Phil Schiller Says iPhone 5 Scratching 'Normal' for Any Aluminum Product

[MH01]

So you are suggesting to use sapphire crystal to make a phone? LOL?

Nah, would be too heavy and ceramic phones would crack when dropped. Though for a watch its an awesome combo if u want durability, own two ceramics and they are awesome

As you said in a previous post, all apple had to do is not be the cheapest with thier coating to avoid this situation. I am not aware of the different anodised levels and costs or even pvd, dlc etc, but surely they could have avoided the cheapest route....

 

[Lark.Landon]

The problem is that the phone scuffs under normal usage, like putting it in your pocket (ofcourse not one with other stuff in it) and putting it down on tables etc. If your car would get scratched all the way down to the metal every time you took it for a drive or parked it in a garage, wouldn't you be mad?

No. That's why you get a drivers license so you can learn to drive *without* hitting curbs, poles, other cars and pedestrians. Also not running coins and keys along your paint should help with preventing scratches on your car.

 

[jazz1]

Phil is 100% right. That isn't to say that perhaps Aluminum was a poor choice of material, but anodized aluminum scratches and scuffs. It is a soft material with a semi-hard coating.

Classig Sig Sauer pistols are a perfect example. Their slides are stainless or carbon steel (depending) and the frame is anodized aluminum. The simple act of shoving it into a soft leather holster is enough to cause "holster wear." Which is the firearm community's version of scuffs.

"Holster Wear" Look it up.


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Aluminum Flashlight fans know aluminum scratches as well:

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Thank you for that. I was going to bring up the finish on Glocks. Sure enough my Surefire flashlight does the same thing.

The iPhone 4S seemed a little more wear resistant, but of course not more drop resistant. But heck even in a case I got wear on the 4S outer non glass housing from grit rubbing between the case and the metal. Some cases were worse than others. I had luck with Speck and Ivyskin keeping the grit out. Thus less wear and tear even with the case on.

In the end I prefer Apple's glass and/metal over plastic.

 

[blackhand1001]

Ignorance on your end. Plastic scratches more easily than aluminum..

No not really. Aluminum is very very low on the moh hardness scale. Around 2.5 out of 10. Its actually a very poor material for phones in general. Sucks for reception, dents extremely easily, and scratches easily.

 

[Swift]

I had 2 marks right out of the box on my band. I took a sharpie to it and I cant see them anymore. However, this is terrible quality control. Let the user scratch it, not the Chinese assembly line...

Take a picture of it when it arrives and I'd bet they take it back.

 

[fromoxwithlove]

maybe his cat got a hold of it.

lol

 

[CDCC]

Slides like dry ice!

"You're holding it wrong".

More Free bumpers on the way!

 

[tito2020]

They should had left uliminum polished would look very nice.

 

[sticky.chicken]

So what should Apple do or how could they make it different? I love the new slim design, I can put up with some scratches myself.

Not make it so sucky. Honestly where's the QA on this? I'm really glad I didn't line up for this eyesore only to get a phone that's chipped and dinged up before I get it out of the box.

Looks like keeping my iPhone 4 a bit longer was a good call.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Sigh, clearly you have zero clue. There are different types of anodizing, like I said. Some are much more durable than others - do some reading. I've been dealing with metals and anodizing for almost 20 years. When 'hardcoat' anodizing or 'military spec' anodizing is used the parts are much more durable then type 1 which is likely what Apple has used since it is cheap, and quite thin. So before you ask where my head is buried I suggest you do some reading. Now none of us know exactly what type of anodizing is used by Apple but judging by the issues thus far it seems pretty thin and cheap which would lead me to believe it is type 1.

Thank you. I have tried to state this a few times in the other scratching thread and was told that I don't know what I am talking about. I gave examples of other products which cost less than the iPhone that had a durable anodized finish. My point simply was that it is possible to have a durable anodized finish.

 

[dmelgar]

No not really. Aluminum is very very low on the moh hardness scale. Around 2.5 out of 10. Its actually a very poor material for phones in general. Sucks for reception, dents extremely easily, and scratches easily.

Yes really. We're not comparing to other metals. Compared to polycarbonate, aluminum is harder and more scratch resistant.

A reference I found is http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/mw1_ge/kap_8/advanced/t8_4_2.html

 

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by nikhsub1
So you are suggesting to use sapphire crystal to make a phone? LOL?

No, I was replying to a comment about a scratched Rolex.

Actually, it might not be that far fetched. 20cm sapphire wafers and larger are available now, and 30cm in the near future.

Several years ago 200 kg sapphire crystals were being made.

(click to enlarge)​

 

[3282868]

1) I don't recall my plastic 3/3GS scratching off as others claim
2) 4/4S models with the glass shells did not scratch off to this extent as they were, glass
3) metals can, and should, be either factory coated or produced to prevent such cosmetic dealings (anodized metals can be made as such)

If a car came factory produced with such a vulnerability it would be considered a failure in product design; imagine pulling off the lot with Apple's iPhone 5 coating on your car, it wouldn't last a minute. A mobile device should be able to withstand normal wear without a case; Ive himself stated how much he hates cases, so why produce a popular device that requires a case?

