Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

SCRATCHGATE, or how apple makes money.

chakraj said:
I love how people call facts theory, its just more double speak from the "faithful"

Its a religion dont you know, lol.

Yes the hardness of materials is a theory made to hurt the apple cult.
Click to expand...

Except they are not facts, the op doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

----------
House Crasher said:
Titanium would be awesome but have you any idea how much that would cost? I don't but it's got to be considerably more than Al.
Click to expand...

A serious amount more! Its also much, much harder to machine and I'm not actually sure if its any more scratch resistant than anodised aluminium.
 
Last edited:
pedrofan said:
Hardness of materials are measured by science in this list, that is called the Möhs scale. It says what scratches what:

Image

The material that scratches everything is the diamond, that is on the top, and can't be scratched by anything.

The material that can't scratch anything is the talc, and it can be scratched by everything, that's why it is on the bottom.

So, every material that is above another one can scratch it, more or less, like any other above.

Aluminum is only in the third place!! with 2,5 points out of 10 in the Mohs scale, while the glass or steel have 6,5 points out of 10, that is A LOT harder.

I don't know if the anodized aluminum is harder than normal aluminum, but this really means that iphone 5 is made of a material that can be scratched by almost ANYTHING. Even copper, that is present on most coins (pennies) and keys, with 3 points in the mohs scale can scratch aluminum, and steel as it is shown in this famous picture:

Steel vs aluminum:

Image

This makes me think that Apple doesn't care of us at all. They make very fragile products to last less than a year.


Iphone 4 and 4s where made of glass, that is so hard.. but also super ultra mega fragile!! One fall one broken iphone, just look for iphone 4 crash tests on youtube... Iphone 4 was the condomized phone, you couldn't use it without protection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-OBoDFeDY

Iphone 5 is made of a more resistant material against falls, but it is super soft!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSFKVq36Hgc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2BxL0nRDlY

Do you think that apple engineers don't know this??

Mmmhh I don't think so. The faster your iphone looks ugly or broken, the faster you are going to buy a new one.

That is called marketing, aggressive marketing.
Click to expand...

MacBook Pros have been aluminum for nearly a decade now. Unibody aluminum ones have been around since 2008. Your theory is full of holes.
 
brand said:
And that matters because? Big deal that he has a hard time believing how easily his iPhone scratches.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

A tech expert with 30+ years experience opinion holds much more weight than some immature forum troll that's why. :eek:
 
mine has been on a road trip and on a sail boat w/ no case.. somehow it still looks brand new.
 
LOL at all the scientists in this thread, including the OP, who have all overlooked the glaring flaw of the entire argument...

"The faster your iphone looks ugly or broken, the faster you are going to buy a new one."

For a post with lots of facts, the basic argument was pulled out of nowhere.

Please OP, enlighten us as to what miracle scratch proof material you propose the iPhone should be made from. Keep in mind it needs the following properties...

1. Does not hinder reception
2. Easy to manufacture and does not cost an extra few million dollars to retool all the factories.
3. Does not cost the end user any more than the previous model.
4. Is in keeping with Apple's design aesthetic...i.e. black plastic ain't cuttin it.
 
Bahroo said:
Well i never do that, but the guy was testing the coating of the phone and he was scratching the coating pretty hard and nothing. Although jabbing it with keys is a different story it will make holes...and the chamfered edges are not protected by the coating so the edges are susceptible to damage
Click to expand...

Time will be the true test. Just give it 6 months or so and we will know.
 
Great another thread on how the iPhone 5 scratches! :rolleyes:
Me and my wife must have got lucky and got some sort of super iPhone because neither of us have a case and neither of us have scratches or blemishes of any sort anywhere on the phone. With this said we do not carry our phones in our pockets and we are careful where we lay them. I remember when we were waiting in line at the Apple store for the iPhone 5 there was a guy in line with us using a MacBook Pro. This thing was scratched up and filthy and he was placing it on the sidewalk, sliding it on the sidewalk, and throwing it around like it was nothing. The ones that are complaining about scratches and scuffs are more than likely just like this guy! If you treat your stuff like **** then it's going to look like ****!
 
charlesdayton said:
Your table forgets plastic, a material most other smartphones are made from. It is a mere 1 in Mohs scale. Compared to up to 2.5 to 3 for Aluminum:

http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Other/Whats-The-Mohs-Scale-Of-Hardness/The-Mohs-Scale.html
Click to expand...

Exactly. Almost all Android phones are made from cheap plastic. At least Apple cares enough to make their devices out of somethimg that will hold up better than most. Yes, it scratches. Oh well. I will touch it up before I sell it in 2 years.
 
sdmcwilliams said:
Exactly. Almost all Android phones are made from cheap plastic. At least Apple cares enough to make their devices out of somethimg that will hold up better than most. Yes, it scratches. Oh well. I will touch it up before I sell it in 2 years.
Click to expand...

