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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
They did... now they can sell more Applecare Warranties. :p
Don't they make money when people don't use their warranties?

Anyway, has anyone got any sort of word on this? Is it to be expected or will Apple be addressing this?
 
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.

He is trolling.

The people who are complaining about the issues are mostly the people who take care of their things.

Why on earth would someone put a stupidly expensive smartphone in the same pocket as keys or coins? No one who is that stupid deserves to own one.

I've been sliding my iPhone 5 all over wooden tables, desks etc, and its yet to be marked on the back. My iPhone 4 on the other hand would have hundreds of hairline scratches.

Oh I know. Next time you buy a car, have the dealer slash the tires, take a mallet to the bumper, take a knife to the paintwork, before you drive it away. Afterall, its gonna be like that after a few years use anyway.

When you buy a new TV give me a call. I'll happily take a hammer to the power supply, afterall, it will die at some point in the future.

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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?

Apple will ALWAYS deny that there is an issue. They don't want any concrete bad press.

If they started to admit to the issues in public, then their share prices would fall, they would lose customers, etc.
 
Don't they make money when people don't use their warranties?

Anyway, has anyone got any sort of word on this? Is it to be expected or will Apple be addressing this?

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.
 
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:

They did test it just like they test every first gen design. On us, the paying and impatient consumers who had to buy it right away.

I don't mind, I've been on the tail end of upgrades for a while (3GS, 4S) buti kinda like being on the first gen side of a new design despite the problems
 
After reading a lot of replies in this thread i just wanted to add my experience having held an iPhone 5 for the first time today. Immediately after having looked at the screen for a while I started to have a good look around the antenna band for any defects. I had a look at about 3 or 4 units and all but 1 of them showed a microscopic mark revealing the silver underneath. I didnt see any of the wearing off of the anodized paint on any of the units - just small marks.

I then started to scratch the band and the aluminium backplate with my finger nails, digging in as much as i could. Sure enough there were no marks left and the band looked as good as new. See below for the unit i scratched with my nails (it was also the same unit with the tiny mark on as you can see at the top of the device).

250DA24B-E520-40EE-9534-D56661EABB47-3102-0000028A6A3448C4_zpsc385833d.jpg


15B23E8F-A8AA-4FD9-A23B-33205F40CC74-3102-0000028A6B74C842_zpsb3f56093.jpg


also with the above image you can see the smallest amount of discolouration where the bands meet - literally barely noticable though.

My thoughts? definitely some manufacturing defects somewhere, not sure how easy it will be for Apple to rectify this though as surely they would have to change the machines that carve the band?
 
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.) . . .

Interesting - the fact that they are collecting them for analysis is an acknowledgement of action at the very least.
 
Mine has scratches and that discoloration. They are sending me a replacement but could only get black one...lets hope it has no scratches but as stated, I bet it will after a week of use.
 
My device is not too bad, just some small silver areas showing around the band, otherwise no scratches on the band. My top button is extremely loose though. Got a few weeks will see how the device holds up. Might downgrade to 16gb in black. Can this be done within the 30 days also i assume?

Anyone else's top button loose?
 
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Mine came scratched out of the box !!!!

Mine even came scratched on the bezel out of the box! Honestly, this must be the lowest quality iPhone yet. I've had and used my iPhone 4 for longer than two years now; yet, my brand new iPhone5 has more scratches on the bezel as it came from the factory than my iPhone 4 after two years of heavy use!!! And: the back side of the iPhone 5, where the metal part meets the ceramic part (or plastic or whatever it is), is not level, but has a step-off that gives the entire phone a feel of cheapest backyard ramshack quality. I am VERY disappointed.
 
Had a few scuff marks on my black iPhone... Went back to white (which I had for my 4s). I think it looks beautiful. Black is sleek, don't get me wrong but nothing about the white is distracting/discolored! Love it :)
 
My iphone (black 16 GB) came in flawless, but after hearing about this I'm thinking about swapping for the white one.

If I pre-ordered through Apple online, can I just go to a retail store and exchange for white?
 
I queued up from 2am on release day in Leicester (UK). I finally got my 16gb black iphone5 at 8:00am. When I got home I found that it had a dent where the steel band meets the chamfered edge. As previously pointed in the posts it was there with the anodised black on, so it must have been there before it was anodised.

Anyway, I returned it and went through 2 more boxes, and still no luck. So 3 brand new iPhones later I returned home with a refund. The manager had kindly pointed out that they will have some in tomorrow.

