Video - Black iPhone Anodized coating more durable then I expected

[TrimmTrabb]

Here's the thing: iPhones are subject to the laws of physics.

Aluminium is harder than a fingernail. Aluminium is also harder than paper and wood composites. All your test did was give us a nice demonstration of those facts. Try your hardest to scratch glass or aluminium with your fingernail - I promise you that you'll never succeed.

The real issue here is that aluminium is softer than steel (the material used in the 4/4S) and that the black iPhone is anodised. That means 2 things:

1) There is a greater range of materials that CAN scratch the iPhone 5.
2) If the iPhone 5 gets scratched, the raw aluminium is exposed, making damage more perceptible on the black iPhone.

Case closed.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Yeah, I am such a criminal. I went and robbed a bank after I left. I'll be posting that video shortly.

Thanks for posting this. Personally, display models are suppose to go through that kind of abuse. I did something similar at Verizon, but only did a finger scratch test. I never thought to scrape the phone against a sharp edge. Besides, there were people beside me also looking at the phone.

 

[Eyenigma]

So basically you made a video of yourself committing a crime.... Awesome! Sorry but you're not some kind of consumer advocate you're a criminal.

Hardly. As a consumer you have every right to satisfy yourself as to the condition of your future purchase. The author of that video did -not- set out to vandalize or damage property. The entire purpose of display models are to 'kick the tires' and put the device through its paces before whipping out your cash.

Given this is a potential issue for the device - it's well within his/her right to simulate typical usage conditions and test the validity himself. If the person brought in a sharp tool or smashed it with keys that'd be a different story. Furthermore those display units are absolutely designed to be used and abused. Thanks for making the video.

Puts it a little more in perspective.

 

[batmangorden]

I was in my local AT&T store and decided to do a little scratch test with the display model. I scratched hard with my finger nails, and also scraped it VERY hard along the edge of the iPhone display. To my surprise there was NO damage whatsoever. Until I did this, I was very scared to even try and snap a case around it in fear that it would chip off or scratch. I am now very confident that this coating is no where near as delicate as people are making it out to be. Now, if it drops on concrete, or has hard metal to metal contact, I'm sure it will scrape…But so will anything else.

I know this video is pretty lame. I was trying to video it and not be too obvious about it. The store was packed and there were a lot people trying to look at the iPhone. And I am pretty sure the employees wouldn't appreciate me trying to damage the new device. But I was so curious to test how durable it really was. And I am convinced that this coating will hold up very, very well with normal usage.


http://youtu.be/GxFx3xktAbQ

Good job dude.

This helps a lot of people out on the fence about the phone's durability, including me.

You did people a service here, literally putting yourself in danger of getting in trouble, bravo sir, thank you. Now I will go get one pretty soon. Thanks bro.




And what he did was perfectly fine if you ask me, check back on that phone Ina few months, so many different people handling it will make the outside steadily become worn down anyways. It's a "display model", why not display its durability?

 

[Krissypantz2828]

Please…Those display models get beat to hell within a few weeks. They are never meant to be sold. All i did was try to scratch the band. And I really have no regrets about doing it. I paid a lot of money for my phone. And if people are saying they scuff easily, and apple didn't warn me prior to selling it, I believe I have a right to test it out that way. I tested it, it held up without a single spec of damage, and I feel much better about it.

Those test models are meant to be tested, but not in the way you did it! Sure they will never be sold, but its still disrespectful to try and scratch test a device..because it is not yours! Its just not respectful. Plain and simple!

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Well, he didn't actually damage it (at least what I saw), so it is really a crime? No harm no foul.

His intent was to see if it was going to become damaged. When you attempt to kill someone and dont succeed, isnt that still a crime? Its called attempted murder. Yes this is no where near a crime of that sort, but I think its disrespectful to do that to property that is not his!! Even if it is a test model.

 

[x-evil-x]

Aside from the dearth of moral aptitude that the OP illustrates within his video, I must add that this is a thoroughly pointless test and am quite surprised that it hasn't been pointed out yet (correct me if I am wrong).

