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iPhone 13 Pro PVD coating

fitgirl

fitgirl

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 25, 2013
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Does the silver iPhone 13 pro max have the PVD coating on the mirrored side bands? i was at the Apple store the other day and one of their employees said that yes the silver does have this coating, and I’ve also heard that no it does not, does anyone here know if it’s a yes of a no? And if it’s a yes will this coating prevent the silver from scratching easily?
 
Unless something has changed this year, the silver steel has always been totally uncoated and uncoloured. It’s simply polished steel.

That has the disadvantage of it scratching very easily, but the advantage that you can polish out light scratches.

My colleague has a silver 13 Pro Max and the steel doesn’t look any different to me.
 
Last edited:
RobinYerbank said:
Unless something has changed this year, the silver steel has always been totally uncoated and uncoloured. It’s simply polished steel.

That has the disadvantage of it scratching very easily, but the advantage that you can polish out light scratches.

My colleague has a silver 13 Pro Max and the steel doesn’t look any different to me.
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I know that iPhone 12 Pro Max had it because it was announced in the keynotes
 
fitgirl said:
I know that iPhone 12 Pro Max had it because it was announced in the keynotes
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It was a bit ambiguous in the presentation, but I’m pretty sure they were referring to the coloured models, plus the new magnetron coating process for the gold models.

I had the silver 12 Pro Max for a few months and it scratched just as easily as the 11 Pro Max and XS Max I had before it.

Whereas the gold 12 Pro I had for a couple of months was far more scratch resistant.
 
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RobinYerbank said:
It was a bit ambiguous in the presentation, but I’m pretty sure they were referring to the coloured models, plus the new magnetron coating process for the gold models.

I had the silver 12 Pro Max for a few months and it scratched just as easily as the 11 Pro Max and XS Max I had before it.

Whereas the gold 12 Pro I had for a couple of months was far more scratch resistant.
Click to expand...
Did you by chance keep your 12 pro max in a case?
 
fitgirl said:
I know that iPhone 12 Pro Max had it because it was announced in the keynotes
Click to expand...
I'm fairly certain that the silver model did not have the PVD coating. I remember seeing someone last year did use the polishing stuff on the silver 12 pro/pro max. I'm pretty sure that's the same case this year. Even the 11 pro's silver did not have pvd coating.
 
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fitgirl said:
Did you by chance keep your 12 pro max in a case?
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I kept it in a clear case or Apple leather case most of the time. Taking it in and out of cases left little scratches, but it never bothered me too much.

I did try a Cape Cod polishing cloth and it buffed out most of the scratches, though!
 
Silver most definitely doesn't have it. My buddy had a couple of minor scratches on his 12 Pro Max and he used a little Meguiars Stainless/aluminum wheel polish and they came right out.
 
RobinYerbank said:
I kept it in a clear case or Apple leather case most of the time. Taking it in and out of cases left little scratches, but it never bothered me too much.

I did try a Cape Cod polishing cloth and it buffed out most of the scratches, though!
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Guess the Appel employee didn’t know what he was talking about I have a silver iPhone reserved for me to pick up today but now I’m worried because I hate getting scratches lol
 
fitgirl said:
Guess the Appel employee didn’t know what he was talking about I have a silver iPhone reserved for me to pick up today but now I’m worried because I hate getting scratches lol
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But look on the bright side, you can actually buff out those scratches using those cape cod polishing cloth. You can't do those on graphite, Sierra blue and the gold because it will ruin the pvd coating and if you have scratches on those, those will be permanent. But on Silver, it can be removed.
 
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fitgirl said:
Guess the Appel employee didn’t know what he was talking about I have a silver iPhone reserved for me to pick up today but now I’m worried because I hate getting scratches lol
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I only buy the silver just so I can buff out minor scratches. I'm going on 4 years with my X and it still looks great.. I would consider a colored Pro/ Pro Max if they used a DLC coating. Although PVD is hard to scratch, when it does it's there for good..
 
That’s a weird question. Maybe for themselves. Not everyone wants their stuff to look used and worn out.
 
I believe that stainless steel frame is merely highly polished lacking a PVD or DLC coating. That said, put a dBrand skin around the frame or dBrand Grip case. I put a Otterbox Defender Pro case on my 13 Pro Max.
 
On my silver 13 Pro Max I put XtremeSkins clear glossy skin on the frame of the phone. No more fingerprints or scratches on the frame.
 
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Taz Mangus said:
On my silver 13 Pro Max I put XtremeSkins clear glossy skin on the frame of the phone. No more fingerprints or scratches on the frame.
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Did you use the included fluid?
I‘m wondering If it’s safe to use as it is mostly alcohol and I imagine it can damage/degrade the phones gaskets
 
abcedfg said:
Did you use the included fluid?
I‘m wondering If it’s safe to use as it is mostly alcohol and I imagine it can damage/degrade the phones gaskets
Click to expand...
I ended up using regular water. Can also use the included solution. I would stay away from using alcohol.
 
fitgirl said:
Guess the Appel employee didn’t know what he was talking about I have a silver iPhone reserved for me to pick up today but now I’m worried because I hate getting scratches lol
Click to expand...

So I couldn't say for sure since I don't have the 13 Pro in Silver, but even last year Apple made a big deal of the PVD coating on their phones and a larger portion of this forum assumed that meant it applied to the Silver as well, but I can assure you it did not based upon my Silver iPhone 12 Pro.

The Silver edges WILL get scuffs and micro scratches easily - there's nothing you can do. And you WILL be able to see them, but mine remained shiny and it wasn't an eyesore. If you love the clean silver look I'd just go for it and maybe be mindful of where you set it down (I don't use a case).
 
I always bought the silver model along with the Apple leather case and sometimes silicone case. It always looks like day 1, not a single scratch.
 
RobinYerbank said:
Unless something has changed this year, the silver steel has always been totally uncoated and uncoloured. It’s simply polished steel.

That has the disadvantage of it scratching very easily, but the advantage that you can polish out light scratches.

My colleague has a silver 13 Pro Max and the steel doesn’t look any different to me.
Click to expand...
I am going to have to say the silver is coated. I tried using metal polish that would normally make any other stainless steel turn the cloth black however this did not happen with my silver iPhone 13 Pro Max. I would imagine enough polishing will remove the coating before actually hitting the stainless steel turning the cloth black.
 
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