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Little Dots on Back of iPhone? (Pics)

I

irule1114

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
14
0
I have had my iPhone 3G since the beginning and have noticed these little dots on the back but I am now just getting around to trying to figure out what they are. They are all over the back.

My iPhone has always been inside a rubber incase and is always treated with care.

Does anyone know what they are?

Photo%201.jpg

Photo%202.jpg

Photo%203.jpg
 
I don't think so. The case is very...for lack of better words... Protective...

It is rubber and quite soft and kind to the phone.

Could the spots be from stress coming from inside the phone like the cracks that formed on some phones?

It is this:
black2-1.jpg
 
Was there any type of dirt or other junk that was in the case?

I just cant think of any reason why those dots would appear if it was in the case all the time, unless it was somehow caused by the case.
 
They are permanent.

I also don't really think it came from the case because you can't really feel anything when you rub your finger over them. You can even rub your nail across them and you don't feel anything.

I am thinking that it is coming from inside the phone out.
 
That seems very unlikely to me.

The most reasonable answer is that the case caused some kind of pressure on the back of the phone which caused the dots to appear.

I highly doubt that anything in the phone would, or could, visibly alter the outside of the case.
 
When I've had my case on for a while and take it off, I get those. It's just bits of dirt/dust stuck to the plastic. Bit of scrubbing will get them off eventually ;)
 
How could the case cause any pressure at all on the phone. It is molded to the phone so it doesn't cause pressure.

My idea of them coming from the inside out comes from the reports of the cracks forming on the early iPhones. I got mine just about a week after it came which makes it go along perfectly the time frame of the cracking iPhones.
 
Tokiopop said:
When I've had my case on for a while and take it off, I get those. It's just bits of dirt/dust stuck to the plastic. Bit of scrubbing will get them off eventually ;)
Click to expand...


What did you use to scrub them off? I have tried cotton shirts with rubbing alcohol and can't get em off.
 
If they dots were any type of cracks you would be able to feel them.

I also have an original iPhone, and there is nothing wrong with the back, but I have never had the phone in a case.

Cases can cause friction, and therefore tarnish the phone, very easily. This is the sole reason that I have stopped using cases on my phone.

Invisible Shield makes excellent cases that you stick on, and they wont ever damage your phone.
 
irule1114 said:
What did you use to scrub them off? I have tried cotton shirts with rubbing alcohol and can't get em off.
Click to expand...

I just use some screen/lens cleaner... Thing. With my iPhone cloth, the one which was in the box. Sometimes you get a really stubbern bit that just wont come off :p

What material is your case? Mine's silicone (sp? :p).

I've got some on mine now. I'll try get some pictures up of before and after cleaning. And I can't feal them also, as if it came from underneath.
 
Apple iKid said:
If they dots were any type of cracks you would be able to feel them.

I also have an original iPhone, and there is nothing wrong with the back, but I have never had the phone in a case.

Cases can cause friction, and therefore tarnish the phone, very easily. This is the sole reason that I have stopped using cases on my phone.

Invisible Shield makes excellent cases that you stick on, and they wont ever damage your phone.
Click to expand...

They could be cracks that just haven't reached the surface. It could be that they have reached just below the surface.

About the friction, the case is molded to fit the phone and hence it doesn't move. It can't cause friction if it doesn't move.

On the invisible shield, I used to have one on the phone but I like the protection the rubber case has for shock and it makes the phone a bit more tacky than the Invisible Shield does so it is very hard to slide off something.
 
Tokiopop said:
I just use some screen/lens cleaner... Thing. With my iPhone cloth, the one which was in the box. Sometimes you get a really stubbern bit that just wont come off :p

What material is your case? Mine's silicone (sp? :p).
Click to expand...

I will try that. How long does it usually take and how much force?

The case is silicone.
 
irule1114 said:
They could be cracks that just haven't reached the surface. It could be that they have reached just below the surface.

About the friction, the case is molded to fit the phone and hence it doesn't move. It can't cause friction if it doesn't move.

On the invisible shield, I used to have one on the phone but I like the protection the rubber case has for shock and it makes the phone a bit more tacky than the Invisible Shield does so it is very hard to slide off something.
Click to expand...

No matter how perfectly molded any case may be, if it does not stick to the phone itself, it can tarnish it.

It also seems a little unlikely that the back could crack in so many places at once.
 
Apple iKid said:
No matter how perfectly molded any case may be, if it does not stick to the phone itself, it can tarnish it.

It also seems a little unlikely that the back could crack in so many places at once.
Click to expand...

I'll give you that. That does make sense. I guess I am just paranoid.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (white): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

gadgetdad said:
use a 3/8" drill bill and drill them out, then bondo the holes up. Sand and repaint...Good as new.
Click to expand...

Sounds intriguing. I hope the OP goes this route and documents the whole thing with pictures. I definitely want to see this! :)
 
I have the same type of marks on my Apple Logo of my White iPhone 3G. They have been there OTB since purchase date, but I didn't bother complain because they are little marks causing no function disabilities. Sure, it bugs the hell out of me, but I let it go because everything else works...
 
i have the same exact type of dots on the top half of the back of my white 3G, i think its from my incase slider.
:(
 
I have the same problem. Unfortunately, it is caused by the case (i have a very similar one). If you take the case off, you'll notice that no more of the weird spots form.

I think what happens is a small amount of dirt gets under the case, and then rubs against the phone, causing the small dent, and makes the mark.
 
I have the same type of Incase protector for my iPod Touch, and my iPod has been in the case literally from the first minute I took it out of the box. A year later, the back of my iPod is covered with numerous, similar types of spots. On my iPod they look like little areas where the case has just lost its gloss. You can't feel them with your fingernail, but they don't wipe off either.

I've discovered that very small pieces of grit/dust can make their way behind the protective case, between it and the iPod itself, then the very small movement of the protective case against the iPod grinds the grit into localized areas causing the spots. Since the protective case isn't rigid (it's silicone rubber), anything that presses on the protective case transfers that pressure to the iPod's case, with the grit caught in between.
 
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