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So I examined the backs of every iPhone in an Apple store today

S

SilentCrs

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
215
0
Without boring people with details, every one was fine. All the edges were fine. I took a few off cradles and moved them around on the desk, scratched a few with my fingernail, etc. I could not dent, gouge, nick or otherwise maim the iPhones. The only thing I saw predominantly on every phone was fingerprints. The thing is a fingerprint magnet.

I have no doubt that there are people out there with crappy experiences with their new iPhone. However, I was not able to recreate the pictures I've been seeing with multiple store models that have been mauled by the public. Either there are bad batches out there, or people are being extremely heavy handed with their new phones.
 
I'm sure they replace all the scratched ones every night. Apple wants everything on display to look perfect and they can afford to do this. This is not Walmart we are talking about here.
 
SilentCrs said:
Without boring people with details, every one was fine. All the edges were fine. I took a few off cradles and moved them around on the desk, scratched a few with my fingernail, etc. I could not dent, gouge, nick or otherwise maim the iPhones. The only thing I saw predominantly on every phone was fingerprints. The thing is a fingerprint magnet.

I have no doubt that there are people out there with crappy experiences with their new iPhone. However, I was not able to recreate the pictures I've been seeing with multiple store models that have been mauled by the public. Either there are bad batches out there, or people are being extremely heavy handed with their new phones.
Click to expand...

people do everything to get Apple some bad headlines ... they use extreme hard materials, your phone usually would not come into contact with to produce them in the show room.

That said - I am with you and I am sure there are many legitimate cases for scratches and dents - but not that huge amount that the press is making out of it.
 
I was at a local Apple store on the weekend and approx. half of the black iPhones were scratched similarly to what people describe here. The other half, as well as white iPhones, were fine.
 
richard371 said:
I'm sure they replace all the scratched ones every night. Apple wants everything on display to look perfect and they can afford to do this. This is not Walmart we are talking about here.
Click to expand...

Yes it's all a conspiracy. You should watch the garbage at the apple store for thrown away iPhones.
 
IMO it is just case of bad batches, indeed.

I'm not saying that makes it okay, it most certainly doesn't. But between the 21st September and now, I've been seeing more and more people highlight the fact that their iPhone 5's/iPhone 5's they've encountered in stores (like your point) are holding up well to damage/marks.

Yes, the anodized aluminium does seem like a bit of a design flaw (In some cases), but I really dont think it 'guarantees' to cover your phone in scratches/scuffs (Assuming they arrive in good condition).

Given time, I think things will be filtered out. And I dont mean that Apple will use higher grade products/methods, but simply that what should have been a successful launch of scuff-free products, will slowly regain balance when the good-condition devices start to refill the market.

In a hypothetical nutshell: Apple produce(d/s) 2million devices. 1.5 million of those came out fine. Anodized just like the rest, sure, but they met the quality standard, hence the good devices I'm hearing about. Those other half million, they're the 'scuffgate' ones. And the ones that seem to be losing their sheen with simple pocket use etc.
 
richard371 said:
I'm sure they replace all the scratched ones every night. Apple wants everything on display to look perfect and they can afford to do this. This is not Walmart we are talking about here.
Click to expand...

They don't.

Source: Apple Employee.
 
SilentCrs said:
Without boring people with details, every one was fine. All the edges were fine. I took a few off cradles and moved them around on the desk, scratched a few with my fingernail, etc. I could not dent, gouge, nick or otherwise maim the iPhones. The only thing I saw predominantly on every phone was fingerprints. The thing is a fingerprint magnet.

I have no doubt that there are people out there with crappy experiences with their new iPhone. However, I was not able to recreate the pictures I've been seeing with multiple store models that have been mauled by the public. Either there are bad batches out there, or people are being extremely heavy handed with their new phones.
Click to expand...

That's what it is. :rolleyes: I mean why wouldn't Apple put out dented phones? Just like car dealers leave their cars dirty and criminals show up to court with all their tattoos showing.

Just an FYI, I bought 2 iPhones this weekend and my wife's had a dent in it. This is with the cellophane being opened by the store employee in the store. My wife hadn't yet touched the box and there was no damage to the box meaning the phone was placed in the box in that condition. Just because you went to a heavily controlled and scripted environment doesn't mean people are being too "heavy handed" or that they are exaggerating. Stop apologizing for Apple. If you got a good phone, I'm happy for you. So did I. But my wife didn't pay $299 for a "new" phone with a dent in it. I wouldn't expect that for shoes I buy, cars I buy, jeans, glasses, plates, TVs, or anything else sold as New.
 
What I can't grasp is that if you either put protection on your phone, or just take care of it, not drop it, and don't put it on purpose with your keys, then it will be fine. That has worked for me, and I don't loose any sleep over it.

