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It could be that they scratch relatively easily.

Or, it could be that people are trying hard to scratch them in stores to test them, and maybe some of those scratches are remnants of people's nails etc. and will wipe off. The magsafe rings on the black phone I'm hoping do wipe off! That looks bad.
 
My phone goes into a case the minute I open the box. I already have my case for when my Air arrives today. I learned my lesson from my iPhone 4S/5 days about going "caseless."
They have gotten far better, and some have better luck than others.

I used to be the same way, Since the iphone 15 Pro, I have gone without and have had little issues. I work in datacenters with hard floors, travel constantly, work on my own cars, and have done minor drops at home.

Being responsible with where I place it, and avoiding putting anything in my pocket with the phone has done wonders. Habits I already had with cases, as silicon cases always were slippery for me.

I have minor patina on the bottom of my phone, and have cracked 2 screen protectors.
 
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My phone goes into a case the minute I open the box. I already have my case for when my Air arrives today. I learned my lesson from my iPhone 4S/5 days about going "caseless."
Which is a shame in a way. I do the same. I always buy the leather cases from Apple which are expensive but do last a good amount of years. But … I never get to enjoy that nice dark purple of my iPhone 14 Pro as a result.

So I picked a color I liked but the only thing I see of it is a purple shine around the camera lenses.

They make it so nice that I want to protect it and the protection hides the nice bits. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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As a former Apple Retail employee I can tell you from first hand knowledge that certain people come into the store with the express purpose of scratching phones and accessories as an ad-hoc durability test, but I'm not sure this is the best way to go about it. Damaging an item purposely is not an accurate reflection of day-to-day wear. In the past, iPhone cases were the biggest examples. Especially, the fine woven cases. I cannot tell you how many demo units we had to replace, almost on a daily basis, because of scratches and damage. *I no longer have any skin in the game here and plan to hold on to my iPhone 13 mini until they pry it from my cold dead hands. Cheers.
 
Soon as store opened these starches, it’s also due to the metal on the MagSafe holders
IMG_7527.jpeg
 
If it's the same material they scratch the same, obviously. It's just more visible with black. Black obscures shape but shows its surface more, from what I've seen with stuff.

This is really a show stopper for me, and something I considered, but apparently not enough. I'll wait for white as I want to try caseless.

It's always something. :D
 
This is a major problem with aluminum and color on the top does not go all the way through. I ended up trying the white iPhone Air. So far it’s a dream! Beautiful and svelte. The Pro and Pro Max seemed so thick and heavy and far leas durable. Have had Pro Max models until last year’s 16 Pro and Pro Max which I returned both and went back to my 15 Pro Max.

One YT channel did a drop test. It was astonishing how bad the 17 Pros dented on the sides missing big chunks but the glass stayed in tact for may drops. I care more about the shell durability.

I don’t use a case except when traveling and this iPhone Air looks amazing and has titanium which is far superior with durability!

Battery life isn’t bad. Camera is nice and the front camera is the one to use. I could do away with a big camera on the back even if it was flush.

Not buying the battery. And I just plan to use until the iPhone Fold comes out next year.
 
Some peeps on reddit:
Those aren’t scratches, it’s metal transfer from things rubbing up against it.
Ceramic is incredibly hard, a lot like a tungsten ring I have. If I carry a hand basket in a grocery store, the metal from the handle will scrape against the ring make it look like it’s scratched. It isn’t.
The ceramic is scratching whatever it’s coming in contact with, not the other way around.
Take a cloth with some isopropyl alcohol and wipe it down.
Unless this is just a coating, in that case it’s bad design on apples part.


Someone has tried to apply some saliva? 🤤
 
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As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed.

iPhone-17-Pro-and-Air-Feature.jpg

French blog Consomac also reported on this topic.

The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black.


iPhone-17-Pro-Scratches-Consomac.jpg



iPhone-Air-Scratches-Consomac.jpg


Images Credit: Consomac

It is unclear how common this is, or how these devices were handled.

iPhone 17 Pro models feature an aluminum unibody, with a glass-like Ceramic Shield area on the back of the devices, while iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame with a glass back. Titanium and glass are stronger/harder than aluminum, so it is understandable that iPhone 17 Pro models may be more prone to scratching.

As for the iPhone Air, it features a titanium frame with a glass-like Ceramic Shield back, but evidently some scratches are still visible on the Space Black finish.

Of course, some customers visiting an Apple Store are not as careful with iPhone display models as they would be with their personal iPhone, so this is not necessarily a huge problem. But, it is a good reminder to be especially careful.

Article Link: Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily
They dont scratch more easily, its basic physics, optics to be exact. Scratches are more visible in dark surfaces than light ones (considering the same material). Dark surfaces absorb more light and thus reflect less of it. For a smooth surface light should be reflected pretty uniformly and a scratch promotes a sharp change is the angle light does with the surface meaning what should be read by our eyes as a pretty uniform thing becomes messed up coming from the scratch area.

Light surfaces absorb much less energy and thus reflect much more compared to dark ones. That reflected light tho is much more diffuse (disorganized)/scathered. Since reflected light in light surfaces is already a mess, there is no visible change when the incoming light shines the scratched part.

In simpler words, the contrast is greater in dark surfaces. That doesn’t mean they scratch more easily, specially because for two finished that receive the same coating, scratch resistance should be the same.

Also, aluminium’s natural color is much closer to white than dark blue or orange so removing the coating shows a big contrast. If underneath the coating the material was black scratches would be much more apparent on a silver iPhone than on a black one.
 
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