Scratches Appear on Early iPhone 4 Review Unit

[MacRumors]

One of Apple's key design features for iPhone 4 is its all-glass front and back, utilizing a material touted by Apple as being "more scratch resistant than ever". Apple has placed such faith in the strength and durability of iPhone 4's glass that it is featuring bumpers to offer protection for the device's edges while leaving the front and back fully exposed.

Several of the early iPhone 4 reviews noted that the glass seemed to be holding up well, with several reviewers reporting having dropped their devices with no ill effects observed. Engadget is now reporting, however, that several scratches have been discovered on the back of its review unit after only five days of use.

The photo you're seeing above is our leader Joshua's iPhone 4 review unit, snapped by Ryan Block just moments ago. Ryan pointed out that there are some nasty scratches on the back of the phone. While we don't have any better photos of it at the moment, Josh told us that they're hard to see unless in bright light, but they look pretty notable to us for a five day-old unit made of Gorilla Glass.

While few would expect iPhone 4's glass to reach an indestructible level of durability, the rather rapid accumulation of "nasty" scratches in just a few days of use may be a concern to some possible purchasers and bears watching as users consider their options for protecting the device during daily use.

Article Link: Scratches Appear on Early iPhone 4 Review Unit

 

[quigleybc]

only on MR is this front page news....love it

 

[RonHC]

Hopefully my damn Zagg INVISIBLE SHIELD GETS HERE
ORDER THE 11TH

 

[yensteel]

Damn! Just when I was considering using it naked!

 

[djschief]

this is why i ordered an invisible shield last week :-D you cant trust the claims by companies 100%. sure it may be durable, but you're bound to get scratches!

 

[azboricua]

I dont understand why you guys are so surprised.

 

[Nebrie]

Looks like they'd be less noticeable on a WHITE iPhone.

Ya hear that Steve? WHITE iPhone. Now hand it over.

 

[chrono1081]

OMG stuff scratches!?!?!? Oh my! I'd of NEVER thought that things could get scratches!!!!

This is almost as dumb as the people who bitch about stuff "easily getting fingerprints".

 

[theheadguy]

I dont understand why you guys are so surprised.

exactly. there wouldn't be a market for cases if their claims were true.

 

[angemon89]

The invisible shield might not be such a bad idea for the back. I would imagine it can be applied really easy because the back is completely flat.

 

[TheJae]

So now not only am i gonna need one of those plastic film for the screen but am gonna need a second one for the back??

 

[bstpierre]

I am sure that phone has seen more abuse in five days than mine will see in it's life time.

 

[TMRaven]

Why is this on front page news?

 

[alexk82]

sounds good for

sounds good for those selling accessories, especially my brother who sells them in malls =)

 

[Les Kern]

Man, I can see the class-action lawsuits now.
"Golly, a SCRATCH!!!!! OMG how can it SCRATCH?!?!?! I only put it in my pocket with my keys, and occasionally toss it on a table. Oh, and I dropped it once."
Jeebus, get a damn case. Maybe one made of diamond or carborundum. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T APPLE make the case out of diamond or carborundum???? Oh the humanity.

 

[JonB3Z]

It seems at least possible that the back-panel glass is a lesser (cheaper) grade of glass since it isn't something one needs to look through. Pure speculation on my part, of course. The important question to me is whether the front glass is scratched.

I'm not worried anyway. My 2-year-old 3G has no special protection. I carry it in a belt case, but when outside the case it is naked, and its screen is pristine. I don't expect the 4 to be less rugged.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

this is why i ordered an invisible shield last week :-D you cant trust the claims by companies 100%. sure it may be durable, but you're bound to get scratches!

Enjoy the ugliness as it begins to peel off and get crud under it when you put it in and take it out of your pocket.

 

[HelveticaNeue]

Hmmm ... I wonder if these scratches might be from his drop test or throwing the phone across the room twice, hitting the wall, all of which he admitted to doing in his review.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Whoa. Some people need to chill out (does anyone still say that?).

 

[Small White Car]

I dunno.

"Nasty" and "hard to see unless in bright light" don't really line up, in my opinion.

My 3G has all sorts of flaws in really direct sunlight that can barely be seen indoors or in the shade. Are they talking about things like that? I don't mind those kind of things.

I'm just finding it tough to understand what they mean, exactly, since they're describing it differently at different times.

 

[Poll Smoker]

Man, I can see the class-action lawsuits now.
"Golly, a SCRATCH!!!!! OMG how can it SCRATCH?!?!?! I only put it in my pocket with my keys, and occasionally toss it on a table. Oh, and I dropped it once."
Jeebus, get a damn case. Maybe one made of diamond or carborundum. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T APPLE make the case out of diamond or carborundum???? Oh the humanity.

Your post was so intelligent and insightful that you needed to post it twice??

 

[irnchriz]

iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Had them all since launch, all with standard glass screens and NO screen protection. Number of combined scratches = 0

Just goes to show that if you get something for nothing you show it no respect. Going on the form of these guys at Engadget it would not surprise me if they went out of their way to scratch it.

Looks like they did..
From the Engadget review "We've got a few bumpers in-house, and while we're not really big fans of the way they look or feel, they do seem to protect the phone pretty well. On that note, we've actually seen the iPhone 4 tossed with and without a bumper across a room (one hit a wall) with no issue, and we dropped ours pretty hard from about two feet up onto tile with nary a scratch."

 

[Les Kern]

Whoa. Some people need to chill out (does anyone still say that?).

Yes, those born before 1980.

 

[WickedRabbit]

You guys would be surprised how gullible the average customer actually is. I know plenty of people who take everything Steve Jobs and Aaron Greenberg (Microsoft) say as if it's 100% fact and not a marketing ploy and they even when something goes wrong they actually say "it must just be my device that's bad, but their claims are true."

Marketing is strong for a reason: it works. There will be plenty of people who won't buy a case just because a) they want to show off they have an iPhone and how pretty it is and b) they actually think it won't get scratches because Steve said so.

Anyone with common sense (again, the majority of average consumers have no technological common sense) would know it's an expensive phone that has two glass sides with no good insurance plan and would either get screen (and back screen protectors now I suppose lol), invisible shield or just get a full on case if they are worried about dropping.

Personally, I'm waiting to see a Smooth Case from Case-Mate. I like the one for the 3GS and hope they plan to do this for the iPhone 4.

 

[AncientLuanna]

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