In a tricky situation for tech giant Apple, several customers and tech experts have reported that the blue iPhone 17 Pro and the black iPhone Air are developing marks and scratches more easily than expected. The issues appear in the Deep Blue, Cosmic Orange, and Space Black colours of the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with scratches showing up mainly around the sharp edges of the camera setup on the back.
In a video, popular YouTuber JerryRigEverything said that the anodised aluminium layer on the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max “does not stick to corners very well,” which may explain the scratches.
“For some reason, Apple didn’t add a chamfer, fillet or radius around the camera plateau, and I think it was intentional, so it looks cooler. But that decision to look cool out of the box is going to plague everyone who owns this phone down the road,” he added.
It turns out that if you carry your iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max in the same pocket as items like coins or house and car keys, the metal can wear off the coating around the camera island, though it’s unlikely to affect the flat back panel.
Bloomberg recently reported that even some display models at Apple retail stores already had scratches. The report also suggested that the back panel of the iPhone 17 Pro models might get a visible circular mark from the magnetic MagSafe charger.
Meanwhile, Apple has responded to the scratchgate controversy. An Apple representative told 9to5mac that the marks seen on some phones came from old MagSafe stands used in stores. The company explained these aren’t real scratches but residue left by the stands, which can be wiped away. Apple also said this happened with iPhone 16 models as well.
Regarding the marks around the camera bump, Apple explained that the edges of the camera island use the same anodised aluminium finish found on MacBooks and other iPhones. However, small scratches and normal wear can still appear over time. iFixit, a website for electronics repairs, pointed out that the iPhone 17 Pro’s sharp camera bump and uneven anodisation make it more prone to these marks. At the moment, the only reliable way to protect the phone is by using a case.
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