iPhone 11 Pro Going naked 80% of the time....how much does Silver really scratch??

[nickosbad]

Hiya, in getting an 11 Pro Max next week when I’m in the US and u sure what to go for....

mu last 2 phones have been Space Grey X and a Gold XS Max

I go ceaseless most of the time and never ever put anything in the same pocket as my phone

How easily does the Silver scratch...looking at most of the phones in the Apple store and the silvers are scratched to hell but all of the blacks are in great condition

I know the silver can be polished but i don’t want to be doing this all the time!

 

[Aydy]

Any friction with anything solid, coarse has the potential to scratch the silver frame. I’ve seen folk place there iPhones on a table, corner (Frame) first and letting it thud to the surface. Even Pushing things around on a table that slightly bump or rub the iPhone is enough to micro scratch the iPhone. A bag, pocket, dusty cases etc. It’s surprisingly simple to unconsciously achieve micro scratches.

I only last night took a qtip with a spot of mother’s mag polish to mine. A few swipes, back & forth with the qtip (until the qtip shows black colour) followed by a wipe with micro fibre cloth/rag and it was spotless again. I don’t have any deeper scratches but as far as I’m aware the polish only removes micro scratches.

Also worth noting that mothers mag, cape cod etc are really only good for the stainless steel (silver) models. If the metal is Colour coated, sprayed etc I wouldn’t go near it with these polishes as it will strip the colour/coat

 

[Puppuccino]

No one can give you a reliable figure of how prone silver phones are to being scratched but I’d say it’s easier to notice scratches on silver devices just because they tend to be shinier. Black devices conceal scratches a bit more.

It depends on what material is used.

So I’ll say silver phones are 73% scratchable, black phones are 19%.

I have made these stats up.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

All the phones can be scratched, silver (stainless) has the benefit of being able to remove them where the other finishes will be permanent. I can't give you advice because I'll never go caseless...

 

[44267547]

The regular stainless bands Apple uses is just a regular grade 316 L stainless. It’s a really soft, dense metal, it scratches very easily. As a matter fact, you could probably even take your finger nail and scratch it by applying enough pressure. But obviously the most distinct advantage the regular stainless bands have, the scratches can be removed with a polishing cloth. (With the exceptions of ‘gouges’).

 

[Traverse]

The band on my silver iPhone X? looked pretty bad within a month of use even in Apple’s leather case.

My launch-day Space Grey iPhone 11 Pro has been careless since I got it and the bands look flawless. This is my first experience with Apple’s space black stainless steel coating and I’m very impressed.

 

[Lion007s]

I’ve been using my iPhone 11 Pro Max Midnight Green since launch day, completely caseless. The only protection I have is the Belkin screen protector installed at the Apple Store.

There are absolutely no scratches on it at all. I place on tables, in the car centre console, anywhere - in my pocket I do keep the phone separate from my keys and by itself.

The PVD coating on the stainless steel edge is resilient to scratches. On the silver, the stainless steel edge has no coating so gets more micro scratches (had a silver iPhone X for a year and the micro scratches weren’t even that noticeable - and I was caseless 100% of the time). However these can be polished out. People with the PVD coated edges don’t really have anything to worry about.

 

[mavis]

Any friction with anything solid, coarse has the potential to scratch the silver frame. I’ve seen folk place there iPhones on a table, corner (Frame) first and letting it thud to the surface. Even Pushing things around on a table that slightly bump or rub the iPhone is enough to micro scratch the iPhone. A bag, pocket, dusty cases etc. It’s surprisingly simple to unconsciously achieve micro scratches.

I only last night took a qtip with a spot of mother’s mag polish to mine. A few swipes, back & forth with the qtip (until the qtip shows black colour) followed by a wipe with micro fibre cloth/rag and it was spotless again. I don’t have any deeper scratches but as far as I’m aware the polish only removes micro scratches.

Also worth noting that mothers mag, cape cod etc are really only good for the stainless steel (silver) models. If the metal is Colour coated, sprayed etc I wouldn’t go near it with these polishes as it will strip the colour/coat

This is exactly why I only get iPhones and Apple Watches with the plain stainless steel - they're the only ones that can be polished up to look literally brand new. I use Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish as well (great stuff!) and it only takes 5-10 minutes to polish the phone. That said, I find it starts looking fairly naff after a month or two - the top of the phone in particular gets a lot of scuffs from being in my pocket all the time.

So I’ll say silver phones are 73% scratchable, black phones are 19%.

I have made these stats up.

Love it.

 

[Ntombi]

I use my silver iPhone 11 Pro naked, and have since launch day. I go to the beach fairly often (as often as thrice weekly), and sand is one of the things that easily scratches the phone.

My phone is still scratchless to the naked eye. If you look super closely, I’m sure you could see some micro-abrasions, but I haven’t bothered, and never seen any.

 

[ilikewhey]

i leave nothing to chance, case and screen protector on since day 1 on every phone since iphone 4.

i'm all about maximizing my recoupment fee after selling.

 

[rich32gb5s]

Any friction with anything solid, coarse has the potential to scratch the silver frame. I’ve seen folk place there iPhones on a table, corner (Frame) first and letting it thud to the surface. Even Pushing things around on a table that slightly bump or rub the iPhone is enough to micro scratch the iPhone. A bag, pocket, dusty cases etc. It’s surprisingly simple to unconsciously achieve micro scratches.

I only last night took a qtip with a spot of mother’s mag polish to mine. A few swipes, back & forth with the qtip (until the qtip shows black colour) followed by a wipe with micro fibre cloth/rag and it was spotless again. I don’t have any deeper scratches but as far as I’m aware the polish only removes micro scratches.

Also worth noting that mothers mag, cape cod etc are really only good for the stainless steel (silver) models. If the metal is Colour coated, sprayed etc I wouldn’t go near it with these polishes as it will strip the colour/coat

Because of this I tend to go for the silver models . I’ve purchased used Apple watches that were cheaper because of scratches. Just polished them up and as good as new. I’ve even tried the toothpaste on the screen trick and that seemed to work as well. I don’t advise anyone to try anything on their equipment unless they are confident it won’t make matters worse.