Metal scratches, however companies have produced ways in reducing such wear (as nikhsub1 and AppleScruff1 have attested). This coupled with Schiller's hubris is ludicrous for a company making billions off customers. This is not the company I came to like more than a decade ago, and hubris is always the first ingredient in the end of a reign.

 

[dmelgar]

Another data point. We received our pre-ordered black phone. No stores have any white ones in stock so we opened it. Generally looked good... except for one tiny nick in the aluminum that exposed the bare metal. Its not a chip, rather more like a dent or nick. But very tiny. As if you hit it with the edge of a razor. Very small, but present nonetheless.

So far, I've only seen one perfect black one out of 5 that I've inspected closely.

Not sure why Apple decided to paint these black. Sure it was a styling decision. But the lack of durability of the finish negates that.

We've put ours in a case immediately.

 

[sticky.chicken]

I went to an Apple store near me to get AppleCare and the guy said it's self-healing... "Just air it out for a little while." I don't have any scratches yet, so I can't test this theory. It's not the anodized metal that maybe Samsung uses on one of their phones and if you scratch it you can just rub it away, is it? Anyways, even he didn't want a case - I don't blame him, it's just too beautiful.

WTF? Sounds like this bloke said any old BS to you to get you to just leave.

LOL self healing metal.

 

[dmelgar]

hubris is always the first ingredient in the end of a reign.

I've thought Apple has hubris in abundance for as long as I've followed them, certainly the last 6 years.

 

[nikhsub1]

Thank you. I have tried to state this a few times in the other scratching thread and was told that I don't know what I am talking about. I gave examples of other products which cost less than the iPhone that had a durable anodized finish. My point simply was that it is possible to have a durable anodized finish.

Truth be told, anodizing is usually done for 2 reasons - 1. Aesthetics. 2. Corrosion resistance. It only minimally helps in scratch resistance and can even make matters look worse. When a minor scratch in the black results in the silver shining through it seems very glaring. Not so with the silver, even if the scratches are identical. This goes back to using a thicker anodizing process which would likely help a whole lot.

 

[David085]

Tim Cook is a lair.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Tim Cook is a lair.

In what way is he a lair?

 

[djwindsor]

It appears those Chinese companies that made the third party back plates for the previous generation iPhone are going to be selling lots of plates for the iPhone5. Give it time folks, it won't be long before some cheap replacement plates come pouring out of the factories in China.

 

[ahoover]

How about a hard chromed iPhone 5? Even black chrome might be better than the slate anodizing. Cost would be outrageous but it would tough and very cool!

 

[faroZ06]

No, not normal.

Or if it IS normal in this case, Apple should consider a different material and paint. They released a phone that gets scratched really easily then claimed that it's normal. Why did they release a phone that normally gets scratched really easily???

 

[ScottishCaptain]

Just remember: there is no way Apple didn't know about this beforehand.

But they chose to release the product anyways, knowing that millions of people would buy it and find out about it later.

Could they have used a different metal? Sure. Could they have used a better coating? Sure. There are many different routes they could have gone to create a beautiful and durable product.

So why didn't they?

Because it was cheaper not to (remember how much Apple is charging you for a new iPhone 5). You are all enabling this sort of behaviour by blindly buying their products, just because it's "new".

-SC

 

[twigman08]

Seriously people, it is a phone. What I find so amazing that it is criticized just because it is the iPhone. As soon as any other phone is released I do not see YouTube being flooded with scratch tests, drop tests and all that crap. Though as soon as the iPhone is released what do we see? A ton of videos about what happens when scratched, dropped or both. YouTube and other internet sites get flooded with them.

Why is the iPhone under the microscope so much about this sort of stuff? If my Android phone were to come scratched (yes I've seen many Android phones come scratched on the back, I used to work for Verizon) or scuffed nothing is brought up. Though if the iPhone has one time little blemish on it's amazing outside then all hell breaks loose. Now I understand we want our phones to be perfect out of the box and respect that. They should be very close to perfect. But after some use or anything then I find it incredibly hard to blame Apple. But I guess everyone thinks Apple is some magic company that can break the laws of physics according to some people.

 

[dilonardo]

WTF? Sounds like this bloke said any old BS to you to get you to just leave.

LOL self healing metal.

If it hasn't already been mentioned, Its actually true for the backs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7081UpsPy0

There's many other youtube scratch tests, and I actually tried it myself. I intentionally (reluctantly) scratched the back with my keys, coins, and scizzors and it rubbed right off with minor elbow grease. The backs are actually AMAZING, I'm only worried about the glass portions now. We're still screwed with the bezels though.