Pretty optimistic on your chances that a touch-up will pass a buyers test. Perfect is their only concern.
 
pedrofan said:
Hardness of materials are measured by science in this list, that is called the Möhs scale. It says what scratches what:

Image

The material that scratches everything is the diamond, that is on the top, and can't be scratched by anything.

The material that can't scratch anything is the talc, and it can be scratched by everything, that's why it is on the bottom.

So, every material that is above another one can scratch it, more or less, like any other above.

Aluminum is only in the third place!! with 2,5 points out of 10 in the Mohs scale, while the glass or steel have 6,5 points out of 10, that is A LOT harder.

I don't know if the anodized aluminum is harder than normal aluminum, but this really means that iphone 5 is made of a material that can be scratched by almost ANYTHING. Even copper, that is present on most coins (pennies) and keys, with 3 points in the mohs scale can scratch aluminum, and steel as it is shown in this famous picture:

Steel vs aluminum:

Image

This makes me think that Apple doesn't care of us at all. They make very fragile products to last less than a year.


Iphone 4 and 4s where made of glass, that is so hard.. but also super ultra mega fragile!! One fall one broken iphone, just look for iphone 4 crash tests on youtube... Iphone 4 was the condomized phone, you couldn't use it without protection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-OBoDFeDY

Iphone 5 is made of a more resistant material against falls, but it is super soft!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSFKVq36Hgc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2BxL0nRDlY

Do you think that apple engineers don't know this??

Mmmhh I don't think so. The faster your iphone looks ugly or broken, the faster you are going to buy a new one.

That is called marketing, aggressive marketing.
Click to expand...

So go buy a plastic S3
See how that works out for you.
 
ZipZap said:
Pretty optimistic on your chances that a touch-up will pass a buyers test. Perfect is their only concern.
Click to expand...

I sold my iPhone 4 with a small crack in the glass and scratches on the metal for $175. I sold my wife's 3GS with a major crack in the glass for $165. I have an Incipio Feather on my iPhone 5 and will keep it on until I sell it. If it has a few scratches here and ther I am sure I can sell it for close to $200 in 2 years.
 
Kissaragi said:
Except they are not facts, the op doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

----------



A serious amount more! Its also much, much harder to machine and I'm not actually sure if its any more scratch resistant than anodised aluminium.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt the amount of titanium required would cost "a serious amount" more - and it most likely wouldn't be pure titanium that's used for a phone. Maybe $25 at the most.

I'd gladly pay $100-200 extra to get a phone that's actually durable.
 
We just need an iPhone made from diamond! Quick! Someone fly to the nearest dead star and bring it's core to Earth!

(when a star dies, its core turns to pure diamond the size of the Earth)
 
PNutts said:
Yes.
Click to expand...

No it not. Its just a coating on top of the Aluminium. Will do nothing if you drop it.

----------

Don't bother OP, I believe your point will be lost on most of the people on here. Give it a few more months, and then some of these people will realise how easily thin aluminium can be damaged. I am under no illusion that after 2 years my iphone 5 will look much much worse then my iphone 4, and that is just due to the aluminium.

----------
Prof. said:
We just need an iPhone made from diamond! Quick! Someone fly to the nearest dead star and bring it's core to Earth!

(when a star dies, its core turns to pure diamond the size of the Earth)
Click to expand...

I see what you trying to do there, sarcasm and all, though it coming across more like drama queening ;)

Aluminium is light, but at the same time is one of the softest metals, the concept is not that hard. Titanium is awesome in regards to weight and strength, though not cheap, so not practical..... though that never stopped the Russian building submarines out of it... expansive!!!!
 
As I said earlier today.......

enophi1 said:
I think parts of the unit are not getting the correct electrical current , it's not high enough to create the porous oxide layer which is needed so it can be filled with coloured dye.


Some parts of the unit are not flaking, although it appears that way. I've looked at this on my old device and it's missing the coloured dye in some places. As far as I can tell , I think It's because the electrical current isn't creating an even porous oxide layer over the entire surface.

The dents on the chamfer are another thing entirely , I believe that the crystalline diamond drill tool is to blame for this. All those shiny aluminum particles are flying all over the device whilst it's being etched, and the aluminum (because it's very soft) is being dented in some places due to the extreme heat caused by the tool itself.

Drill any piece of metal , file it, etc and you will find that the metal heats up depending on how fast your tool is.

Then again, I could be wrong and not know what the hell I am talking about, but I think I am pretty damn close.
Click to expand...



I think Apple went with light weight material because A: it's cheap and B: because it's cheap.

I love the light weight feel and sure there are pros and cons to any material being used.
 
mohsiphone.jpg


In other words, we wouldn't even be satisfied if the entire device was made out of gold.
 
First of all, aluminum can be anodized to have a hardness close to 9 on that scale.

Also, velocity of the material is very important in determining whether one material can scratch another. I think I recall, and someone should correct me if I'm wrong, that lower hardness materials can scratch higher hardness materials if the velocity through the scratch is high enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back