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

Scuffgate ... so what DO we know about it?

I

itsjustmeee

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 28, 2008
603
7
I have yet to purchase my iphone 5 and I'm wondering we do actually know about "scuffgate" before I decide white or black. it. For example from what I can tell from the blogs, black is more prone to show blemishes, etc. What I'm curious about is....

1. Is there some sort of thought here that the earliest ones shipped were the worst and it's perhaps something they've corrected? Are we seeing the quality improving with the newer ones as opposed to the ones received on day 1?

2. Is it a certain production run that can be traced to serial #s or particular models that is worse than others?

3. does anyone think this is an actual manufacturing thing that apple will try to correct in an updated version (like they did last year with the antenna?)

I know this is all probably speculation but I'm curious if there is some common thread with the quality (or lack thereof) with the manufacturing of them.
 
There is no scuffgate. Anodized metal wears. Your phone WILL have wear regardless of which one you pick. Black WILL show it more as silver against black stands out more than silver against white.

My company has a white phone from day 1, two black phones from day 1, two black phones from this week. None have been marked up yet - white or black. Depending on how you treat them, yours may wear faster than ours.

But in the end it is a tool. The functionality is important... a worn phone still functions fine.

If you are not happy with this, you can buy a case for it, buy AC+ or some form of insurance, or buy a different phone.
 
The worn look is in. They should charge more for those ones...:rolleyes:

My 2 came in without incident. So did my co-workers. All black 32.
 
bogatyr said:
There is no scuffgate. Anodized metal wears. Your phone WILL have wear regardless of which one you pick. Black WILL show it more as silver against black stands out more than silver against white.

My company has a white phone from day 1, two black phones from day 1, two black phones from this week. None have been marked up yet - white or black. Depending on how you treat them, yours may wear faster than ours.

But in the end it is a tool. The functionality is important... a worn phone still functions fine.

If you are not happy with this, you can buy a case for it, buy AC+ or some form of insurance, or buy a different phone.
Click to expand...

No scuffgate? I disagree. If a product that is touted to be "a work of art" by the manufacturer and comes out of the box with dings, scratches, scuffs, etc isn't an issue, then I don't know what is. Just for the record, I've always had my iPhones in cases but that being said, I want them to be pristine when I buy them and I want them to stay in that condition as much as possible so I can get the best price from Gazelle (or whoever) when I sell it a year later. Apple makes a big deal out of the precision that goes into these phones and when I'm paying $400 for one, I want it to come to me in perfect condition ..... AND I expect it to be at least somewhat durable. After all, this is a product that's supposed to be taken everywhere with you and used daily. Of course it's going to get scuffs but knowing that it's a product that's going to receive a lot of use and sit in my pocket day in and day out, I would hope that Apple would try to take that into account when designing it.

In the end, yeah, it's a tool, but so was my old Motorola flip phone. I wouldn't put this in the same category.
 
Well at least you can say it looks brand new when you sell it next year because even if its scuffed up it still looks like it did when you took it out of the box.
 
itsjustmeee said:
No scuffgate? I disagree. If a product that is touted to be "a work of art" by the manufacturer and comes out of the box with dings, scratches, scuffs, etc isn't an issue, then I don't know what is. Just for the record, I've always had my iPhones in cases but that being said, I want them to be pristine when I buy them and I want them to stay in that condition as much as possible so I can get the best price from Gazelle (or whoever) when I sell it a year later. Apple makes a big deal out of the precision that goes into these phones and when I'm paying $400 for one, I want it to come to me in perfect condition ..... AND I expect it to be at least somewhat durable. After all, this is a product that's supposed to be taken everywhere with you and used daily. Of course it's going to get scuffs but knowing that it's a product that's going to receive a lot of use and sit in my pocket day in and day out, I would hope that Apple would try to take that into account when designing it.

In the end, yeah, it's a tool, but so was my old Motorola flip phone. I wouldn't put this in the same category.
Click to expand...