Simple physics dictates that nails and whatever he used to scratch the iPhone 5 will not scratch the aluminum. This is illustrated by Friedrich Mohs scale of mineral hardness - it basically states that harder materials are, for the most part, resistant to scratches from contact with softer materials. Its BASIC SCIENCE! ~ the reason why diamonds are extremely difficult to scratch.

The approximate Moh hardness rating for fingernails is around 2.5 at the most and plastic approx. ~1. Pure aluminum is rated around 3 on the scale - most likely more as the iPhone 5 is now made out of '6061 Aluminum Alloy' - you can scratch all day with that finger nail of yours, but it aint gonna make a mark on the metal!!

Now, there are many more materials harder than 6061 Al alloy, say bronze (~3) , iron (~5) , glass (~7) , steel (~7.5) that will easily make a mark on your precious iPhone 5. These are common materials that may easily come into contact with your precious new toy (keys, sand, dust particles, table tops, etc.).

wasnt he scratching it on plastic?

 

[sulpfiction]

Here's the thing: iPhones are subject to the laws of physics.

Aluminium is harder than a fingernail. Aluminium is also harder than paper and wood composites. All your test did was give us a nice demonstration of those facts. Try your hardest to scratch glass or aluminium with your fingernail - I promise you that you'll never succeed.

The real issue here is that aluminium is softer than steel (the material used in the 4/4S) and that the black iPhone is anodised. That means 2 things:

1) There is a greater range of materials that CAN scratch the iPhone 5.
2) If the iPhone 5 gets scratched, the raw aluminium is exposed, making damage more perceptible on the black iPhone.

Case closed.

I understand that the laws of physics still apply to the iPhone. I was trying to scratch the coating, not the aluminum. And I've read a ton of people saying that they were afraid to even scratch the band with their fingernail because of how delicate the coating was supposed to be. Sure it CAN be scratched. I could've taken out my keys and scratched it right off with little effort. But that wasn't the point. I take pretty good care of my phone. And now I am VERY confident that under normal use that coating isn't going to get damaged even a little bit.

 

[nomad01]

No issues? Myself and thousands of others are lying about our damaged phones? Smfh

THIS!

Mine arrived with several scuffs on the phone. Fingernails and soft acrylic wont scratch into the coating... however, the weak points seem to be the edges/joins in the aluminium. Mine had some small exposed areas along the seams, out of the box and these get worse with a fingernail.

After using the black phone for a couple of days with no drops or contact with hard objects, it's already looking rough.

I've arranged a swap out for a white phone instead.

 

[dmelgar]

I was relieved to see some phones at the Apple store over the weekend under very heavy use that looked perfect.
Anodized color should be very tough. So what I and others have seen does not seem normal. There does seem to be a high initial defect rate. Not sure what can be done about those. There are pens which might be able to fix them. Or other batches that do look good.

 

[sulpfiction]

THIS!

Mine arrived with several scuffs on the phone. Fingernails and soft acrylic wont scratch into the coating... however, the weak points seem to be the edges/joins in the aluminium. Mine had some small exposed areas along the seams, out of the box and these get worse with a fingernail.

After using the black phone for a couple of days with no drops or contact with hard objects, it's already looking rough.

I've arranged a swap out for a white phone instead.

I totally disagree. Maybe, if its already chipped, you could make it worse with a fingernail. But if u have a phone that arrived in good condition, there is no way that it'll chip or scratch off with normal use. That coating is tough!!

 

[johnparjr]

I love how some people try to justify doing the wrong thing just shows a lack of character and morals as you knew it wasn't the right thing to do by the fact that you tried to hide what you where doing.

 

[TheDLade]

I'm not too sure tbh

 

[zhandri]

look how many people now are happy after they saw the video. was totally worth it for apple

 

[TheDLade]

Aside from the dearth of moral aptitude that the OP illustrates within his video, I must add that this is a thoroughly pointless test and am quite surprised that it hasn't been pointed out yet (correct me if I am wrong).

