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

[Millionaire2K]

Yes it's all a conspiracy. You should watch the garbage at the apple store for thrown away iPhones.

I have 623 phones already

 

[lbhskier37]

Would have rather had them use stainless steel than aluminum even if it weighed another half ounce

A unibody out of stainless would cost a fortune. Stainless is not easily machinable like aluminum. It's not just a weight thing.

 

[kas23]

They don't.

Source: Apple Employee.

So, you're admitting that there are indeed scratched iPhones?

 

[mcdj]

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.

right, even at 10 scratched phones per store (bigger ones have many more on display), times 388 stores worldwide, that's 27,000 phones a week...and countless hours of manpower to remove them from the secure displays, box them up and ship them out to be refurbed, then unbox the new ones, and reattach them to the secure displays.

that ain't happenin. guaranteed.

 

[bobright]

pics of all the display iPhones you checked or it didn't happen.

 

[mzjin]

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.

/Slid my Macbook Pro into my backpack for a year and never one scratch.

 

[darster]

Stopped at local Verizon corporate store today. Looked at the iphone 5. None of them had scuffs or dents. They have had them on display since September 21st.

 

[dilonardo]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, the back scratches actually rub right off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7081UpsPy0

I just tried it myself. I intentionally (reluctantly) scratched the back with my keys, coins, and scizzors and they rubbed off with minor elbow grease. The backs are actually AMAZING, I'm only worried about the glass portions now. We're still screwed with the bezels though...

 

[jbachandouris]

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.

So, apparently you don't know how to read? Or are you ignoring all the other posters who said they were dented out of the box? And get a clue, NO ONE puts their brand new iPhone 5 in a pocket with keys! People like you should get a clue!!!

 

[JonMPLS]

I did the same thing today at the Mall of America Apple store. Lots of iPhones to look at. Only one had bad scuff marks, mostly near the dock. Not enough to make me cancel my order yet!

 

[NoOneHitsHarder]

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 just went to the Apple store at south coast plaza today at 3:00 for a genius bar replacement. I got there early and decided to check out the display models, oh boy

All 8 of the black models on display looked bad with the coating coming off, especially near the bottom part of the phone.

Although there was a silver lining to this: Some of the white models looked just as bad though with scratches on the shiny silver edge.

So basically, both look awful when scratched... so I went with black like I wanted to from the beginning and will be extra careful.

 

[kycophpd]

I went out after this and took a key to my new Jeep Wrangler and cannot believe that it actually scraped the paint off?? Jeep must be getting their paint from the same crappy suppliers as Apple!! How can something just scrape off when you put a harder object against it with force??

I smell a class action coming!!

</sarcasm>