I now have a MATTE iPhone 3GS!

[lollicup]

So the question is: Are you going to "matte" your new 3GS? Also, if you do... would you mind taking photos of your progress or possibly a video of it?

ugh come on people

this "matte" iphone thing was a mistake (more like making the best of an over ambitious attempt at getting a 100% scratch free iphone)

I would think the OP is smart enough not to do the same thing to his iphone again

this goes for the rest of you

The only way to get a completely even matte finish would be to have it sand blasted

a matte clearcoat would peel off, and even the best sanding jobs will show sanding marks when dirt is introduced into the crevices

 

[TheSpaz]

ugh come on people

this "matte" iphone thing was a mistake (more like making the best of an over ambitious attempt at getting a 100% scratch free iphone)

I would think the OP is smart enough not to do the same thing to his iphone again

this goes for the rest of you

The only way to get a completely even matte finish would be to have it sand blasted

a matte clearcoat would peel off, and even the best sanding jobs will show sanding marks when dirt is introduced into the crevices

At 1500, I doubt you'll see sand marks.

 

[CarbonFibre]

p1500-p1200

Jesus wept.....1500 grit?
Even us car detailers wouldn't venture near that when 3M Trizact 3K or Mirka Abralon 4K on car paint is often plenty.
If you have a detailer near you, and you want the gloss restored, he could (should) be able to do it with a soft pad and 3M Ultrafina or Menzerna Final Finish (85RD).
It'll probably need a couple of hits to bring it back up, and that presumes there was no coating on the plastic to begin with.
If there is, then you'll only get so much back from the plastic itself.

 

[TheSpaz]

Jesus wept.....1500 grit?
Even us car detailers wouldn't venture near that when 3M Trizact 3K or Mirka Abralon 4K on car paint is often plenty.
If you have a detailer near you, and you want the gloss restored, he could (should) be able to do it with a soft pad and 3M Ultrafina or Menzerna Final Finish (85RD).
It'll probably need a couple of hits to bring it back up, and that presumes there was no coating on the plastic to begin with.
If there is, then you'll only get so much back from the plastic itself.

Guess what... it's not car paint.

It's not paint at all actually. It's clear plastic that is painted from the INSIDE and shows through the clear.

 

[superspiffy]

So the question is: Are you going to "matte" your new 3GS? Also, if you do... would you mind taking photos of your progress or possibly a video of it?

No I won't. LOL. I'll only do that if the phone gets deep scratches which it won't! I'm using a slider incase case and this time I'm also getting an invisible shield underneath it. I learned the hard way after realizing tiny sand particles tend to get trapped inside the case and scratch the phone.

 

[TheSpaz]

Welp, I did it!

My iPhone looks EXACTLY like the original poster's iPhone now.

I have a White iPhone 3G and mine is now perfectly matte! Nice work dude!

A few tips from my experience:

- I used 1500 grit sandpaper found at AutoZone
- Sanding in circles actually works a bit better than sanding up and down. The circle method makes sure you're going evenly over the whole phone.
- It was challenging getting around the buttons and camera, but you gotta just be patient and go slowly.
- Sanding the metal bezel can leave gray marks on the plastic if you're not careful, so I would recommend doing that first and then sanding the gray marks off after.
- After you sanded everything, go over the back once more in circles to make it as smooth as possible.

Another note... it looks equally as cool on the Black iPhone (my brother also did his and he has Black). The thing about the black iPhone is, while you're sanding it, it turns white (from the clear plastic) but the white dust will wipe off just fine. His iPhone had a lot of deep pits in it from dropping it, so those actually filled in with dust and it looks spotted (Heh). The parts that don't have the pits look nice and matte though.

This is not a hard mod at all, but it can be tedious going around the buttons and camera, so you must have patience.

I'll post photos later.

In conclusion: This mod ROCKS!!! I've been waiting forever for a matte iPhone and I hate using cases... now my iPhone is scratch free AND matte. I love it!

 

[TheSpaz]

Here are my results. I'm pretty happy about it.

 

[BergerFan]

Credit where it's due - that looks pretty cool. Got any pics of the black?
Also, how does it feel, with regards to grip?

 

[theahnman]

Cosmetic defects not covered under warranty.

Actually… you're mistaken. Apple has been known in the past to replace iPods that have been brushed on the back. They don't care because you're just basically scratching the iPhone which actually doesn't affect the way it works. So if the home button stops working for some reason, they can't say "Well, you took sandpaper to the back so it messed up the home button".

I believe cosmetic defects and other cosmetic issues that do not affect the function or operation of the item are not covered under warranty. Example, they wouldn't replace my power adapter because the hook things broke off. So this policy should work both ways, i.e. they should honor your warranty even if the item is cosmetically altered.

 

[superspiffy]

Welp, I did it!

My iPhone looks EXACTLY like the original poster's iPhone now.

I have a White iPhone 3G and mine is now perfectly matte! Nice work dude!

WOW I can't believe you actually followed suit after me. Well I guess somebody had to be the guinea pig and pass knowledge down like, don't sand the camera lens!

Can you take a closeup of the Apple logo? And your brother's black iPhone? So does the iPhone feel exactly like you thought it would?

And one more thing, did you use any polishing or abrasive solution while sanding?

 

[TheSpaz]

WOW I can't believe you actually followed suit after me. Well I guess somebody had to be the guinea pig and pass knowledge down like, don't sand the camera lens!

Can you take a closeup of the Apple logo? And your brother's black iPhone? So does the iPhone feel exactly like you thought it would?