I guess it just makes sense to me that if you scratch something with something hard (like keys) it is going to mare.
 
pdutta2000 said:
That's what it is. :rolleyes: I mean why wouldn't Apple put out dented phones? Just like car dealers leave their cars dirty and criminals show up to court with all their tattoos showing.
Click to expand...

Problem is that some people / news outlets claim that the phone just scratches by looking at it (don't think anyone claims that for a cars at a car dealer) .... so that would mean they have to check the phones in the store every 20min and replace every phone that someone stared too long at.
 
My first one had dents on the chamfered edge. Today when I went to swap it out, there were 4 other people there waiting to get theirs swapped for the same issues.

Maybe for the first few batches, whenever the machine finished milling out the aluminum block, they fell onto a conveyer belt and then just fell into a bin which piled up. The ones at the bottom got dinged and dented by the others falling on them.

Perhaps when they realized this at the factory, they started to change the way the finished pieces are gathered.

Since they're under huge pressures to deliver as many units as possible, the factories decided to roll the dice with these blemished units.
 
Slide your retina MacBook Pro in and out of a backpack with no sleeve and see if it scratches. Take your keys to it. Nobody complained as much when the iPhone was plastic — they knew it would get scratches. You can't rub your keys on aluminum and expect it not to scratch. Enjoy the screen and all the great apps.

It seems like people are too busy looking for defects rather than enjoying the sole purpose of the phone.
 
I gotta think this was a bad batch of annodizing. Annodizing is done to INCREASE wear resistance of aluminum. If done right it should be much much harder to scratch than bare aluminum. I am willing to bet that the white iphones aluminum case is annodized as well, just without the black pigment added. Bare aluminum is extremely soft and easy to scratch, there is no way the white is bare aluminum.

http://www.anodizing.org/Anodizing/benefits.html
 
iregret said:
Yes it's all a conspiracy. You should watch the garbage at the apple store for thrown away iPhones.
Click to expand...

Actually the display phones at the Apple stores are hand made out of much stronger materials than the "production" models. That's why they don't have all the nicks, scratches and scuffs that the "production" models have.
 
SilentCrs said:
Without boring people with details, every one was fine. All the edges were fine. I took a few off cradles and moved them around on the desk, scratched a few with my fingernail, etc. I could not dent, gouge, nick or otherwise maim the iPhones. The only thing I saw predominantly on every phone was fingerprints. The thing is a fingerprint magnet.

I have no doubt that there are people out there with crappy experiences with their new iPhone. However, I was not able to recreate the pictures I've been seeing with multiple store models that have been mauled by the public. Either there are bad batches out there, or people are being extremely heavy handed with their new phones.
Click to expand...

Black has always been a fingerprint magnet. That's why I went with white.
:apple:
 
lbhskier37 said:
I gotta think this was a bad batch of annodizing. Annodizing is done to INCREASE wear resistance of aluminum. If done right it should be much much harder to scratch than bare aluminum. I am willing to bet that the white iphones aluminum case is annodized as well, just without the black pigment added. Bare aluminum is extremely soft and easy to scratch, there is no way the white is bare aluminum.

http://www.anodizing.org/Anodizing/benefits.html
Click to expand...

It's not bare, silly, it's raw.
 
People are ridiculous.

The iPhone has always been a scratch magnet.

The original 2G's back metal plate would get scratches AND dents.
The 3G/3GS back plastic would get scratches and scuffs.
The 4/4S back glass would get scratched, cracked, and scuffs.

What would make the 5 so different?

Also, it's not like all of the other phones on the market are not prone to these same issues. Samsung, LG, HTC, Nokia, all have had backs that scratch.
 
iregret said:
Yes it's all a conspiracy. You should watch the garbage at the apple store for thrown away iPhones.
Click to expand...

Haha, I lol'd. But seriously, im starting to feel that this is becoming slightly overblown now. Everyone is getting their iPhone 5's and instead of enjoying them, they are breaking out the magnifying glass and looking for any microscopic imperfection. granted, some people have legit issues like the phone shipping with a dent, but a micro-millimeter hair thin "scratch" that can only been seen with your head tilted to the left and the sun hitting it just right is definitely no reason for a return/exchange.
 
I went to my apple store and scuffs, uneven edges, and discolorations galore. Both black and white. Of course black being more obvious.
 
Would have rather had them use stainless steel than aluminum even if it weighed another half ounce
 
every black one ive seen at the apple store had marks. in all three apple stores ive gone to. the bottom is noticeable. People trying to put it back on the connecter scratching it a little. Over 6 months time of missing the connecter spot on a black phone wont be pretty.
 
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