and if there's scratches, dents, nicks etc that become noticeable I am going back to the 4S - it's not about OCD it's about spending a fortune on something that advertised as a durable, high precision product.

If I can't get my money back, heck, I will give my daughter the iphone5 for Christmas and keep the 4S for myself , teenagers never notice flaws in their stuff , mine certainly don't, if they can use facebook they don't care what they are using.
 

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
Hopefully that's all it is! The scuffing is what really bothers me, I've already seen it on multiple demo units at the Apple store. :eek:

You might get lucky and get glue instead of actual chips/nicks. But that doesn't mean that the black is less susceptible to developing white scratches. Just check the drop test vids on the FP.
 

dbojanc

macrumors newbie
Sep 22, 2012
1
0
has anyone thought about removing the color from the bezel, so the bezel would have natural ALU look?
 

Takeo

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2004
794
609
Canada
Apple needs to get on top of its QC.

Yah. My guess is that they were behind on production due to screen shortages and they knew the demand would be massive so they cranked these things out at record speed with no regard to quality control. It will be interesting to see if things improve once the initial rush calms down.

I'm doing a straight return of my black one... still sealed in the box. And I've placed a new order for a white one. It'll take a month but I'm fine with that. I don't want to argue about an exchange. So much for waking up at 4 am to pre-order. Oh well. I was really torn on my colour choice right from the start... and very concerned about the black finish right from the start... and really loving the silver on the white one but I just wasn't a fan of the white face. So I went black thinking the finish would probably be okay. Seeing them in person though I instantly knew I wanted white. To me it looks WAY better overall (except for the white face). I just LOVE the silver back and sides. But that's just me.
 

KeanosMagicHat

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2012
1,559
556
From the other thread;


When I was talking to the AppleCare team last night and got up to a Senior Advisor about my issue, I asked if they were hearing about ScuffGate and everyone talking about it online. And she said, "So that's why Apple sent out the mass email to us this afternoon. If they have problems, they just have to call us and we'll tell them to email a photo of it. We're replacing all of them...so there's no need to get angry."
 

Fliesen

macrumors 6502a
Mar 30, 2010
758
2
Austria
And the rear glass on the 4 wouldn't break.!

Sometimes I think they go for looks over functionality.

as scuffs do not, in any way, shape or form have a negative influence on _functionality_ and a slightly scuffed iPhone is still prettier / lighter and thinner than any other smartphone on the marktet, i don't think that's the case, really.

they went for functionality, as well as reduced size / heft over "scratch resistance on the rims and the back", you could argue.
 

TheMaJa

macrumors newbie
Apr 6, 2009
13
17
Rostock, Germany
Received my black iPhone 5 (32 GB, factory C3) today and noticed two scratches on the bezel (photos attached). Scuffed out of the box.
 

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mbdownunder

macrumors member
Sep 22, 2012
88
135
Mine has fairly obvious discolouration at each of the four breaks in the band. Does anybody else have this? I'll be asking Apple to replace it.

F8Sx4.jpg
 
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