iPhone 13 Pro Max How to check a new phone before accepting it

[Lifegrip]

Hey guys, i am a very OCD guy who has problems enjoying expensive devices if they have defects.

My Iphone 13 pro max arrived and i was stoked. Checked screen uniformity which looks very good. Buttons are all clickable, no scratches on the chassis. Everything was perfect until one day sitting in bed the light fell just right and my heart sank. I have the gap problem just above the ear speaker and the metals inside the phone reflect light right back.

I read threads about this problem all day trying to calm myself down but couldnt. Alot of people saying the gap is normal are talking about the gap where you can fit a thin piece of paper inside anywhere around the screen. But the gap where I can see metals inside just doesnt look right. Went to 2 premium apple resellers (no apple store in my country) to check phones on display, out of 7-8 phones only 1 had the same thing but wasnt near as bad.

Im calling the carrier that sold me the phone to ask for a new replacement in 2 days.

What do my OCD brothers recommend checking so this doesnt happen to me anymore.

What i have on my list:
-screen uniformity
-scratches or dents on chassis, screen, camera lens
-clickable buttons
-gap where you can see behind the screen...

 

[JPack]

At minimum, you’ll want to measure the device against Apple’s third party accessories guidelines doc to ensure physical conformity.

The best tool for the job would be a Mitutoyo digital micrometer along with an optical flat.

For display accuracy, I’d suggest an X-Rite colorimeter.

You can’t trust your eyes without instruments to catch defects.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

I think it’s normal. Day one I noticed it. I think for some reason it’s gotten better (adhesive maybe) idk but it’s fine. Never notice anymore nor do I look for it

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I'd be surprised if they actually replace it for you.. Apple resellers are notorious for telling people to pound sand unless it effects the usability of the device.

 

[now i see it]

If you’re that picky about perfection, might as well not buy an iPhone because none of them are perfect.
These gadgets are made as fast as possible in the tens of millions by unskilled young, bored, tired, overworked factory workers in China. Perfection is not part of the equation, just “good enough” is.
Meet your assemblers:

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

If you’re that picky about perfection, might as well not buy an iPhone because none of them are perfect.
These gadgets are made as fast as possible in the tens of millions by unskilled young, bored, tired, overworked factory workers in China. Perfection is not part of the equation, just “good enough” is.
Meet your assemblers:View attachment 1948368

That's a pretty nasty comment. Find anything now that's not made in China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, or somewhere other than America. Killing the American worker means I have a t-shirt from Vietnam, a hat from Bangladesh, towels from Pakistan, and an iPhone from China. You got a beef, take it up with the Chamber of Commerce and the various trade groups. Americans can make great things, if they are allowed to. There's no reason there can't be tens of millions of unskilled young, bored, tired, overworked factory workers in America. Hell, back in the day, I was one!

 

[now i see it]

Whoa calm down there. iPhones are made in China. Hence China workers. If they were made in New Zealand, they’d be bored young overworked New Zealand workers. Seems that any time the phrase “made in China” comes up, people go crazy.

 

[Lifegrip]

Thank you very much for the comments guys. I had every IPhone since IPhone 4s. Didnt send back/replace/repair 1 of them. Maybe i was lucky but i am sure that the "perfect" iphone 13 pro max for me exists. As i wrote up there. Checked display iphones in store and 7 out of 8 phone did NOT have the gap.

 

[Phil77354]

Hey guys, i am a very OCD guy who has problems enjoying expensive devices if they have defects.

My Iphone 13 pro max arrived and i was stoked. Checked screen uniformity which looks very good. Buttons are all clickable, no scratches on the chassis. Everything was perfect until one day sitting in bed the light fell just right and my heart sank. I have the gap problem just above the ear speaker and the metals inside the phone reflect light right back.

I read threads about this problem all day trying to calm myself down but couldnt. Alot of people saying the gap is normal are talking about the gap where you can fit a thin piece of paper inside anywhere around the screen. But the gap where I can see metals inside just doesnt look right. Went to 2 premium apple resellers (no apple store in my country) to check phones on display, out of 7-8 phones only 1 had the same thing but wasnt near as bad.

