Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is your black iPhone 5 scuffed, chipped or scratched?

  • Flawless

    Votes: 1,158 46.1%
  • Flawless because I put a case on it.

    Votes: 198 7.9%
  • Scuffed out of the box

    Votes: 820 32.7%
  • Scuffed/scratched shortly after

    Votes: 334 13.3%

  • Total voters
    2,510
I'm not sure what to do, my black iPhone 5 is sitting there unwrapped until this scuffing mess gets sorted out. If I have to return it and stick with my 4s so be it.
 
My 32 GB black (week 35) is flawless, but I expect some damage to creep in. I don't really like white iPhones for a number of reasons (some quite practical!) so I'm going to try sticking it out. It depends what the damage is, if it's extremely gradual and minute on the chamfer over it's life I could live with that. Let's see how these flawless phones age. :rolleyes:

How do you know which week it was made?
 
Why didn't Apple test this? :(

And if they did, why would they allow a product this bad into consumers hands?

I thought Apple was trying to build up their brand as a "quality" brand that you pay more for :confused:
 
Mine is sat in the box, I've initiated a return. Not willing to risk it. Will stick with my 4 for now.

I just don't understand this. It's a phone, and this sort of action is letting a phone's potential aesthetics actually affect your usage of a device you want to use.

I understand returning a phone that's scuffed up and dinged out of the box, but not using something because it might eventually scratch? Well that's letting a device control you.
 
Why didn't Apple test this? :(

And if they did, why would they allow a product this bad into consumers hands?

I thought Apple was trying to build up their brand as a "quality" brand that you pay more for :confused:

It's not that bad. It's there, and it shouldn't happen, but most of these scuffs are so small they can't be seen unless you are actively inspecting the phone.
 
Scratches, you probably scratched it yourself. Are your parents on with BMW getting a replacement black car because it shows more dirt or gets swirls in the paint? Apple released a great product and, yes, it's not scratch proof. Guess the 5S will have to be diamond coated, and cost about $10 grand to satisfy the complainers of the population.
 
Wirelessly posted

Thought my 2nd black was perfect. Then I found a 2 very tiny nicks on the aluminum back. Probably so tiny they wouldn't even photograph. Then I found a small piece of lint under the screen. Smh.

Not sure what to do at this point. It's certainly not bad and definitely tolerable. It's the principle of it all for me. A new phone should be...new. Flawless. Ehh...don't really feel like returning it again though.
 
After reading this thread, I'm a little less jealous of everyone with an iPhone 5.

Hopefully by the time my contract is up, this issue is fixed. The black is SO NICE looking, and it's a shame that the coating comes right off. Shouldn't Apple have tested this?

Who says it comes right off? I tried to find marks on mine so I could report it to apple. Just in case I wanted to swap for white, I'd have it showing on my account. I can't find anything to call about. Even after bumping the edge of the phone by mistake on misc items and furniture. Still no coating coming off.
 
I'm not sure how people are managing to damage theirs with normal use.

I've been using mine in the same way as I have with my previous iPhones and it still has the same amount of damage that it came with out of the box, nothing more.

I've even rubbed the corners on a rough piece of cloth very aggressively to simulate pocket wear for 10 mins or so, and the most that came of it was a layer of white power that simply rubbed off, with no wear or damage.
 
Sprint is sending me a new phone in 3 weeks, but I have a 35 day window to return this one. I totally understand their constrained supply and this is as good of solution as I could have hoped for.

If the second one comes damaged, I'm going through AppleCare instead.

Photo%20Sep%2021%2C%2018%2004%2000.jpg
 
Scratches, you probably scratched it yourself. Are your parents on with BMW getting a replacement black car because it shows more dirt or gets swirls in the paint? Apple released a great product and, yes, it's not scratch proof. Guess the 5S will have to be diamond coated, and cost about $10 grand to satisfy the complainers of the population.

I'm sorry, but this is just the worst attempt at trolling I've seen all week.

Jog on.
 
Why didn't Apple test this? :(

And if they did, why would they allow a product this bad into consumers hands?

I thought Apple was trying to build up their brand as a "quality" brand that you pay more for :confused:

It's not that bad. It's there, and it shouldn't happen, but most of these scuffs are so small they can't be seen unless you are actively inspecting the phone.

That doesn't really answer my question though ;)
 
Scratches, you probably scratched it yourself. Are your parents on with BMW getting a replacement black car because it shows more dirt or gets swirls in the paint? Apple released a great product and, yes, it's not scratch proof. Guess the 5S will have to be diamond coated, and cost about $10 grand to satisfy the complainers of the population.

Look at the actual product at the apple store. you will understand the situation. :D
 
The most amusing part to me about all this is that the day after you get your brand new replacement scratch-free phone it will get scratched up. You will put it in your pocket with some change or keys or your friend will drop it on the table or you'll drop it on your desk or you'll scratch it lining it up next to another phone for comparison or you'll nick it putting it down, ANYTHING!

