Is it really "paint"?

henriknorem · Nov 17, 2012

I'm heading into a controversial subject now.

Yesterday, I picked up my iPhone 5, and accidentally made contact between the iPhone's edge and my iPad's edge. They merely touched each other, but it still made some very nice scratches on my iPhone.

What surprised me, though, was that, lying on the iPad's bezel, were flakes of dark paint from the iPhone! I could pick it up and hold it in my hand, tear it in half etc.

I was really shocked, because Apple tell us that the color is part of the aluminum itself, but based on this, I'm wondering..

Has anyone else experienced finding "paint flakes" after scuffing their iPhone's? I still can't understand how this happened, so please fill me in if you know something I don't!

JayLenochiniMac · Nov 17, 2012

Residue from the anodizing coating, which does wear away in the long run (a defective one rubs off prematurely even with normal wiping).

BFizzzle · Nov 17, 2012

JayLenochiniMac said:
Residue from the anodizing coating, which does wear away in the long run (a defective one rubs off prematurely even with normal wiping).

(a defective one rubs off prematurely even with normal wiping)

thats what she said

ahhh sorry dude.. i couldnt refrain

jomirrivera · Nov 17, 2012

henriknorem said:
I'm heading into a controversial subject now.

Yesterday, I picked up my iPhone 5, and accidentally made contact between the iPhone's edge and my iPad's edge. They merely touched each other, but it still made some very nice scratches on my iPhone.

What surprised me, though, was that, lying on the iPad's bezel, were flakes of dark paint from the iPhone! I could pick it up and hold it in my hand, tear it in half etc.

I was really shocked, because Apple tell us that the color is part of the aluminum itself, but based on this, I'm wondering..

Has anyone else experienced finding "paint flakes" after scuffing their iPhone's? I still can't understand how this happened, so please fill me in if you know something I don't!

They merely touched and the iPhone scratched and leaved flakes of paint on your iPad and you could hold them and tear them in half?

Im sorry but I said this is BS

BFizzzle · Nov 17, 2012

jomirrivera said:
They merely touched and the iPhone scratched and leaved flakes of paint on your iPad and you could hold them and tear them in half?

Im sorry but I said this is BS

yeah man if it came off at touch.. he would pick his phone up and have **** on his hands.. or better yet.. in the box when he opened it

henriknorem · Nov 17, 2012

Why do you say so, jomirrivera? I lifted my iPhone and they touched. It was the edge of the iPad so that might have been why. While my iPhone has scratches on it, the iPad is still spotless. I never said the flakes were big, let's say they were a mm, but I could separate them into pieces, and I emphasized that because it made me suspect it was a layer of paint.

There is something fundamentally wrong on this forum when 80% of the people just call "BS" on every thread where people are trying to tell a story. What do I, or any other person, have to win on making up stories about these things?

----------

JayLenochiniMac said:
Residue from the anodizing coating, which does wear away in the long run (a defective one rubs off prematurely even with normal wiping).

Ok, thanks for the information. Shame it wears away, because the iPhone looks really great when it's all black.

But now that I have a scuff on it, I can finally stop looking after it like it's a newborn baby.

Jordan921 · Nov 17, 2012

It's the anodized coating not paint.

aleni · Nov 17, 2012

lol this is bull ****.

Radiating · Nov 17, 2012

henriknorem said:
I'm heading into a controversial subject now.

Yesterday, I picked up my iPhone 5, and accidentally made contact between the iPhone's edge and my iPad's edge. They merely touched each other, but it still made some very nice scratches on my iPhone.

What surprised me, though, was that, lying on the iPad's bezel, were flakes of dark paint from the iPhone! I could pick it up and hold it in my hand, tear it in half etc.

I was really shocked, because Apple tell us that the color is part of the aluminum itself, but based on this, I'm wondering..

Has anyone else experienced finding "paint flakes" after scuffing their iPhone's? I still can't understand how this happened, so please fill me in if you know something I don't!

MacRumors is probably a bad place to ask about engineering questions.

As an engineer let me answer yours.

Anodized coatings should never rub off in flakes, they rub off as a powder (which requires extreme force). They simply do no flake off in my experience. The chamfered edge of the phone (the black part not the bluish grayish "slate" part of the metal) IS painted with black paint though. So the phone is actually a mix of paint and anodizing. The white phone has a bare metal edge.

Kenjhee · Nov 17, 2012

Radiating said:
MacRumors is probably a bad place to ask about engineering questions.

As an engineer let me answer yours.

Anodized coatings should never rub off in flakes, they rub off as a powder (which requires extreme force). They simply do no flake off in my experience. The chamfered edge of the phone (the black part not the bluish grayish "slate" part of the metal) IS painted with black paint though. So the phone is actually a mix of paint and anodizing. The white phone has a bare metal edge.

I'm an engineer, also, and this sounds correct to me. Question, though, why would they use paint on just the chamfer? Why not just anodize all the surfaces?