Im calling the carrier that sold me the phone to ask for a new replacement in 2 days.

What do my OCD brothers recommend checking so this doesnt happen to me anymore.

What i have on my list:
-screen uniformity
-scratches or dents on chassis, screen, camera lens
-clickable buttons
-gap where you can see behind the screen...

If you are that sensitive to what most would consider trivial defects, not even defects really, then you should open the new phone at the shop you purchase it from and inspect it there on the spot. Unfortunately you don't have a local Apple store, but wherever you are purchasing it you can do the same thing. If it isn't acceptable to you, then don't keep it and make them order a new one.

 

[Lifegrip]

If you are that sensitive to what most would consider trivial defects, not even defects really, then you should open the new phone at the shop you purchase it from and inspect it there on the spot. Unfortunately you don't have a local Apple store, but wherever you are purchasing it you can do the same thing. If it isn't acceptable to you, then don't keep it and make them order a new one.

Very good advice, i will try to tell them that i want to check it on the spot. The question is what should i check it for? What are all the iphone 13 pro max "gates" . The gap, screen uniformity.. What else?

 

[Phil77354]

Very good advice, i will try to tell them that i want to check it on the spot. The question is what should i check it for? What are all the iphone 13 pro max "gates" . The gap, screen uniformity.. What else?

I have no idea what the full laundry list would be of (OCD) issues that could potentially bother you or someone else! I guess you can read through the threads here and probably come up with plenty of things to agonize about!

Seriously, I think that you should give it a very thorough inspection when you first receive it, at the seller would be best. Bring a magnifying glass, better yet a microscope! A strong LED light to illuminate the phone while you're inspecting it. Micrometer too (see @JPack suggestions).

I'm not trying to be critical (well, not too critical anyway). My wife and I went through a similar experience after purchasing an expensive ring from a jewelry store some months ago. The stone chipped and we returned it, and they were very good about looking closely at the stone and agreeing that it should be replaced, and when they ordered a couple of new rings for us to pick from as replacements, at least one of them had a similar defect right in the store - that the sales lady herself identified (under microscope).

Absolutely nothing wrong with having high standards and expecting products to be the best possible quality. These phones are quite expensive, after all. But then, once you've inspected it and satisfied yourself that it is acceptable, take it home and use it and try to not worry too much about such things! The phone will get small damage, scratches or whatever, over time, and these things don't interfere with how it works. Enjoy!

 

[Lifegrip]

I have no idea what the full laundry list would be of (OCD) issues that could potentially bother you or someone else! I guess you can read through the threads here and probably come up with plenty of things to agonize about!

Seriously, I think that you should give it a very thorough inspection when you first receive it, at the seller would be best. Bring a magnifying glass, better yet a microscope! A strong LED light to illuminate the phone while you're inspecting it. Micrometer too (see @JPack suggestions).

I'm not trying to be critical (well, not too critical anyway). My wife and I went through a similar experience after purchasing an expensive ring from a jewelry store some months ago. The stone chipped and we returned it, and they were very good about looking closely at the stone and agreeing that it should be replaced, and when they ordered a couple of new rings for us to pick from as replacements, at least one of them had a similar defect right in the store - that the sales lady herself identified (under microscope).

Absolutely nothing wrong with having high standards and expecting products to be the best possible quality. These phones are quite expensive, after all. But then, once you've inspected it and satisfied yourself that it is acceptable, take it home and use it and try to not worry too much about such things! The phone will get small damage, scratches or whatever, over time, and these things don't interfere with how it works. Enjoy!

Thank you!

 

[KaliYoni]

Or get a Schrödinger's Phone: buy a phone but leave the box sealed. Then even if the phone has an imperfection, you can regard it as perfect. Done!

;-)

 

[Taz Mangus]

Very good advice, i will try to tell them that i want to check it on the spot. The question is what should i check it for? What are all the iphone 13 pro max "gates" . The gap, screen uniformity.. What else?

Some of the things like screen uniformity requires a dark room, not going to be able to check that at the store. Sounds like you already know what else to check for as you have already done that with the phone you received.

