Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

[jayducharme]

JerryRigEverything just released a video where he scratches up the phone:

 

[xmarcuswildx]

I upgrade every year by purchasing the latest iPhone. However, this is the first year I simply cannot accept returning to cheap aluminum unibody after the titanium of my 16 Pro Max...

That’s why I went air!

 

[spritle]

The Pro colors are fugly even before the scratches.

 

[Ramchi]

That’s why I say away from Aluminium frame and sticking with my Titanium 15PM. I shall return to iPhones when they use Titanium frame or SS. No more Aluminium frames!

 

[Ramchi]

Because aluminum is total crap. It's soft af and if you drop your "pro" it will bend and glass will shatter. I've dropped 12 pro and now 15 pro many times and glass survived. That's why people are talking. Why tf would they ship cheap ass aluminium "pro" models?

After cutting corners with cheaper and inferior materials, they have increased the cost here in India which is $2400 for 17PM 1 TB(already USD has increased by 10% against ₹ in the last one year). No seriously sane person would even think of getting any of these here.

 

[Superrenz]

After cutting corners with cheaper and inferior materials, they have increased the cost here in India which is $2400 for 17PM 1 TB(already USD has increased by 10% against ₹ in the last one year). No seriously sane person would even think of getting any of these here.

What about the tariffs the bonehead in the White House has imposed on India. Do they have a share in the price increase?

 

[Reeneman]

The Pro colors are fugly even before the scratches.

Ok, thanks for your input.

 

[iFunk]

Just adds some character to the device!

 

[Ramchi]

What about the tariffs the bonehead in the White House has imposed on India. Do they have a share in the price increase?

Apple always gets the best treatment everywhere, no additional tariffs on iPhones since they are made locally. Apple knows way too much about geopolitical manoeuvres at least 10 years ahead I believe. But iPhones in India are already very expensive along with USD movements which are growing along with inflation every year. Completely unaffordable for the most!

 

[SaguaroSeven]

Apple always gets the best treatment everywhere, no additional tariffs on iPhones since they are made locally. Apple knows way too much about geopolitical manoeuvres at least 10 years ahead I believe. But iPhones in India are already very expensive along with USD movements which are growing along with inflation every year. Completely unaffordable for the most!

Wow. Much angry. Such FUD.

 

[ShadowGuardian87]

Definitely glad this is the off year on my 2yr phone cycle. Dropping titanium for aluminum is a huge mistake for the pro, especially since I always go caseless.

It’s been a full year with my 16PM and it’s still in perfect shape, despite one drop onto concrete. Meanwhile the 17 pros have been out a few days and look like that?

The scuffs in the thumbnail for Jerry's video are click bait. He said on Twitter 99% of the scratches could be rubbed off. IT was just dust/ debris making it look like that.

 

[Totorotarrot]

Faster more efficient chip. Better heat management. Doesn't get as hot to the touch (this was an issue for me). Screen improvements. Thinner bezel. Better battery life across the board. Incremental like it is pretty much every year.

Liking the all glass back more, which I agree with, isn't necessarily a step backwards from an engineering standpoint. Thats subjective.

Saying that the bigger camera bump is ugly, isn't an engineering judgement, but I agree. I do like that the camera bump itself doesn't stick out as much as the 16 pros though.

Optical zoom reduced in favor of a digital zoom increase, is a compromise and not necessarily a step backwards. I don't know enough about the +/- argue the merit either way.

Color choices are not a step backwards from an engineering standpoint.

So as a former apple engineer, how is the phone a step backwards from an engineering standpoint?

I don’t think Apple will ever release a new product that can’t be objectively claimed as an improvement, but this generation’s upgrade is not just incrementally small, but some of the changes are like you said, not 100% better. This is why I think it’s not worth a buy for me. Apple is no longer a company that ships class leading quality product anymore, where new phone introduced ground breaking features significantly better than before. iOS 26 is also full of bugs, much more than before at GM. Drop frames and latency issues are simply not acceptable for GM. It’s still in beta quiet.

 

[transpo1]

Definitely glad this is the off year on my 2yr phone cycle. Dropping titanium for aluminum is a huge mistake for the pro, especially since I always go caseless.

It’s been a full year with my 16PM and it’s still in perfect shape, despite one drop onto concrete. Meanwhile the 17 pros have been out a few days and look like that?

If they’re going to stick with aluminum for future Pros they should just go back to the silver / space grey colorways of the iPhone 6 era. That will minimize the appearance of scratches.

 

[Dustman]

Again: you understand that this glass back that you seeing here with the scratches, is the same material as on the previous iPhones. Did you get it?

Do you GET that the glass hasn't been painted on the OUTSIDE previously? What happened to painting the inside of the glass, or the 15's "colour-infused" glass? This wasn't a problem last year at all.

 

[Reeneman]

Do you GET that the glass hasn't been painted on the OUTSIDE previously? What happened to painting the inside of the glass, or the 15's "colour-infused" glass? This wasn't a problem last year at all.

Scratch resistance of the glass backside from the 17 Pro has already proven as pretty resistant.

 

[Dustman]

Scratch resistance of the glass backside from the 17 Pro has already proven as pretty resistant.

And yet, the demos are missing paint on the glass backs like never before since they’ve used glass on the rear. Reality seems to be differing from these “tests” quite a bit.