So I returned this morning, and after going through 3 more boxes in store each one displayed either a scuff, scratch , kink or dent. The guy was kind of dismissive and was like "the Internet will always point out the bad things" to which I thought "bullsh**" so while he was processing my refund, I fired up this forum on a retina display MacBook and opened up 6 different pictures with scuffs, dents or scratches. Upon his return I showed him, and his face dropped, so much so, he didn't really want to see it, some I left the pages opened return with another refund.

Effectively I went through 6 brand new boxes and they all had the same issue. I am a die hard apple product lover, but I am also a meticulous person, who has a hawk eye like no other.

I believe as previously pointed out, apple must be aware of this issue and it seems as if it was a defective machine which had blunt drill bits which has caused the chamfered bevel / band to be chipped, scuffed, dented or scratched. Also keep in mind, after watching the I fixit teardown, the screen is now the first thing to come off when opening the iPhone 5. You can no longer slide the back off, which leads me to believe it COULD also have been sloppy tired overworked employees not carefully installing the LCD screen which may have lead to the scuffs etc (that's if the machine was not defective)

It seems as if apple now like to boast that their products are built to the best quality you can get, but the sad fact is that instead of building quality products, they build them to look like they are quality built rather than actually being quality. They also know how to fool ppl into this, by saying things like "quality and precision you can expect from a quality built watch" or something to that effect. Don't get me wrong I love apple, but how they can let this kind of workmanship slip is beyond me. Tim does not seem to have his eye on the ball, as did Steve when it comes to secrecy and quality. Steve kept everyone in check!

To conclude, in my experience over the past 48 hours I have been thought 6 brand new iPhones and they all have the same issue.

White or black, they are all starched out of the box. For something that cost us £500+ this is not on. However, apple may not see it that way because, it cost the 1/5th of that to manufacture.

I am going to wait 5-6 weeks and see if apple actually do something about this, or even address it. I will probably then buy my iPhone again and see if any change has come.
 
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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.
That's interesting. Maybe they'll work out the kinks? :(
 
After a half day of use...

Found another ever so slight silver mark, again on the chamfered edge right behind the sleep/awake button.

I will add though my initial reaction was a little bit of pent up emotion from this board. After living with it for almost a day, the small defects are currently ever so slight and can't be seen unless you put the phone up six inches from your face and focus hard on looking for defects. The scratch that is by my sim card tray actually doesn't show silver, it is black so it must have been slightly scratched somehow before the anodizing process started. Again it is an ever so slight scratch that I can't even feel.

I am going to live with it for another week to see if the chamfered edge starts to show more wear and then decide what I plan to do. After all, cell phones/smartphones are first and foremost meant to be used. Things will happen over time, no one thing is accident proof. Definitely those of you with very visible defects should not be happy. But those of us that are jawing about the very minor defects need to chill for a bit and see how it appears after using it for a little while.

The black iPhone 5 is every bit as gorgeous as the white.
 
Well, I went to the Apple store again this morning to try to return my black iPhone and pick up a white one. The store wasn't busy since it was 9AM and the store normally opens at 10. They only had the 16GB Verizon in white. I looked at the demo black iPhones and they all had wear marks, especially near the connector from people removing the phone. I'm definitely going to get a white one, I just have to wait for the 32GB to come back in stock.

I ended up just returning my nicked black iPhone 5. I'll just use my iPhone 4 until I can get a white one.
 
Found another ever so slight silver mark, again on the chamfered edge right behind the sleep/awake button.

I will add though my initial reaction was a little bit of pent up emotion from this board. After living with it for almost a day, the small defects are currently ever so slight and can't be seen unless you put the phone up six inches from your face and focus hard on looking for defects. The scratch that is by my sim card tray actually doesn't show silver, it is black so it must have been slightly scratched somehow before the anodizing process started. Again it is an ever so slight scratch that I can't even feel.

I am going to live with it for another week to see if the chamfered edge starts to show more wear and then decide what I plan to do. After all, cell phones/smartphones are first and foremost meant to be used. Things will happen over time, no one thing is accident proof. Definitely those of you with very visible defects should not be happy. But those of us that are jawing about the very minor defects need to chill for a bit and see how it appears after using it for a little while.

The black iPhone 5 is every bit as gorgeous as the white.

The main problem I'm having, is not so much with the silver showing through or being able to see it, it's the fact that every time I pick the phone up I can feel the cuts or dents against my fingers and palm.

Also, as I said earlier, I've been setting my phone down on surfaces that would normally be gauaranteed to scratch an iPhone 4/4S, and even sliding it over them, without being able to wear away any of the black coating or causing scuffs.