Except that the number of people who post here is a small minority of the population of iPhone users. On top of that, people who come here and have a negative experience will post about it while not as many people who have good experiences both to post about it. The idea that there is an issue is overblown because people see something like this and assume EVERYONE IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH SCUFFS! OH NO SCUFFGATE 2012!!
 
After EVERY iphone release, there is always gripes how ez is to scratch it. I think it's the "new toy" syndrome.
 
itsjustmeee said:
I have yet to purchase my iphone 5 and I'm wondering we do actually know about "scuffgate" before I decide white or black. it. For example from what I can tell from the blogs, black is more prone to show blemishes, etc. What I'm curious about is....

1. Is there some sort of thought here that the earliest ones shipped were the worst and it's perhaps something they've corrected? Are we seeing the quality improving with the newer ones as opposed to the ones received on day 1?

2. Is it a certain production run that can be traced to serial #s or particular models that is worse than others?

3. does anyone think this is an actual manufacturing thing that apple will try to correct in an updated version (like they did last year with the antenna?)

I know this is all probably speculation but I'm curious if there is some common thread with the quality (or lack thereof) with the manufacturing of them.
Click to expand...
It can generally be agreed that the earliest ones shipped were manufactured less studiously than ones being produced now. Not all of them (Mine is 100% what I was expecting) but around 30-40%.

No. It affects pretty much every model, indiscriminate of colour, size, even the facility it was made in.

Again, no. Mine is flawless, gone naked since friday and it's perfect still.
 
Had mine over week. Not a mark. had it in my pocket with keys, coins, dog poop bags, the works, not a scratch
 
I've had mine since opening day and I still don't have a case yet for it. While I don't kick the thing around, I don't have a scuff/mark/scratch. Knock on wood.
 
I had a quarter in my pocket and when I placed my phone in my pocket it hit the top of the quarter and made a little mark on the band.. Definitely softer than the stainless steel on the Ip4/4s
 
If you ever looked at a typical M16/M4 receiver (black anodized 6061 aluminum) after a few days of hard real world use you would know two things. First, any anodized aluminum item is subject to dings. Second, they are very easy to see on a black background.

Anodized aluminum can be dinged. Cannot understand why people are surprised about that.
 
I believe some models definately have a poor anodizing quality finish over other models. The quality control for this first batch was crap and can only hope newer models get anodized properly. But your guess is as good as mine as to when better quality batch of iphones are available.

Did it take about 3 weeks to make these first batch of launch iphones? Maybe by mid october a better batch will be available?
 
itsjustmeee said:
No scuffgate? I disagree. If a product that is touted to be "a work of art" by the manufacturer and comes out of the box with dings, scratches, scuffs, etc isn't an issue, then I don't know what is. Just for the record, I've always had my iPhones in cases but that being said, I want them to be pristine when I buy them and I want them to stay in that condition as much as possible so I can get the best price from Gazelle (or whoever) when I sell it a year later. Apple makes a big deal out of the precision that goes into these phones and when I'm paying $400 for one, I want it to come to me in perfect condition ..... AND I expect it to be at least somewhat durable. After all, this is a product that's supposed to be taken everywhere with you and used daily. Of course it's going to get scuffs but knowing that it's a product that's going to receive a lot of use and sit in my pocket day in and day out, I would hope that Apple would try to take that into account when designing it.

In the end, yeah, it's a tool, but so was my old Motorola flip phone. I wouldn't put this in the same category.
Click to expand...

-gate implies some relation to watergate. I don't think the fact that no manufacturing is perfect qualifies it as a conspiracy. That's life. Nothing is perfect. Manufacturing defects are an inherent part of the process. If it comes scuffed from the box, take it back. Things wear down over time, that's unavoidable.
 
Archer1440 said:
If you ever looked at a typical M16/M4 receiver (black anodized 6061 aluminum) after a few days of hard real world use you would know two things. First, any anodized aluminum item is subject to dings. Second, they are very easy to see on a black background.

Anodized aluminum can be dinged. Cannot understand why people are surprised about that.
Click to expand...

Nice analogy. Although I prefer my M4 all scuffed up because it looks like I've actually used it. Maybe I should apply the same thought process to my phone.
 
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