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This is my first white iPhone ever. I'm glad I picked the 5 to go white this time. I don't like cases because they rob the phone of the intended aesthetic IMHO.
 
For that price that shouldnt be necessary.

iPhone 2 and 3 we're easily scratched.

iPhone 4 - I never at a tiny little mark - love the glas.

My daughters iPhone 5 is already marked of use - and it's 2 days old :-/

What does she do with it? I got mine Friday went camping all weekend with. I work outside as a service technician for the phone company keeping my phone in my pocket all day long. I'm around dirt and tools the whole time. No scratches. No case.
 
i have a black aluminum mt bike that doesn't have many scratches at all...and that is after 10-15 years use.

I thought anodized was supposed to make it stronger? does it just make it shinier?

(My bike is a matte black aluminum)

There's a post in one of the scratch threads from a guy who works at a company manufacturing anodized aluminum parts - great info about the process (and how the harder variant would likely not be suitable for the iPhone):

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15845843/


[...]

If you payed for it, it's up to you to be the judge....and my decision to judge you for your judgement. :rolleyes:

Good post, having owned quite a few aluminum/anodized products, I agree - also on the point that the end user should at least get a perfect starting point. I don't think those scuffed out of the box phones are actually scuffed, I think there's some QA issues in the anodizing process.


I won't be satisfied until apple starts making their phones out of adamantium.

Hahaha, nice, and timely, I was just reading some info about the upcoming Wolverine sequel :)


Why didn't Apple use the plain uncoated Aluminium that they use for all their laptops? Seems like that would be less scratch prone and would look very classy. :D

I think I'm going to polish mine :)
 
Scratching is normal after regular use over time, not straight outta the box. These Apple execs are delusional sometimes.

what's to say the people claiming out of the box are just saying that because of their mistake of putting their keys in the same pocket? I'd like to see a legit unboxing video of a scratched iPhone before I believe this.

It is easy to hate on someone or pass the blame. You should be more questioning before you act. Poor old Rubin Carter was jailed wrongfully because people didn't question things.
 
Let's agree we live in the same universe...

So your car had all of the above after one week? Alda I wouldn't mind since MASH is my all-time favorite show, but I just bought a car 1.5 months ago and it has gotten no damage yet that can't be detailed away (water spots). I doubt the phone can receive such massaging to bring its youthful good looks back. That said, I'm a case guy. This thing is being treated like a Faberge egg until Incase ships. :) Yet it shouldn't *have* to be.

No, my car didn't have any of those issues after a week, but I'm sure that if, during that week, there had been a windy storm blowing branches and stuff around, or I had gone to a busy parking lot with carts careeming around, or I had done laundry and put my laundry basket on the trunk and dragged it off carelessly, it would have.

Just like in the first week of owning our iPhone 5's, if we carefully avoided keys, coins, Alan Alda, hard surfaces of tables, etc. that they'd be much nicer looking at the week's end.

The whole debate, and it's sad that there is one, comes down to whether or not one can properly put into context what this device is, what it's made of, the decision they made to purchase it, and the proper expectations one should have moving forward.

I can't reasonably agree, in any way whatsoever, with any one individual who expects this device to not succumb to scratching, denting, and scuffing from coming into contact with things that scratch, dent, and scuff it.

There is an obvious, somewhat unspoken, but real sense that a majority of people feel that this phone should somehow defy the laws of physics, matter and the general universe we agree we live in, just because it was made by Apple and is called "iPhone."

If we take off our Apple hats, and put on our human-being-living-in-the-21st-century hats, we can all easily agree that this is a thing, made of materials, and suffers damage and cosmetic markings just like anything else made of similar materials.
 
Either apple goes back to gorilla glass when the new one comes out or...

Dont like scratches ? do what i do ! use a protector for the back of the phone im sure someone will come up with one
 
Every time there is a defect in its products, Apple call it a feature.

#iLost with Apple Maps is a feature. It will improve over time.
Antenagate is a feature; you're holding it wrong.
Aluminum back is easily scratched, it's normal.

Apple would never apologize, just like Mitt Romney. ;)

...and I guess they will never take blame for it either...kinda like Obama.
 
I can't understand why people are comparing cars to their iPhones. Apple & oranges. Cars are exposed to the elements; snow, hail, rain, sunshine, rocks. You park them next to other cars and careless people hit them. On the other hand, an iPhone mostly sits in ones pocket. It gets exposed to lint. Maybe you drop it rarely. It does not face the same wear and tear that the exterior of a car faces. Please stop using this completely unreasonable comparison.
 
