The iPhone 17 Professional may scratch simpler than a lottery ticket

After being revealed by Apple at its “Awe dropping” keynote occasion earlier this month, the iPhone 17 series formally began transport final week, and Apple’s brand-new iPhones are formally within the wild now for folks to check and bend to the limits, actually.

Naturally, inside hours of the iPhone 17 collection launching final Friday, a discovery was made reasonably shortly concerning the construct high quality of the brand new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: it is extra vulnerable to scratching.

Guests to Apple Shops shortly seen that scratches have been already seen on demo items of the brand new iPhone 17 Professional, particularly on the deep blue colour, which showcased scratches essentially the most (by way of Bloomberg). The cosmic orange and silver colours additionally exhibited comparable points. On social media, pictures of the scratches unfold like wildfire, elevating issues concerning the scratch resistance of the iPhone 17 Professional in comparison with final yr’s iPhone 16 Professional. Some folks have already begun coining the controversy as “scratchgate.”

Why is the iPhone 17 Professional scratching so simply?

You possibly can thank aluminum for that

For those who’re questioning why the iPhone 17 Professional is perhaps extra susceptible to scratches than earlier Professional iPhone fashions, it is possible because of its new unibody aluminum design. The iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional have been each made from titanium with glass backs, whereas the iPhone 17 Professional is fully an aluminum design with a piece of glass on the again for wi-fi charging, which is why the again of the system has two colour tones (as seen within the picture above). Aluminum is well-known for being extra vulnerable to scratches than titanium, therefore why this subject is simply cropping up now.

JerryRigEverything, a YouTuber well-known for testing smartphone sturdiness, found that the iPhone 17 Professional’s digicam plateau was extra vulnerable to scuffs than anyplace else on the cellphone, because of how the coloured aluminum oxide layer from the anodization course of would not adhere nicely to sharp corners. You possibly can see an instance of this beneath from a put up on X, the place you’ll be able to see the sides of the digicam plateau of the cosmic orange iPhone 17 Professional scratched off.

Nonetheless, it is now all dangerous information for the iPhone 17 Professional. On Instagram, JerryRigEveryThing posted a photograph of his deep blue iPhone 17 Professional laden with scratches, saying: “Enjoyable truth: 99% of the ‘scratches’ you see on this image is simply mud from coin and keys I used to make the marks. It’s going to all fully rub off.” So, scratchgate is not essentially the tip of the world for Apple’s new iPhone, and a few scratches and the mud from them may simply simply wipe away.

Regardless of a few of the scratches with the ability to wiped away, that does not imply folks aren’t justifiably involved about their shiny new $1,000 iPhone instantly having a nasty-looking scratch on it, or the colour chipping off. This subject jogs my memory lots of the MacBook, which additionally has a unibody aluminum design. For those who get a scratch on it, you’ll be able to normally wipe it away, however typically the paint does chip close to USB ports, comparable to what’s occurring on the iPhone 17 Professional’s digicam plateau.

The simplest method to forestall this from occurring is just by placing a case on the iPhone 17 Professional, and there is a good likelihood many individuals who spent a $1,000 or extra on their new iPhone have already carried out this. For many who select to make use of the iPhone 17 Professional and not using a case, it is essential to concentrate on the scratch danger.

After seeing scratchgate unfold over the weekend, when my deep blue iPhone 17 Professional Max arrived within the mail, I instantly went to the closest Apple Retailer and bought a display screen protector and a case. For my part, it is at all times higher to be secure than sorry, even with Apple’s new Ceramic Shield 2 supposedly defending the cellphone higher. Apple hasn’t formally commented on scratchgate, however will probably be fascinating to see if it ever addresses it.

For those who purchased an iPhone 17 Professional, tell us within the feedback beneath how your cellphone is holding up up to now.