It’s iPhone 17 release day, and that means the internet is ready to start the next drama about the redesigned phones. One early concern is about the superficial durability of the iPhone 17 Pro aluminum chassis, especially on the darker color Deep Blue model. If this worries you, it’s a good time to buy a case.
Because anodized aluminum still has the raw silver metal color underneath, any light nicks or scratches are much more visible to the eye, compared to similar wear and tear to the iPhone 16 Pro’s titanium sides or back glass. Bloomberg reported that some buyers were finding visible scuffs and imperfections on the iPhone 17 Pro demo units when they went into Apple retail stores today.
If dropped from a height, you can expect the aluminum casing to nick or scratch. The top layer of painted aluminum is then worn away, revealing the raw material underneath and making for an easily visible scuff.
Prior iPhones with a casing made of titanium and glass didn’t really have this same problem, as hairline scratches to glass are less visible to the naked eye. Of course, more serious impacts could see the back of the iPhone 16 cracking and shattering altogether.
The aluminum body of the iPhone 17 Pro will fare far better on that metric, and the back glass window which enables MagSafe wireless charging uses a Ceramic Shield cover this year, which should make it even more durable than the 16’s back glass.
French Apple blog Consomac also saw scratching and scuffing when it visited the Apple Store today. The MagSafe puck was also leaving marks on the glass area on both the 17 Pro and the black iPhone Air, although some of this should wipe away with a bit of gentle cleaning.
Colored aluminum being readily susceptible to visible scuffing is nothing new. You can see similar results on Apple’s MacBook lineup where minor scratches on the casing of a Space Gray or Space Black MacBook Pro are quite easy to spot.
The effect is lessened on lighter colored devices, as they are closer to the raw color of the aluminum material, which makes any damage less noticeable. This means the new Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro will probably fare better than the Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro, when subjected to regular wear and tear of daily life.
Like any phone, if you want to preserve its natural beauty for as long as possible, put your iPhone 17 Pro in a case.
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