One of the biggest talking points surrounding the new iPhone line up is the design. From the ultra thin iPhone Air to the, er, interesting iPhone 17 Pro unibody design, this is the most radically different looking bunch of phones Apple has dropped for some time. But if a growing chorus of grumblings is anything to go by, there’s a bit of a problem with some of these designs. We’re yet to determine whether the iPhone 17 Pro is the best iPhone for photography, but we’re ready to declare you should probably buy a case for it.
When commentators start appending the word ‘gate’ to an issue with Apple’s products, you know it’s a big one. From Antenna-gate (iPhone 4’s network issues) to bend-gate (iPhone 6’s structural issues), Apple has had the dubious honour of dealing with a few of these crises. Enter scratch-gate.
Yep, it seems some iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models are very prone to scratching. In particular, the dark blue iPhone 17 Pro and black iPhone Air are proving to be scratch magnets. Twitter (nope, still not calling is X) is littered with users complaining about scratches – and perhaps worst of all, there’s plenty of evidence of devices looking scratched to hell in the supposed safety of the Apple Store itself.
@Apple sorry but #Scratchgate is real and very disappointing – a case will help but i reckon even a few minutes without a case in the pocket with keys and the phone is damaged – truly shame on you! My iPhone 13 Pro Max has been without a case and there are NO scratches at all… pic.twitter.com/toWqY2Osv2September 19, 2025
The quality of the iPhone 17 series is disappointing.Store display units have developed scratches and have their paint chipped off within the first couple of days.If you’re planning to get one, silver is the colour to go for! pic.twitter.com/qv3CmYT8NLSeptember 20, 2025
PSA if you order a blue 17 Pro:Scratches look very noticeable. pic.twitter.com/tVmfzGDTLWSeptember 17, 2025
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman goes as far as to suggest the device’s propensity for scratching is why we haven’t seen a black iPhone 17 Pro. “It looks like the iPhone 17 Pro in Deep Blue is scratch prone due to its anodised aluminium frame,” he says. “Not entirely surprising. The dark aluminium iPhone models in prior years had a similar issue. This is actually probably why there’s no black version.”
In his now customary destruction teardown video (below), YouTuber JerryRigEverything argues that the main issue here is the camera plateau, whose sharp edges are the “literal achilles heel” of the anodisation process, as there’s not enough substrate at that corner to securely hold the aluminium oxide in place.
“That decision to look cool out of the box is going to plague everyone who owns this phone” the YouTuber adds ominously. Will Apple’s infamous upside-down charging mouse finally be usurped as the company’s biggest design crime? Time will tell.
