Why the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pros scratched quickly alarming -

If Steve Jobs was still alive, he would have said to consumers complaining about scratching the aluminum and glass conceptions of the new iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 pros, “there is no scratching problem. Stay listening.”

Very quickly that consumers got their hands on the new IPhone Air Super Mince and the iPhone 17 Pro / 17 Pro Max on launching day last Friday September 19, videos and reports began to become viral showing scratches and brands of Scuff on retail demonstration units in Apple stores in the world. Videos have threatened a new “scratchgate” for Apple’s new premium smartphones, which start at $ 999 for the iPhone Air and $ 1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro.

Jobs told a Gizmodo reader: “There is no reception problem. Stay listening, “after the launch of the iPhone 4, when consumers found that the phone seizure in a certain way that covered the antenna strips integrated into the stainless steel strip caused the cell signal to unusable levels.

Its “field of distortion of reality” or its gas lighting would not have worked as well in the world of social media today, where each problem is exaggerated without appropriate context. Social media users are more encouraged to perpetuate an uninformed story to maintain the viral train. The follow -ups and education on the reasons why something can happen is less favored, even if they have finished, because they do not obtain as many views or do not arouse the same amount of indignation.

Demo unit iPhone 17 pro scratches on day 1 … (it’s not even 24 hours yet)

Use a case immediately if you don’t wait to discover this type of problem. I am very disappointed with the quality here pic.twitter.com/zrjiqrl3za

– Bradley (@verdeselvans) September 19, 2025

Each video seems to show new iPhones with damage visible to aluminum frames, especially around the massive rectangular camera of the iPhone 17, “tray” of camera or at the glass. The stripes are the most important on the new orange and deep blue cosmic colors, which, after damage, reveal the silver aluminum underneath.

I cannot believe that the demonstration units of the iPhone 17 pro in stores are already striped. Did not take long at all. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/0qxsd25lit

– Safari✈️ (@ update4 week) September 18, 2025

How can new expensive iPhones have such bad sustainability? The situation is all the more ironic since Apple actually claims that the whole iPhone range this year uses a glass of Shield 2 ceramic coverage which is announced as three times more resistant to scratches than iPhones with a ceramic shield. Gizmodo contacted Apple but did not receive an answer at the time of publication. We will update this story if we receive a statement.

Anodized aluminum will naturally scratch

Well, I have bad news that you may not want to hear. Although I cannot exclude that Apple may have cheap on the painting work for the pros of the iPhone 17, I strongly doubt it. For the uninitiated, the pros of the iPhone 17 obtain their colored aluminum through a process called anodization, which is an electrochemical process which not only strengthens metal but also allows you to be dyed. This is not a new technique, and it is not the first Apple rodeo in products either. Apple anode all its aluminum products, and each colorful aluminum device is dyed using the process.

The scratches, the scales and the scratches are normal for anodized aluminum.

Need proof? Go back and look at all the old candy ipod nanos of the time. Unless you wear gloves and have greeted music players, all have easily dismissed and striped the daily wear. This is completely normal. (I think the look “marked by the battle” even adds character to the devices, showing that they were used and adored. Imagine if everything in Star Wars was a virgin; It would seem wrong.)

Apple, iPod, nano, 5., Gen, Product, Red, A320 — © Ralf Liebhold / Shutterstock.com

The Apple Store Magsafe store is responsible? Dust, not scratches?

But, but, the pros of the iPhone 17 showed damage a few minutes and a few hours after the stores stored them. I hate being obvious captain, but when you have hundreds, if not thousands, people literally caressing the devices non -stop And not being soft with them as they slap them on the retail stands of Magsafe, the visible damage will not occur at a faster rate.

I think the problem here is that the Magsafe stands in Apple stores have a metal ring on the top, which is easy to scratch when setting up the phone. And over time, this metal is scratched, aggravating the problem. pic.twitter.com/a78okw7ozl

– Dylan (@ dylanmcd8) September 21, 2025

Zack Nelson, aka Jerryrigeverhyme, whom you may know the guy who does telephone sustainability tests by putting them through trials of torture such as flexion, scratches and even burning them, says in his last video that scratches could be more temporary than in social videos.

“Funny fact: 99% of the” scratches “you see in this photo are only dust of the room and keys that I had used to make the marks,” said Nelson in an Instagram post. “Resolve everything completely. With the exception of 1% of damage in the bright corner of the camera tray that you should be careful. ”

Others have also struck on disinformation surrounding the Magsafe contours visible on the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pros:

You may see images like this showing the iPhone 17 Pro and Air “Scuting easily”, but these are misleading.

The “striped” part is made of glass, not in aluminum. In fact, these are not stripes at all, but simply materials of materials from the Magsafe in rubbed aluminum … pic.twitter.com/vlzufosh4

– + @ilewapple) September 21, 2025

“In fact, these are not stripes at all, but simply deposits of materials from Magsafe aluminum Magsafe rubbing against these phones,” said X user Appleleaker. “The rear glass is matt with microscopic grooves that release the aluminum magsafe rings and leave marks. These marks can be wiped out with a micro-fiber fabric, sometimes requiring alcohol cleaning.”

Aluminum is a softer metal

And what about the ease with which the pros of the iPhone 17 are facilitated? In order not to be a wise guy and tell you to return to the chemistry of the school, but aluminum is a softer metal than the titanium used in the iPhone Air (and the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pros) or the stainless steel used in the iPhone X via the pros of the iPhone 14. So, of course, the bumps will be visible if you let it fall. Use a case if you are really worried about the damage. If you want something more sustainable with which you don’t need to use a case, you should consider iPhone air. As I said in my iPhone Air review, I unexpectedly abandoned our examination unit – the screen survived unscathed, and there were only very minor eraflures in the corners of the titanium frame.

Live with an iPhone 17 pro. Today’s learning is three things
・ The pixel is an extremely strong telephoto lens
・ Even if you use it hard for about 12 hours, the battery lasts 35%.
– When you put the aluminum frame, it will start you instantly! The case is required
East! I’m crying now pic.twitter.com/y4fwiywyo

—Okina (@okinalog) September 20, 2025

Beware of photos and videos generated by AI-Ai

It also hurts me to say that, but you should not blindly accept everything you see online. With the powerful tools for creating photos and video of today’s AI, it is more difficult than ever to know what is and is not authentic or if images have been modified.

Who can be certain that the images below really represent a real iPhone 17 pro (even on purpose) or not?

Aluminum has uh… pic.twitter.com/d4bnosq57d

– Dongle (@DongleBookPro) September 20, 2025

And even if the above images are real, intrepid users have clearly taken the initiative to use a generative AI to make convincing images based on them, such as the “photo” below, which shows the iPhone 17 pro with adhesive tape to cover its scratches and cracks.