And one more thing, did you use any polishing or abrasive solution while sanding?

1. Yeah, I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but I didn't know what to expect until your thread came alone

2. The Apple logo is just scratched all up.

3. My brother's black iPhone doesn't look as good because he has many pits in it which did not sand off. They were too deep to get rid of

4. The iPhone feels smooth as paper, but NOW I see what you guys mean by "sticky". If you try to wipe it with your shirt really hard it squeaks.

5. I didn't use any solution while sanding... I just used the sandpaper.

It worked out rather nicely for me. If I hold the iPhone in the light JUST RIGHT, I can see scratches all over it, but under normal lighting and normal angles, you can't see a single scratch... it's very weird. I like it though.

Thanks for starting this thread. I hope others will try it as well. You've got nothing to lose (except for the glossiness).

 

[175170]

I have one serious question now.
What happens if you scratch it?
After sanding, is the back still scratchable?
I'm afraid that if you guys start getting scratches in it, you have a serious problem, because maybe the scratch could go through the back?

 

[TheSpaz]

I have one serious question now.
What happens if you scratch it?
After sanding, is the back still scratchable?
I'm afraid that if you guys start getting scratches in it, you have a serious problem, because maybe the scratch could go through the back?

I didn't sand off enough to make it brittle. Nothing is going to scratch through the back.

 

[JoshHawn]

Taking It To The Extreme!

in the right light, you can see a bunch of scratches all over it... but in normal ambient lighting conditions, it looks awesome. And yeah... I took the apple logo and words off on purpose.

 

[Daremo]

How much did you have to sand away to remove the logo and words?

I would love a matte phone, but this is not for me, not this way...

 

[TheSpaz]

How much did you have to sand away to remove the logo and words?

I would love a matte phone, but this is not for me, not this way...

He sanded it way too much. My Apple logo is still intact. You don't need to sand it a lot to get the gloss off. It only takes a few seconds.

 

[Aijes]

in the right light, you can see a bunch of scratches all over it... but in normal ambient lighting conditions, it looks awesome. And yeah... I took the apple logo and words off on purpose.

Dude, that doesn't look very nice. I think it looks way better with the Apple logo and writing..

To all others:
All we need now is a youtube guide.. :b
I was really disappointed with the 3GS' back, i really hoped for the matte casing, but that's not how it went down.. But that's not going to stop me.. This thread have really made me wonder about doing it myself.. But i think i'm going to brush up the bezel first.. I've also orded the Wrapsol skin to give me the matte-look, and then we'll take it from there..

 

[TheSpaz]

Dude, that doesn't look very nice. I think it looks way better with the Apple logo and writing..

To all others:
All we need now is a youtube guide.. :b
I was really disappointed with the 3GS' back, i really hoped for the matte casing, but that's not how it went down.. But that's not going to stop me.. This thread have really made me wonder about doing it myself.. But i think i'm going to brush up the bezel first.. I've also orded the Wrapsol skin to give me the matte-look, and then we'll take it from there..

I have to say... it looks way better in person than in photos. I talked to Josh on iChat and when he first sanded it, he used any sandpaper instead of the specified 1500 grit. So I told him to get 1500 and re-sand it. Then he got 2000 and sanded it so much that the Apple logo started to disappear.

You really don't need to sand it that much. I prefer the Apple logo on mine. It looks weird when it's completely blank on the back.

 

[darngooddesign]

If its clear plastic that's painted on the inside I wonder if anyone has stripped the paint, like we did on the G3 iBooks, to end up with a clear back so you can see the phone's guts.

 

[TheSpaz]

If its clear plastic that's painted on the inside I wonder if anyone has stripped the paint, like we did on the G3 iBooks, to end up with a clear back so you can see the phone's guts.

It's certainly possible, but I wouldn't want to take my iPhone completely apart to do it.

 

[Aijes]

You really don't need to sand it that much. I prefer the Apple logo on mine. It looks weird when it's completely blank on the back.

I totally agree.. It does look weird without the logo and the writing..
But anyway, i'd love to see more pictures of that matte back you guys have been doing.. With or without the logo and the writing, it doesn't matter to me.. :b

 

[star-fish]

i didn't read anything besides the first post
but let me see if i can cut through the bs

you tried to remove the scratches on the back of your phone
you successfully removed the deep scratches but you were unable to get it back to its full polish so you settled on a "matte" finish

You read 1 post and failed at even that The OP didn't remove the scratches, hence the matte approach.

I'd rather get a NEW phone for FREE whenever I get a crack than have to deal with grinding away at my old one.

If by 'new' you mean 'new to you', sure...

 

[macdudechafic]

why would you remove the apple sign?!
the first white iPhone was done better

 

[ozzyman500]

in the right light, you can see a bunch of scratches all over it... but in normal ambient lighting conditions, it looks awesome. And yeah... I took the apple logo and words off on purpose.

Those look pretty darn good. No way would I give this a shot on my 3Gs. Might attemp it on my 3G. Nice work.

 

[kayno]

Looked into the wrapsol thing.. Just bought one.. Definitely a better alternative to sanding down the phone.. Only sanding I can recommend is the bezel..that just looks flat out luxurious.. I get every iPhone that comes out and I need to sell my Phone each time.. I wonder what sanding down the entire phone would do to your resale value?? and Yes Wrapsol does look better than the sanded phones.. the Black one looks terrible.. No Apple logo? Your phone looks like a TMobile Dash.. But you like it so thats all that matters.. my 5 cents.