Simple physics dictates that nails and whatever he used to scratch the iPhone 5 will not scratch the aluminum. This is illustrated by Friedrich Mohs scale of mineral hardness - it basically states that harder materials are, for the most part, resistant to scratches from contact with softer materials. Its BASIC SCIENCE! ~ the reason why diamonds are extremely difficult to scratch.

The approximate Moh hardness rating for fingernails is around 2.5 at the most and plastic approx. ~1. Pure aluminum is rated around 3 on the scale - most likely more as the iPhone 5 is now made out of '6061 Aluminum Alloy' - you can scratch all day with that finger nail of yours, but it aint gonna make a mark on the metal!!

Now, there are many more materials harder than 6061 Al alloy, say bronze (~3) , iron (~5) , glass (~7) , steel (~7.5) that will easily make a mark on your precious iPhone 5. These are common materials that may easily come into contact with your precious new toy (keys, sand, dust particles, table tops, etc.).

Actually

Aluminum oxide 9

Aluminuim oxide= Anodized aluminium

http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869E/C...ome/Dentistry.lib/Dental_tables/Mohshard.html

 

[sulpfiction]

Thanks for posting this. Personally, display models are suppose to go through that kind of abuse. I did something similar at Verizon, but only did a finger scratch test. I never thought to scrape the phone against a sharp edge. Besides, there were people beside me also looking at the phone.

Hey, your welcome. I know the video has helped a bunch of people who were worried about it...just like I was.

 

[nomad01]

I totally disagree. Maybe, if its already chipped, you could make it worse with a fingernail. But if u have a phone that arrived in good condition, there is no way that it'll chip or scratch off with normal use. That coating is tough!!

Actually you don't disagree with me at all. I said "Mine had some small exposed areas along the seams, out of the box and these get worse with a fingernail".

That's exactly what you said.

Whatever though, the coating isn't that tough. It won't scratch off with a fingernail but even plugging in the charger has seen a few nicks in the coating on mine.

I just got rid of my 4S that looked like new after almost 12 months so I'm not in the habit of beating up my phones.

 

[Knowguy]

OMG!!! He tested out a 'display model' iPhone and tried to scratch it with his fingernail... OMG!!! What a criminal! Throw him in jail. Really people? What a bunch of idiotic pansies... who cares, no its not like scratching someones car, that's personal property of someone who doesn't earn upwards of 30 billion a year. And they don't sell the display model anyways, it is there for people to test, not to look at and baby it. Get off of your high horses you losers, no individual owns this display model anyways so get over it. I for one am glad he did it because mine Black i5 is being delivered to my house as we speak and I was feeling a little unsure of my purchase until now, so yes this guy gave me some piece of mind, and you guys do nothing but give the innovators a hard time and call them criminals... jesus h. christ... get a life (and before you tell me to get one myself... I have a life full of retaliating against idiots such as yourselves). How was this for a rant! I feel better now.

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What are you guys? Phone police? So if the store associate scratches the phone it is ok? LOL you guys need to get a better hobby, its an inanimate object. You would be better served by helping animals, or people, or donating your money or time to a charity and stop giving your time on the interweb calling people criminals and go catch some real life ones. I think I may be done now, unless someone can be any more of a judgmental @**hat.

List of High Horse Riders / Losers / Cry Babies in order of appearance in this thread (just to rile it up some more):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
greytmom
AFDoc
IllIllIll
Blorzoga
Hammie
drkryn
Krissypantz2828

 

[sulpfiction]

Actually you don't disagree with me at all. I said "Mine had some small exposed areas along the seams, out of the box and these get worse with a fingernail".

That's exactly what you said.

Whatever though, the coating isn't that tough. It won't scratch off with a fingernail but even plugging in the charger has seen a few nicks in the coating on mine.

I just got rid of my 4S that looked like new after almost 12 months so I'm not in the habit of beating up my phones.