Radiating · Nov 17, 2012

Kenjhee said:
I'm an engineer, also, and this sounds correct to me. Question, though, why would they use paint on just the chamfer? Why not just anodize all the surfaces?

Because it's Apple we're talking about here. They want an intricate design and honestly I can appreciate that the chamfer is gloss black while the rest of the bezel is matte dark grey.

tymaster50 · Nov 17, 2012

As a fellow engineer I concur.

lol jk

northernbaldy · Nov 18, 2012

As a fellow engineer, this is why I went white

Sedrick · Nov 18, 2012

henriknorem said:
There is something fundamentally wrong on this forum when 80% of the people just call "BS" on every thread where people are trying to tell a story.

Simply because this is a 'fan' forum and anyone without something glowing to say about an Apple product will get shouted down right quick.

It's a psychological thing and hard to fathom, but there it is. It's deemed a personal attack on something they have an unhealthy emotional attachment to.

Anyway, from what you and others are reporting, it does, in fact, seem like the edges are painted while the back has a weak anodizing over soft aluminum. Not sure what Apple is thinking here.

tymaster50 · Nov 18, 2012

Sedrick said:
Simply because this is a 'fan' forum and anyone without something glowing to say about an Apple product will get shouted down right quick.

It's a psychological thing and hard to fathom, but there it is. It's deemed a personal attack on something they have an unhealthy emotional attachment to.

Anyway, from what you and others are reporting, it does, in fact, seem like the edges are painted while the back has a weak anodizing over soft aluminum. Not sure what Apple is thinking here.

c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!

KittyKatta · Nov 18, 2012

Sedrick said:
Simply because this is a 'fan' forum and anyone without something glowing to say about an Apple product will get shouted down right quick.

It's a psychological thing and hard to fathom, but there it is. It's deemed a personal attack on something they have an unhealthy emotional attachment to.

Thats EXACTLY the problem with these forums. MacRumors is an Apple-centric site yet it's so difficult to have a true Apple discussion because any honest negativity brings in the defense-squad. Just look at this thread where the OP has a legitimate question that would help A LOT of people and he has to label it as "controversial"? Why? Is it because of the subject matter or because of the insecurity of the defenders?

Sedrick said:
Anyway, from what you and others are reporting, it does, in fact, seem like the edges are painted while the back has a weak anodizing over soft aluminum. Not sure what Apple is thinking here.

Ive been dying to ask about paint chipping so im glad someone else brought up the topic. My "controversial" opinion is that the wear and tear on a caseless iPhone5 is pretty ugly. While the original iPhone was prone to scratches and discoloration which made it look rugged and cool, the iPhone5 is very uneven because my anodized back and anodized band looks new but the chamford edges are wearing down silver and any area with a tiny imperfection out of the box now is a much larger chip. So the fact that the edges are painted really is an issue

John T · Nov 18, 2012

Sedrick said:
Anyway, from what you and others are reporting, it does, in fact, seem like the edges are painted while the back has a weak anodizing over soft aluminum. Not sure what Apple is thinking here.

Exactly! If only people would do a modicum of research and threads such as this could be unnecessary. A quick check on the Apple site gives the explanation:-

"Look at iPhone 5 and you cant help but notice the exquisite chamfer surrounding the display. A crystalline diamond cuts this bevelled edge. Its what gives iPhone 5 its distinctive lines. Fitting for a phone so brilliant."

The video explains it even better by showing the rotary cutters removing the edges of the anodised back panel. In order to protect the naked aluminium bevelled edges from oxidizing, a protective (and coloured) coating is obviously applied.

henriknorem · Nov 19, 2012

Radiating said:
MacRumors is probably a bad place to ask about engineering questions.

As an engineer let me answer yours.

Anodized coatings should never rub off in flakes, they rub off as a powder (which requires extreme force). They simply do no flake off in my experience. The chamfered edge of the phone (the black part not the bluish grayish "slate" part of the metal) IS painted with black paint though. So the phone is actually a mix of paint and anodizing. The white phone has a bare metal edge.

That should explain it all, then. Thanks!

Kenjhee · Nov 19, 2012

I took a good look at that chamfered edge with a jeweler's loop; sure enough, it does look like paint to me. Which explains why the chamfer wears and is more easily damaged than the anodized surfaces. It does have esthetic appeal when new, giving a sharp 2-toned appearance, but given the unequal wear characteristics I question the long-term quality.

jomirrivera · Nov 20, 2012

henriknorem said:
Why do you say so, jomirrivera? I lifted my iPhone and they touched. It was the edge of the iPad so that might have been why. While my iPhone has scratches on it, the iPad is still spotless. I never said the flakes were big, let's say they were a mm, but I could separate them into pieces, and I emphasized that because it made me suspect it was a layer of paint.

There is something fundamentally wrong on this forum when 80% of the people just call "BS" on every thread where people are trying to tell a story. What do I, or any other person, have to win on making up stories about these things?

So 1mm and you could separate them into pieces?

This is getting better!

Is it really "paint"?

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