So here is the dilemma for you. Do you keep the phone you received with the one defect. Or do you attempt to get a replacement which could possibly have a different defect (screen not uniform, etc).

 

[Shadowbech]

Like above mentioned, If your screen perfect, I’d just keep it and move on. If it does really annoy you with the gap, go ahead and return and get a new one. But you just have to know that when you get another one, you may end up with similar issues or something else. Like no gap but scratches on the stainless steel or on the camera ring (I’ve had those too but returned them), or screen may not be uniform ect.

If you have a phone that’s perfectly uniform but have a gap, I would keep it for the screen.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

Gap that allows you to see behind the screen? ?
I’m curious - are there pictures of what that would look like?

 

[Lifegrip]

Gap that allows you to see behind the screen? ?
I’m curious - are there pictures of what that would look like

I dont have another phone to take a picture of mine but here is a picture i found on the web that looks exactly like my problem

 

[Lifegrip]

Gap that allows you to see behind the screen? ?
I’m curious - are there pictures of what that would look like?

When the light falls just right the metal parts shine bright and are very annoying

 

[ericwn]

If you’re that picky about perfection, might as well not buy an iPhone because none of them are perfect.
These gadgets are made as fast as possible in the tens of millions by unskilled young, bored, tired, overworked factory workers in China. Perfection is not part of the equation, just “good enough” is.
Meet your assemblers:View attachment 1948368

Oh, it’s assuming time again. Getting the popcorn. If I build something over and over again my skill level is usually not low, but to each their own.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

That's a pretty nasty comment. Find anything now that's not made in China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, or somewhere other than America. Killing the American worker means I have a t-shirt from Vietnam, a hat from Bangladesh, towels from Pakistan, and an iPhone from China. You got a beef, take it up with the Chamber of Commerce and the various trade groups. Americans can make great things, if they are allowed to. There's no reason there can't be tens of millions of unskilled young, bored, tired, overworked factory workers in America. Hell, back in the day, I was one!

Some excellent point-missing here.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Whoa calm down there. iPhones are made in China. Hence China workers. If they were made in New Zealand, they’d be bored young overworked New Zealand workers. Seems that any time the phrase “made in China” comes up, people go crazy.

Given all of the anti-Asian attacks, it sounded like a dog whistle attack. If that's not what you meant, then maybe say things a little differently next time, and you did not use the 'made in China' phrase. If I misunderstood, apologies, but context and wording matters.

 

[Shirasaki]

I had some level of OCD myself when buying my iPhone XS Max, concerned about buttons and gap between screen and metal ring. What stopped me from continuing to swap iPhone was when Apple Store staff warned me that too many replacement could blacklist my ID, effectively banning me from ever purchasing any Apple product again, so I backed off and settled down with whatever I had back then. After 2 years (soon to be 3), not much complain and only replaced battery once.

To me having OCD is more double-edge sword than you‘d like to admit, and I tend to avoid being too perfectionist so that I don’t cause trouble. This definitely applies to buying iPhone.

 

[toomasjoamets]

Phone is an everyday item, a tool basically. Yeah, it does suck a bit, but the phone is going to take a beating anyway during it's lifetime. If it's working, nothing is really broken, then I would not worry about it. I was super obsessive about such things, not banging the phone too hard on the table etc. You know what? You have better things to pay attention to in this life. Pro Max is one of the most durable phones out there, it will not care about some very small cosmetical imperfections. Just try to ignore it for a while and once you don't care anymore, then life becomes much better.

 

[ian87w]

I believe if this was a $400 Android phone, q certain level of "imperfections" might be acceptable. However, when we are talking about $1000 iPhone, and where the maker (Apple) keeps bragging about their quality and attention of detail, I can understand the concern of the OP, and customers doesn't have to be OCD and just accept poor QC. I mean it might be okay in countries with liberal return policy, but many people in other parts of the world dont have that luxury.

I don't think people buying an LV bag would accept any blemishes on the bag, even if it has no effect on the utility of the bag. Apple wanted to be regarded that high as a brand, so they should step up their QC.