Maybe it's the coatings that are inconsistent. Like u see in the video, the coating on that phone is pretty tough. If it was delicate, surely it would have at least scratched with what I did. I don't know how you could already have chips by the charging port already, just from plugging it in a few times. My phone is perfect. That would signal to me that its ur coating that's inferior. Especially if u take good care of ur phone.

 

[Givmeabrek]

Any chance of getting a look at the stores security video showing the vandalism?? Should make a good comparison.

 

[iphoneclassic]

OMG!!! He tested out a 'display model' iPhone and tried to scratch it with his fingernail... OMG!!! What a criminal! Throw him in jail. Really people? What a bunch of idiotic pansies... who cares, no its not like scratching someones car, that's personal property of someone who doesn't earn upwards of 30 billion a year. And they don't sell the display model anyways, it is there for people to test, not to look at and baby it. Get off of your high horses you losers, no individual owns this display model anyways so get over it. I for one am glad he did it because mine Black i5 is being delivered to my house as we speak and I was feeling a little unsure of my purchase until now, so yes this guy gave me some piece of mind, and you guys do nothing but give the innovators a hard time and call them criminals... jesus h. christ... get a life (and before you tell me to get one myself... I have a life full of retaliating against idiots such as yourselves). How was this for a rant! I feel better now.

----------

What are you guys? Phone police? So if the store associate scratches the phone it is ok? LOL you guys need to get a better hobby, its an inanimate object. You would be better served by helping animals, or people, or donating your money or time to a charity and stop giving your time on the interweb calling people criminals and go catch some real life ones. I think I may be done now, unless someone can be any more of a judgmental @**hat.

List of High Horse Riders / Losers / Cry Babies in order of appearance in this thread (just to rile it up some more):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
greytmom
AFDoc
IllIllIll
Blorzoga
Hammie
drkryn
Krissypantz2828

If Apple wants to avoid these issues, they should follow the process every other vendor uses.
1) Announce the device
2) Ship display models to Apple and Carrier Stores
3) Let customers try it out for couple of weeks
4) Start pre-order process

There are lot of references about cars with scratches. There is always a pre delivery inspection and if a new car has scratches or dings no one will accept delivery.

When Apple wants to maintain secrecy and surprise customers they should put up with all these comments.

 

[jgag]

I'm new here, but this is by far the most entertaining thread I have read. I'm not going to pass judgement or question the morals of what the OP did here, but after reading some of the reactions you'd think this guy committed a horrendous crime and should be burned at the stake. This is a victimless crime that could easily have been handled by a store manager or associate asking him to please stop without the need for further escalation.

I'm not a religious person, but to quote an old famous dude with a beard, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

 

[iceterminal]

So basically you made a video of yourself committing a crime.... Awesome!

Sorry but you're not some kind of consumer advocate you're a criminal.

Uh...grasshopper...please fill us in on exactly what law code he broke.
Attempting to do something is not the same as actually accomplishing it.
He said he tried to scratch and failed. So then, what law did he fail to break?

And please, no assumptions either. If you know he broke a law then tell us exactly what state and or federal law it was.

 

[Eric5964]

This video has actually given me some peace of mind. I opened my 64 BG black I5 to find no visible damage. I did not go grab a magnifying glass or anything, but said hey, it looks good. So I then stuck it in a simple thin rubber holster case combo from the Verizon store, and have been using it for 4 days now. But I keep thinking I need to be very careful. In the case, the top and bottom edges are exposed, so I am looking them over periodically to check for dings/wear...still nothing. I got a couple new cases in the mail yesterday, but I am thinking that I should limit the case changes, so I don't wear on the edges. I want to quit worrying about any of this crap, and enjoy my phone, because it kicks butt!

So after watching the OP's video, that's what I'm gonna do! Thanks again, and I don't think you are a criminal, just someone trying to help. Lighten up everyone, I think Apple will survive!

Have a great day all!

EricE

 

[Bako-MacAddict]

Wow .. your video made Gizmodo headlines LMAO

http://gizmodo.com/5946452/the-best...source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[Puevlo]

Oh well, he only scratched one iPhone. Apple scratched thousands of iPhones and sold them to people anyway.