Black iPhone 5 Anodized Aluminum Susceptible to Scratching?

[brookshanes]

Making sense of this huge mistake!

Let's see, there's glass, but it breaks. There's solid gold, but that's malleable. There's diamond, but that's heavy and could be used as a weapon. There's copper, but that will tarnish. There's water, but that'll leak.

I got it! Plastic! That would be such an upgrade. NOTHING happens to plastic, and it just screams "quality" right out of the box. Nothing more natural and found in-the-wild as plastic. Guess that's why every other phone out there (read: disposable pieces of crap) uses plastic.

 

[VenusianSky]

Glass iPhones = crack and shatter
Plastic iPhones = crack and scratch
Aluminum iPhones = scratch

Which of three would you rather have?
What other material is avaialble that is affordable?

 

[Arisian]

I guess I'll check mine when I get it today and if it has scuffs right out of the box I'll check my local stores to see if I can find a white one and exchange it. Shouldn't have any problem exchanging something I never even used right?

Depends on the carrier and your contract, right?

ie, I don't know :-D

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Glass iPhones = crack and shatter
Plastic iPhones = crack and scratch
Aluminum iPhones = scratch

Which of three would you rather have?
What other material is avaialble that is affordable?

I want mine made out of high-density cement.

 

[moldy lunchbox]

This was NOT VANDALISM, it wasn't a random customer walking into the Apple store and scratching a demo unit for a pic. If you read the link he says it was HIS instore demo phone, meaning he's the owner or person who ordered them.

 

[AppleScruff1]

What a surprise metal scratches. I think plastic, glass and just about every other material also scratches.

Quality anodizing is hard to scratch.

 

[nba1341]

Can someone explain why this guy can hammer in a nail and not scratch his phones back or screen yet iphone5 cant? I thought apple was richest company?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMyDKdFs-o

 

[jrswizzle]

Depends on the carrier and your contract, right?

ie, I don't know :-D

Well I have to go down to the AT&T store to have it activated on the proper phone number anyways. Figure I'll take it to an Apple store first, open it in front of them and if there are scuffs see if they'll replace it.

 

[kstotlani]

i actually have more white spots on the other side near the volume controls, but didn't take pictures of those

you should write an article describing this with pictures. hope they respectfully take it back and don't blame you for scratching it.

 

[wovel]

A few people complained when they got their iPhone this morning. I'm assuming they read the forums and knew to examine their phone after they got it. Seriously Apple, some people are paying $600 plus for these people. We want HIGH quality devices. Get it together! It was scuffed up right out the box. It wasn't major but still...

How much did you spend on your car? Now take a key to it.

If it was scuffed up out of the box, take it back.

 

[VenusianSky]

I want mine made out of high-density cement.

That would be awesome!

 

[clukas]

hmmm... this actually may make me reconsider my choice of color. I really wanted the black/ slate model, however Im concerned about durability. If the surfaces scratch so easily the iphone could look ugly quite quickly. I might reconsider and get a white one instead.

 

[ryan102]

If the black model was going to scratch and come with scuffs then Apple should have at least told people this when they ordered the phone. Then there wouldn't be a problem

 

[jrswizzle]

hmmm... this actually may make me reconsider my choice of color. I really wanted the black/ slate model, however Im concerned about durability. If the surfaces scratch so easily the iphone could look ugly quite quickly. I might reconsider and get a white one instead.

I'm in the same boat. Love my white 4S but the Black/slate looked super slick...will have to check mine when it arrives today.

 

[pipa]

i can't recall if there's a scratch proof metal...? correct me if i'm wrong.
-- oh wait! Adamantium!


stop over reacting. there's no scratch proof metals. if you want something scratch proof, switch back to 4 or 4s, the glass used is scratch proof.