Oh my god!!!! A scratch!!!! I thought we figured out how to scratch proof everything in this world.
 
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No, my car didn't have any of those issues after a week, but I'm sure that if, during that week, there had been a windy storm blowing branches and stuff around, or I had gone to a busy parking lot with carts careeming around, or I had done laundry and put my laundry basket on the trunk and dragged it off carelessly, it would have.

Just like in the first week of owning our iPhone 5's, if we carefully avoided keys, coins, Alan Alda, hard surfaces of tables, etc. that they'd be much nicer looking at the week's end.

The whole debate, and it's sad that there is one, comes down to whether or not one can properly put into context what this device is, what it's made of, the decision they made to purchase it, and the proper expectations one should have moving forward.

I can't reasonably agree, in any way whatsoever, with any one individual who expects this device to not succumb to scratching, denting, and scuffing from coming into contact with things that scratch, dent, and scuff it.

There is an obvious, somewhat unspoken, but real sense that a majority of people feel that this phone should somehow defy the laws of physics, matter and the general universe we agree we live in, just because it was made by Apple and is called "iPhone."

If we take off our Apple hats, and put on our human-being-living-in-the-21st-century hats, we can all easily agree that this is a thing, made of materials, and suffers damage and cosmetic markings just like anything else made of similar materials.

Well said Mr. Pink. I agree wholeheartedly.
 
People are being completely ridiculous. If you received one scratched out of the box, I can understand your complaint and you have a right to do so as many people have received unscathed phones.

But seriously, remember iPhone 1st gen, the phone people paid $600 for? It scratched just as "easily" (Slamming your keys or jabbing them into the phone is not my definition of easy.)

Given the many drop tests, I would much rather have an iPhone 5 that doesn't bust when dropped rather than a 4/4S that the screen or back shatters.

I have a 5 right now with no scratches, and I have been carrying it around all weekend setting up heavy furniture for a friends wedding...no case, no scratches. I just have a very simple system - phone right pocket, keys left pocket.

And if it does scratch, so be it. My car has scratches on it from regular use, there is nothing I can do to prevent them. If you are worried about your kid slamming the phone on the table, then don't hand them your phone and buy them an old iPod touch for $50 off craigslist.
 
So it's not hard anodized?

I have lots of aluminum things that are pretty scratch resistant. In fact, the shock bodies on my radio controlled car are like this. All aluminum, but are hard anodized and they do not scratch easily. They are made this way to take the abuse of a piston rubbing on the inside and a spring touching on the outside. This is not to say that you can't scratch them, it's just not easy.
This just seems like a mistake. All the product testers had micro fiber lined pockets.:rolleyes: But seriously even regular anodizing is not that easy to scratch.
 
ooh ooh ooh! I have the solution!
Make it out of crappy cheap plastic like Android phones!
You're welcome!

I was pretty fine with the glass back of iphone 4/4s ... i don't want a crappy plastic phone! ... if i would have the choice, i'd definately go again for glass. my iphone 4 dropped within 1 week and the glass survived. it wasn't that bad at all!
 
And honestly, I've been saying this about the glass back on the iphone 4. People complain it breaks if you drop it, I've been saying at least if you take care of it it can look pristine later (With a case my iPhone 4 with some cleaning of smudges would look brand new. And it's not like I haven't dropped it cause trust me, it's been dropped). Unlike stuff that scratches easy. Schiller is absolutely right, this stuff happens on painted or anodized surfaces. So now, I can drop it, but even if I take really good care, chances are it will get a scratch.

I like how the 5 looks, but if you want it to stay looking that way, it's going to take being very careful with it. Which will be more work than just trying not to drop it (which was really the one thing you had to do with the 4/4S). I've got mine in a case already (which I've decided is actually nice cause the case I have doesn't have much padding but has good grip on the side. I will say I'm not as worried about dropping it so I'm not so worried the case is so thin I'm not sure how well it will fare helping my phone if I drop it. SO there is benefits too).
 
When they used Gorilla Glass on the back, people complained that it broke and was heavy. Now that they use aluminum, people complain that it scratches. If they switch back to plastic, people will complain that it feels cheap.

I agree that the phone shouldn't be scratched out of the box. However, it's unrealistic to expect any phone to remain "perfect."
 
If you are going to be tossing your phone in your pocket with keys and such, you can expect some scratches. Perhaps a case for your phone makes sense?

I keep my iPhone in my left front pocket screen down, and that is all that goes in that pocket so I'm not overly concerned... for the first time, I'm going without as case, for now anyway. We'll see how it goes.

I agree that phones should not be marked right out of the box though.
 
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