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Less scratches in iPhone 5s as they metal and not painted

ohenriquez

ohenriquez

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 7, 2005
74
7
Auckland, New Zealand
I read somewhere that the iPhone 5s is prone to less scratches as the silver, grey and gold versions are all colour metals not painted.
I wonder whether this is the case
I am quite interested on the Gold version but I am not sure whether the gold is painted like the previous iPhone 5 slate
If that is the case I may choose the black one

I wonder whether any of you can confirm whether the iPhone 5s are colour metals and not painted

I apologise if this has been discussed before
 
ohenriquez said:
I read somewhere that the iPhone 5s is prone to less scratches as the silver, grey and gold versions are all colour metals not painted.
I wonder whether this is the case
I am quite interested on the Gold version but I am not sure whether the gold is painted like the previous iPhone 5 slate
If that is the case I may choose the black one

I wonder whether any of you can confirm whether the iPhone 5s are colour metals and not painted

I apologise if this has been discussed before
Click to expand...

NONE of the iPhones were painted. ALL iPhones are coated in Corundum ( aluminum oxide) using a chemical process. Aluminium oxide is the same material that ruby's are made of, except without impurities that make it red, and it's hardness is second only to diamond.

The problem was that Apple polished the Apple logo and the edges of the phone, to a mirror like finish meaning that the aluminum oxide had nothing to stick to. Usually you'll remove the metal before you remove the coating it's that strong of a bond. But the mirror finish removed the pores of the aluminium and also made the coating very thin so it easily chipped and was damaged.

All 4 iPhones, gold, silver, slate and gray are coated in Aluminium oxide. In may of 2013 Apple added a step in the manufacturing where they sand blasted the phone before it was coated making the surface much more durable on the slate phone. The Silver phone has UNCOATED bare metal chamfers and logos so it never had an issue with a weak finish.

The silver phone is still the most durable, and if the finish does get dinged it's silver all the way through so it's not easily visible while the other phones still can be dinged and show silver.

Apple discontinued the slate iPhone because it was difficult getting the finish consistent so they moved to a cheaper process.
 
Radiating said:
NONE of the iPhones were painted. ALL iPhones are coated in Corundum ( aluminum oxide) using a chemical process. Aluminium oxide is the same material that ruby's are made of, except without impurities that make it red, and it's hardness is second only to diamond.

The problem was that Apple polished the Apple logo and the edges of the phone, to a mirror like finish meaning that the aluminum oxide had nothing to stick to. Usually you'll remove the metal before you remove the coating it's that strong of a bond. But the mirror finish removed the pores of the aluminium and also made the coating very thin so it easily chipped and was damaged.

All 4 iPhones, gold, silver, slate and gray are coated in Aluminium oxide. In may of 2013 Apple added a step in the manufacturing where they sand blasted the phone before it was coated making the surface much more durable on the slate phone. The Silver phone has UNCOATED bare metal chamfers and logos so it never had an issue with a weak finish.

The silver phone is still the most durable, and if the finish does get dinged it's silver all the way through so it's not easily visible while the other phones still can be dinged and show silver.

Apple discontinued the slate iPhone because it was difficult getting the finish consistent so they moved to a cheaper process.
Click to expand...

The problem is that chemical reaction only reacts with the surface metal - get a scratch or chip more than a few molecules deep and you can see the underlying metal that did not undergo chemical reaction.

To me, these colors just look lighter and closer to original silver, so scratches won't be super obivous like they were on Slate.
 
The one thing I absolutely HATED about this black iPhone 5 is the scratched up edges. When I first saw the shiny black edges I thought it to be a rather sexy design feature, not knowing it was painted over the shiny silver edging.

Going back to White... this time around. :)
 
orangebluedevil said:
The problem is that chemical reaction only reacts with the surface metal - get a scratch or chip more than a few molecules deep and you can see the underlying metal that did not undergo chemical reaction.

To me, these colors just look lighter and closer to original silver, so scratches won't be super obivous like they were on Slate.
Click to expand...

