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HankHowdy

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 2, 2012
3,501
392
Victorville CA
Has anyone used a i4 or i4S with out a case and never scratched the back glass? If so, how long was it caseless?
 
Has anyone used a i4 or i4S with out a case and never scratched the back glass? If so, how long was it caseless?

I used my iP4 caseless for over 2 years before I upgraded to the 5. It was perfect, no scratch on the back. I did drop it a few times on concrete and asphalt, and got a small chip on the top edge of the front glass, but the Skinomi skin protected the main of the front and back. Sent from my iPhone 5.
 
used a 4S for a year with no case and had not had any visible scratches.


of course, i took care of it. never putting it in the same pocket with keys, or coins... or resting it over rough surfaces.
 
I used my iP4 caseless for over 2 years before I upgraded to the 5. It was perfect, no scratch on the back. I did drop it a few times on concrete and asphalt, and got a small chip on the top edge of the front glass, but the Skinomi skin protected the main of the front and back. Sent from my iPhone 5.

So it wasn't bare?
 
I haven't used a case since the 3GS and when I had my 4 I used a holster but it was naked. I made sure to never sit it on rough surfaces because of the glass. It looks brand new and now my mom uses it. My 5 is without a case and I don't sit it on rough surfaces because the slate scratches easily. Still looks great, may give my mom this one if the 5s is worth the upgrade for me. Just gotta be careful but I know people with cases that phones look like crap...
 
I'm only asking because I've had my 4S for quite a while and I'm tired of using cases.



if you are clumsy or inattentive, i would recommend against it.


for me it was second nature. my left pocket for instance was only reserved for my phone and nothing else went in there. i don't drop my phones (well once because someone bumped into me but luckily nothing happened - not even a scratch).


if you are sure to take care of it the reduced risk of it being damaged or scratched far outweighs the distaste of having to look at and holding an ugly rubber bumper every day.
 
I'm only asking because I've had my 4S for quite a while and I'm tired of using cases.

Harline scratches will form overtime. Period. The coating isn't indestructible. I don't know what the fuss is about, though. It's a phone; above all an object which you will replace at a later date.
 
When I had my white 4 I went case-less. After about a month, there were some hairline scratches in the back. The screen was fine though.
 
Harline scratches will form overtime. Period. The coating isn't indestructible. I don't know what the fuss is about, though. It's a phone; above all an object which you will replace at a later date.

Because people don't want it to look like a mistreated piece of crap when you spend like $650 on it :p..... It does annoy me though how they spend so much time at keynotes etc. going over the design, but it barely matters because you have to use a case -_-
 
Because people don't want it to look like a mistreated piece of crap when you spend like $650 on it :p..... It does annoy me though how they spend so much time at keynotes etc. going over the design, but it barely matters because you have to use a case -_-

Where does it say u HAVE to use a case? I know a lot of people who's phones are naked and look good. Me, i use a case because of work environment.
 
Hairline scratches will happen. It's not even a question.


BUT you should be fine in the space of real damage done (provided you don't toss coins in w/ your phone).
 
I sympathise with the OP, of course you want it to look nice, but also you need it to look nice at the end of your two years or whatever so you can sell it on easily. It's all very well saying it'll get replaced anyway, but for many of us that's dependent on it not being a busted up POC when it's time to list on eBay.

I had two 4S's - the first I had since launch day. It lived the whole time with a silicone skin covering the back and sides (as had my 3GS before it) and I took care of it, always giving it a pocket to itself etc. Despite this, within a few months the screen had picked up a couple of very small but noticeable scratches, and a worse one followed a few months later. Meanwhile the back picked up hairline scratches too from dust trapped in the case.

Luckily, when it was almost a year old it developed a hardware fault and Apple replaced it. By that time I'd ditched the silicone and was using a leather slip case that protected the whole phone when I wasn't using it, but allowed me to see the whole thing when I was. I used that with the second phone for about 9
months (before I upgraded last week) and that second phone was pretty much perfect when I sold it, so take from that what you will..
 
I used my iP4 caseless for over 2 years before I upgraded to the 5. It was perfect, no scratch on the back. I did drop it a few times on concrete and asphalt, and got a small chip on the top edge of the front glass, but the Skinomi skin protected the main of the front and back. Sent from my iPhone 5.

No, you didn't. OP - I've never used a case on an iPhone. For the 4 you may get some light scratching, but there's not a product in existence that you can handle upwards of 50+ times a day that won't show some type of wear after you use it. I don't sell my phones so it doesn't really matter to me, it depends on how much it will bother you.
 
Where does it say u HAVE to use a case? I know a lot of people who's phones are naked and look good. Me, i use a case because of work environment.

Well that's exactly what many people do.... If you don't use a case on your phone then the chances are it will end up with a load of scratches all over it.... Look at the iPhone 5 now.... It's so badly designed for every day caseless use
 
Using a launch day iPhone 4 - going on 3 years now without a case. The front screen looks as new. The back has about 2-3 almost invisible scratches, but otherwise looks perfect.
 
Going to try caseless today. Day one, I might have a panic attack. :)

My i4 I never put a case on for the 3 years it was owned by either me or my daughter. Unavoidably there were some scratches on the back, but most couldn't be seen without having light shone directly on the back. The front I always had a screen protector on so it was fine....


My comments above were about the iPhone 5 and its terribly designed back
 
I actually chose the white iPhone 5 when I came to upgrade purely because of the scuffing issue - it's the wrong reason to have to choose a colour but I know, from the few real life examples I've seen, that the black version would drive me insane very quickly as it picked up those bright little scratches.

The good news is that I've really warmed to the white/silver. I'd never have chosen it otherwise (it follows three previous black models) but actually looks great and makes a nice change.
 
I actually chose the white iPhone 5 when I came to upgrade purely because of the scuffing issue - it's the wrong reason to have to choose a colour but I know, from the few real life examples I've seen, that the black version would drive me insane very quickly as it picked up those bright little scratches.

The good news is that I've really warmed to the white/silver. I'd never have chosen it otherwise (it follows three previous black models) but actually looks great and makes a nice change.

I already know that my next iPhone will be a white one. Good to know that the scratches don't show up as much.
 
The glass is typically hard to scratch on the back of the 4/4S. I have 4S, no scratches on glass.
 
Has anyone used a i4 or i4S with out a case and never scratched the back glass? If so, how long was it caseless?

I used my iPhone 4 for one year without a case. Once my new iPhone 4S arrived I gave away my pristine scratch & smudge free iP4 to my wife. It looked like new.

The same holds true for my iPhone 4S. One year later it remained completely scratch free.

The iPhone 5 I received from Apple looked dreadful & used, right out of the box. With both long & deep scratches I returned it for another. I would have liked to say I returned it for a new one, but even though technically it was new and came in a sealed retail box just like the first, when opened in the store it too was scratched. Just not quite as bad.

Thus began the "Scratched iPhone" saga. To keep it brief I caved in to Apple's decline in quality control since it was costing me more (after four returns) time and money in an effort to get what I paid for.

It just proves you don't always get what you paid for.
 
9 months naked. Dropped once on hardwood from 3 feet. Dropped 3 times on carpet once hitting a metal stool, and I don't see anything that bothers me, but then I am the devil-may-care type. Oh the freedom of unemcumbent OCD.

Once I tried a bumper and it made the phone so freaking ugly plus I didn't like the feel. 4/s beautiful as is.
 
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