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iPhone 17 Pro Max I question the durability of the colored 17 Pros

ozziegn

ozziegn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
1,347
901
Central FL Area
I normally buy white phones but this time I bought a white and an orange phone. I really like the orange phone but I question the durability of the anodized finish over time even though it’ll be inside a case. I’m very OCD about my phones so I worry the side areas of the orange phone beginning to show signs of wear from being inside a rubber case.

Opinions?
 
Every iPhone I've owned has been either Space Gray or Black, and they've all been in cases from the moment I first took them out of the box until the moment I got rid of them/traded them in. Every one of them looked virtually brand new when I was done with them. All I've ever done is take them out of the case once every 3 or 4 weeks and give them a quick wipe down to make sure there was no dust/grit grinding on them inside the case.
 
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You need a better answer than I can provide. I do see what you mean though. The coating on the titanium and stainless steel phones was insanely durable. Good question.
 
azhava said:
Every iPhone I've owned has been either Space Gray or Black, and they've all been in cases from the moment I first took them out of the box until the moment I got rid of them/traded them in. Every one of them looked virtually brand new when I was done with them. All I've ever done is take them out of the case once every 3 or 4 weeks and give them a quick wipe down to make sure there was no dust/grit grinding on them inside the case.
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Good info. I’ve done the same with taking mine out of the case to clean any debris that might’ve gotten inside the case. Just wondering if the anodized finish is pretty durable or not.
 
ozziegn said:
Maybe iPhone 16 people or previous colored phone users can comment? Has your anodized finish worn throughout time while being inside a case?
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I reckon it will be fine if it's inside a case.

I remember there were a bunch of complaints against the iPhone 5 Slate Black scratching and stuff. When I took mine out of its Speck Candyshell case after 2 years (to swap SIMs), there was no noticeable scuffing.

Note, if you use a case that leaves the plateau exposed, that area may get scratched from contact with keys, etc.
 
You can't keep babying the phone forever. I just want to put my phone in a case and forget about it. Dust will eventually get in and start causing specs of paint to get rubbed off. This has happened with the dark color 15/16 phones. And also the camera ring can chip easily too.

With White/Silver it's not as noticeable

This time given that most covers would expose the camera plateau, thats a whole lot of surface area to pick up scratches and scuffs over time.

I would assume camera plateau skins will be popular this year :)
 

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Azzurro said:
I have the same question after having a blue 12 mini with its paint chipping, it was hard to look at.
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My blue mini actually looks fine, there’s only bigger damage on one corner wich looks like a heavy drop. I don’t know how that even happened because there always was a case on it. But no micro scratches really. But then the back also was covered by glass right?
 
Look at the non pros for your answer, the sides beginning to scratch eventually. The pros are a bit better painted and show less wear over time. It's aluminum so it's gonna looks like the non pros over time. The older iPhone that were stainless steel and titanium are going to hold up better.
 
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I don’t think the aluminium is going to wear inside a case. It’s going to be scratches and dings that will show wear and if you’re using a decent case you should be fine. I haven’t had an aluminium iPhone since the 6S Plus, and that held up remarkably well being used without a case until I upgraded to the X. Couple of minor dings on the edges from being dropped if I remember correctly.
 
The anodization is nothing new. All non iphones have it, the apple watch, ipads, MacBook, airpod max…
It’s super durable as long as you don’t drop it
 
My daughter has an black iPhone 15. Kept inside of an otter box defender its whole life. The sides are all chewed up, scratched up from dust and whatever else getting in there. I had an iPhone 5 with the same issue. Even if you use a case, especially if you use a case, if you’re around a sandy or dusty environment a lot, you’ll have this issue. It’s the reason I went with silver. Apples known to have finish issues on aluminum phones.
 
I would not go with a coloured aluminium iPhone anymore. OCD and anodized aluminium is not a good combination.
The last aluminium iPhone that I used with a case from day 1 was the red iPhone 13 mini. The frame always looked like new. However the red aluminium camera rings on the back were missing more and more tiny bits of the red colour around the lenses. It looked like white dust that was collecting around the lens that I could just wipe off. But I couldn't because these were actually tiny bits of the silver bare aluminium showing through. I suspect that some dust in my pockets caused this.
Since then I only go with a silver iPhone because of this experience. Afterall it's just a phone colour that I am bored of after a few months anyway.
 
Joseph C said:
The casualty of aluminium. It's a nightmare for people who don't use a case.
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Not really. Been using mine for two years without a case, and there haven’t been any real problems. Some scratches are to be expected regardless, but I personally haven’t experienced anything serious. Nothing of importance to real life use nor to the bare eye.
 
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indezah said:
You can't keep babying the phone forever. I just want to put my phone in a case and forget about it. Dust will eventually get in and start causing specs of paint to get rubbed off. This has happened with the dark color 15/16 phones. And also the camera ring can chip easily too.

With White/Silver it's not as noticeable

This time given that most covers would expose the camera plateau, thats a whole lot of surface area to pick up scratches and scuffs over time.

I would assume camera plateau skins will be popular this year :)
Click to expand...

Oh you can baby them forever 😉 all my phones remain pristine, I don’t use hard cases on them but I do use a soft material pouch when I go out the house. At home it’s naked 😉 absolutely pristine. I always get top dollar for my used iPhones
 
i rawdog it, it's a tool to be used, the patina is the remnants of memories, lol. First ding is the hardest, just like a new car, but then you don't have to worry about it.
 
indezah said:
You can't keep babying the phone forever. I just want to put my phone in a case and forget about it. Dust will eventually get in and start causing specs of paint to get rubbed off. This has happened with the dark color 15/16 phones. And also the camera ring can chip easily too.

With White/Silver it's not as noticeable

This time given that most covers would expose the camera plateau, thats a whole lot of surface area to pick up scratches and scuffs over time.

I would assume camera plateau skins will be popular this year :)
Click to expand...

My current 13 PM phone begs to differ. Its been inside a case since day one. Zero scuff or wear marks. But this is a silver phone which obviously doesn't have an anodized coating to get scuffed or worn down.
 
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