It's not about it being scratch proof. It's when the phone scratches the top color comes off and your black iPhone is now a two tone iPhone. I can already see in about 6 months where people will sand off all the black to reveal a new metal iPhone. It's really funny how people re brushing this off. And for is to be coming from the ultimate fanboy is a lot. This all boils down to the captain of the ship not doing a good job. Yes Steve would probably have not allowed this. Apple really needs a new CEO. Tim cook is the best at what he does and that's the supply chain. Let him focus on that nd get someone who has at least a tenth of the strive for perfection that Steve did. And on a side note I don't know how the hell that map app was released

 

[Shanpdx]

This is one reason I never will pre-order

* no case
* no screen protector
* need to baby sit these until they are well protected

http://www.powersupportusa.com/acce...ctors-covers-skins-shields-films-jackets.html

there is no back screen protector yet

and usually these things are costly during launch time!

Apple bring back original iPhone's Alu Back, that was very good or much better metal on the back.

 

[Born Again]

i dont appreciate people acting all factious .

phones aren't supposed to be babied.

 

[Abazigal]

u guys are missing the point.

it's apparently very easy to scuff up .

phones should take a lot of abuse.

you shouldn't have to coddle it.

There is a big difference between being able to take a lot of abuse, and not being tarnished one little bit.

You can drop your phone and scratch it all you want. Chances are, it will still work as well as the day you bought it. Just that because of the abuse it is receiving, it may/will have scratches and dents here and there. But it should in no way cause it to function any less properly. I bet it's practically the same with just about every phone out there, just that Apple is receiving more flak because it's cool to bash apple these days, even for things that aren't necessarily apple's fault.

And why were there scratches? Because apparently, someone thought it would be a good idea to damage it with keys!

 

[VenusianSky]

Quality anodizing is hard to scratch.

Yeah, but then Apple wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand at a price that is affordable for what they feel (or statistics show) is the average consumer.

 

[cowtownapple]

I suppose I'll wait for the diamond-coated iPhone 7.

 

[BJMRamage]

to all claiming this is a HIGH CRIME of VANDALISM...

this is a demo/display unit. people want to see the capabilities and inefficiencies of items on display. some might blast speakers really hard and then break on display...perhaps this person wanted to see how much or little it would take to mar the iphone backside.

seeing something like this might make someone opt for White over Black iPhone5. People know they can get scratched but how hard/easy is it to do.

 

[fullstop102]

I'm sure that guy has a galaxy S3

I can see the Samsung advert now. iPhone 5 now with added scratches.

 

[nba1341]

btw: Isn't anodizing supposed to be better than powder coat?

Because I powder coat aluminum parts and I can scratch them all I want with a key and they never scratch. I can get that similar anodized color too with a quality powder coat...

Literally I can abuse the powder coat and it wont scratch.

 

[greg555]

Quality anodizing is hard to scratch.

Anodizing makes a harder surface than the metal usually used for keys (brass or aluminum) so I wonder if the photo is showing scratches or metal transfered from the keys into the roughness of the annodizing.

Even though it's hard it won't protect the phone from dents since the aluminum underneath is softer than the anodizing.

Surefire (flashlight company) used to have videos showing their hard anodized flashlights being used to saw through cheap aluminum flashlights.

 

[D.T.]

OOTB with scuffing, uneven anodizing, etc., sounds like an issue on the production side, I'm sure some QA teams will get deployed to verify the process.

Anodized aluminum will wear and scratch, it's reasonably tough depending on the specific variant (I experience it from the consumer side with cycle and car parts), so non-abusive use you'll probably see some "light spots", especially if it goes in/out of something like jeans several dozen times a day. Pressure + abrasive/sharp objects? Yeah, that'll penetrate the surface far enough to expose the bare aluminum (which will be noticeable vs. the darker surface treatment).

Personally, I'd like the un-anodized outer band on a black phone, like the natural metal look (I think I'm going to wind up with white this time anyway).

 

[fullstop102]

btw: Isn't anodizing supposed to be better than powder coat?

Because I powder coat aluminum parts and I can scratch them all I want with a key and they never scratch. I can get that similar anodized color too with a quality powder coat...

Literally I can abuse the powder coat and it wont scratch.

I don't think so. I think it is totally different. Powder coat is a lot more scratch resistant, but not very attractive for a phone. That stuff is like thick gloss house paint.