Agree, chips will be less visible..but the slate iPhone 5 was better looking than the "space grey" iPhone 5S :(
 
zamudiovsky said:
Agree, chips will be less visible..but the slate iPhone 5 was better looking than the "space grey" iPhone 5S :(
Click to expand...

In theory, maybe... but my slate iPhone 5 is all chipped and scratched to hell. I'm one of the "naked" guys who doesn't much care for a case on my phone. I did have a Zagg on the front and back for 2-3 months, but that didn't save the edges from getting scuffed and showing silver through.
 
zamudiovsky said:
Agree, chips will be less visible..but the slate iPhone 5 was better looking than the "space grey" iPhone 5S :(
Click to expand...

Personally I like the space grey because of the contrast with grey and black. The slate looks way too dark, just my opinion though :) You might like it when you see the product in person.

Funny thing is that few of my friends actually like the gold version a lot, in fact they might get the gold version. It's cool but not for me haha
 
Last edited:
henry72 said:
Funny thing is that quite a few people actually like the gold version a lot :)
Click to expand...
post-22074-Family-Guy-puke-vomit-barf-gif-bE47.gif


I agree with you though about the Grey being better than Slate :)

Hopefully it's not painted on like Slate was so it won't look like trash the second you accidentally scuff your iPhone taking it out of its case.
 
iPadPublisher said:
In theory, maybe... but my slate iPhone 5 is all chipped and scratched to hell. I'm one of the "naked" guys who doesn't much care for a case on my phone. I did have a Zagg on the front and back for 2-3 months, but that didn't save the edges from getting scuffed and showing silver through.
Click to expand...

Hey, my iPhone 5 goes naked as well, I only have the armor protector on the front back and sides, but you can't see it and I have 0 scratches on my phone haha, I just can't put a case on this beauty, I bought it because I liked how it looked I'm not going to cover that hahaha

henry72 said:
Personally I like the space grey because of the contrast with grey and black. The slate looks very dark. Just my opinion. You might like it when you see the product in person.

Funny thing is that few of my friends actually like the gold version a lot :) It's cool but for me haha
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to agree on that too, I can't judge it until I see it in person haha oh, and I hated the gold one hahaha
 
Dear Radiating

Thank you very much for your informative and insightful response. Much more helpful than the online session with the "Apple specialist". He told me today that "all the iPhone models would be made to be equally durable" his responses were vague.
I am now more inclined to choose the gold one, my second option would be the grey one as I already had a white one.
I had few black iPhones in the past and while I still find them elegant, I may think that it would be good to change
No matter which iPhone 5s I choose, I will look after it like the other iPhones I had before. I have sold them in mint condition. I wont let a single scratch to spoil a premium device. :apple:
 
ohenriquez said:
Dear Radiating

Thank you very much for your informative and insightful response. Much more helpful than the online session with the "Apple specialist". He told me today that "all the iPhone models would be made to be equally durable" his responses were vague.
I am now more inclined to choose the gold one, my second option would be the grey one as I already had a white one.
I had few black iPhones in the past and while I still find them elegant, I may think that it would be good to change
No matter which iPhone 5s I choose, I will look after it like the other iPhones I had before. I have sold them in mint condition. I wont let a single scratch to spoil a premium device. :apple:
Click to expand...
Still sporting an iPhone 5 Black, purchased on day one without a scratch. It's how you look after your stuff rather than how it's coated that's equally important. I'm sure mine will look this good when I'm querying up for my iPhone 6!
 
I really love my iPhone 5 black/slate. I use a case on mine but not always. Had my 5 replaced because of a volume button. My new iPhone 5 is in really good condition.

The phone I exchanged had a couple of specks of silver showing. I think they should have had the black/slate as an option. I know I would have gotten it scuff or no scuffs. They could have had two white iPhones silver and gold and two black iPhones space grey and slate.

Before the keynote I was tempted by the gold but had made my mind up to get black/slate. I was very disappointed they discontinued the black slate. Will be keeping my 5 as a backup, and will probably get space grey.

As a side note, are there companies that could change the space grey to black slate? By either swapping iPhone 5 parts or painting the aluminum?

Probably wouldn't have it done, just curious. I know I saw mock-ups of gold/black. I could definetly see me getting that.
 
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