There has definitely been a major manufacturing fault somewhere down the line. Not just for the pre-scuffed and chipped phones, but for the people claiming that the anodised layer is wearing away very easily.

Also, very few reviews have touched on the wearing as well, which could mean that just a small batch were affected.
 
Don't they make money when people don't use their warranties?

Anyway, has anyone got any sort of word on this? Is it to be expected or will Apple be addressing this?

Actually they have to "spend" the same amount of money either way. The hourly staff is paid the same whether they have to make repairs or not. And surplus of parts is already there so it'll be needed regardless.

If they sell 100 more Applecares because of the "fear" it's 10000 more dollars in their pocket that wasn't there before. This is how a lot of insurance companies work.
 
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I took a closer inspection of my 5 today with better day light than I had yesterday, mine has very small scuff marks. I am wondering if I should even bother getting it replaced since it is barely noticeable.

photo1ws.jpg
 
He is trolling.

The people who are complaining about the issues are mostly the people who take care of their things.

There is no way you could possibly know that.

Why on earth would someone put a stupidly expensive smartphone in the same pocket as keys or coins? No one who is that stupid deserves to own one.

So ALL women who put their phone in their purse are stupid and should not own cellphones?

I've been sliding my iPhone 5 all over wooden tables, desks etc, and its yet to be marked on the back. My iPhone 4 on the other hand would have hundreds of hairline scratches.

Exactly a hairline scratch on the BACK of the phone that in no way effects how it operates. I have yet to see a report of a cracked screen out of the box, that would be a reason to get all bent out of shape but these minuscule scratches are being made into such a big deal you'd swear it reduces signal strength bars like the issues with the 4.

Oh I know. Next time you buy a car, have the dealer slash the tires, take a mallet to the bumper, take a knife to the paintwork, before you drive it away. Afterall, its gonna be like that after a few years use anyway.

When you buy a new TV give me a call. I'll happily take a hammer to the power supply, afterall, it will die at some point in the future.

Right because pummeling a power supply and keying a car is the EXACT same thing as a 1mm scratch on the BACK of a cellphone. I mean the reduced top speed of the car from the scratches in the paint from your knife are reason enough to return the car.



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Apple will ALWAYS deny that there is an issue. They don't want any concrete bad press.

If they started to admit to the issues in public, then their share prices would fall, they would lose customers, etc.

.
 
I was wrong.

I am one of the people who voted that my iPhone was scratched out of the box. Not scuffed but it had chips or nicks along the bezel and silver showed through. I could even feel the "dents."

After literally hours of messing with it, I discovered something astounding (to me anyway). They weren't nicks but errant bits of insanely sticky and reflective glue. I only figured this out with lots of rubbing. The "nicks" changed shape and eventually reduced in size.

I can't remove it all. And the tiny bit left still looks exactly like a small nick. I'm sure this isn't the problem for everyone and doesn't explain some of the pictures, but I wish Apple would give advice on how best to remove the glue so folks could tell whether it is actually bits of glue adhered to their phone rather than dings.

The good news is that all rubbing I did didn't remove any of the the black!:D
 
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Had an iPhone 4 since the day it was released. I've dropped it in parking lots, thrown it against the inside of my car and no scratches...not one!

No case or protective shield either.


iPhone 5 scuffed edge right out of the box.
<edit> phone is not scuffed, it was some kind of residue that wiped off pretty easily. </edit>


Ive got $7,000 worth of apple products within 15 feet of me right now. Never have I had a durability issue. Handling a phone like a newborn baby, just isn't going to cut it and I'll go back to my 4 or "upgrade" to the 4s for $1.00. ;)
 
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Broke down and called AppleCare again. Really don't feel like going back to the retail store again.

Must have been a new rep b/c he acted kind of confused at first. Took my serial number. Acted like it wouldn't be covered at all. Told him about the burnt pixel/lint underneath screen in addition to the 2 dings on the back.

Said they had some new protocols and procedures in place so he would put it through the system to see if it would charge me anything. Said he thinks they were in such a rush to get it out that they weren't paying any attention to quality control (yes he actually said that).

Then took last 4 of my IMEI. Said I'd have to pay shipping for $29 and a tax fee of $1 something. Also would have a hold on my credit card account for the phone (understandable) until I send the old one back. Asked if they could waive the shipping fee as it wasn't my fault and is a brand new phone. He went to talk with his Sr. Advisor.

No mention of them collecting the phones to test the damage.

So after a 40 minute call and a disconnect, total of 50 minutes...I didn't get a single thing free and still have to go back into the Apple store. Smh. I've been impressed with Apple's customer service in the past, but this is nuts. :(:(:(:(:(
 
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