I wonder how many less than honest people scratched it the day the got it and still called Apple for a replacement.
 
iPhone 5 won't be on sale in my country until next friday. I would've probably been to the store yesterdat and bought a black model, so I kind of thank this 1week delay.

That being said, I don't know what to do anymore. I just don't like the white iPhone because of its look when the screen is off. Too weird imo. The black model looks awesome but this scuffgate is driving me crazy. I'm still deciding wether I won't be able to live with it or if I won't give a f-ck.

Thing is, even if I got a perfect model with no marks at all I'd use it naked, as I hate an iPhone with a case. As someone stated earlier in this thread it's like putting a cover to your sofa. It's so f-cking nice that I wanna see it every time I use it. So... marks will eventually show up. Will I care? Well, IDK tbh. Maybe it even acquires a nice old/vintage/use look. Problem here would be resale value.
Hehe, same situation here as well. It'll be interesting to see the coming days if owners of the black phones report that the phones get scratched up real easily through normal pocket use... I guess that will be a deciding factor for me. If they can't look nice for a week with pocket use, that would be a real bummer.
 
Talked to AppleCare.

Apple is collecting devices to have them analyzed. Apple is not acknowledging an issue (he made a point of saying this twice.)

Apple Care will only replace Black for Black. He said the store will not say whether they will allow me to swap for white... even though I can return the phone then buy a white one right there in the same visit.

So an hour drive to wait and find out.

Kind of silly, and seems like bad policy that irritates their customers.

In any case, if they refuse to give me a white one, I'll return the black and buy a white right there, same visit.

He p***ed me off because he said to me "I'm sorry something you read on the internet is causing you to return your device."

I told him the defective phone in my hand was causing it.

Up to that point I was fairly calm... however after that comment I demanded an apology which he gave. Jerk.

The nerve. Poor CS in my opinion to say that to a customer.
 
The most amusing part to me about all this is that the day after you get your brand new replacement scratch-free phone it will get scratched up. You will put it in your pocket with some change or keys or your friend will drop it on the table or you'll drop it on your desk or you'll scratch it lining it up next to another phone for comparison or you'll nick it putting it down, ANYTHING!

I wonder how many less than honest people scratched it the day the got it and still called Apple for a replacement.

Troll on. I've had the same iPhone 4 from day one without using a case and it's completely fine (other than the normal dust and junk getting in the speaker ports and mute switch). No scratches, no nicks, nothing - and I throw it in the cup holder of my dirty car every day.

The anodized aluminum was a bad idea, especially with the press Apple has been getting at how precise and perfect the manufacturing process is for this version. Whether it's scuffed or nicked out of the box or it ends up that way after a few days of use is irrelevant.
 
Two simple reasons this is happening. 1) Lower quality aluminum. Less dense aluminum was used for weight reduction obviously. It's softer and will dent/mar much easier than heavier more dense aluminum. This can be seen on the white iphones also. Dents and scratches right out of the box. 2) The anodizing is of low quality and looks to be having adhesion issues.

If the anodizing is having these issues out of the box, in 3 months it will look horrible.
 
Troll on. I've had the same iPhone 4 from day one without using a case and it's completely fine (other than the normal dust and junk getting in the speaker ports and mute switch). No scratches, no nicks, nothing - and I throw it in the cup holder of my dirty car every day.

The anodized aluminum was a bad idea, especially with the press Apple has been getting at how precise and perfect the manufacturing process is for this version. Whether it's scuffed or nicked out of the box or it ends up that way after a few days of use is irrelevant.

How is he trolling? He is 100% right. People will take their 5 back, get a non-scratched phone and in under a week, it will be litered with scratches. Until Apple addresses this which I doubt they will change the aluminum quality, maybe anodizing could be improved, getting a new phone won't stop the issue.
 
Pretty big problem, I guess those that have black, like myself, will just have to live with scratches and I just talked to them, CANT switch for white one either. Sucs but this is how it is. I double apple will change anything, they will just replace most of those that call about this problem...but many folks wont even call...it is a pain! Ive been on the phone total about 2 hrs now with them....either way, even if they replace it, in couple weeks it will be all scratched again...but I guess atleast this way it will be my doing and not right out of the box.
 
Scratches, you probably scratched it yourself. Are your parents on with BMW getting a replacement black car because it shows more dirt or gets swirls in the paint? Apple released a great product and, yes, it's not scratch proof. Guess the 5S will have to be diamond coated, and cost about $10 grand to satisfy the complainers of the population.

I hate when my BMW gets scratched...
 
My new black iphone 5 I got yesterday come with a dent and some very little scuff mark on it. It doesn't seems too bad, but I obviously don't expect that on a new phone. The worst thing is I signed this iphone from TELUS, now their office is closed, I cann't figure out if they can exchange it for me. I won't want the black color anymore since this paint problem. I was suprised that when I called apple service and they said they haven't heard anything about this issue. Am I the only one calling for this problem, and most people don't care? People who bought it from apple store will be able to exchange it within 14 days, I don't know what is going to happen to mine phone now. Does anyone have same problem as me?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.