In a rocky and inauspicious debut for its latest flagship device, Apple has been forced to admit that worn-in charging stands in its own retail stores are scuffing the brand new iPhone 17 Pro, a stunning admission that has added fuel to a growing firestorm of concerns over the phone’s durability.
The controversy, which has been dubbed “scratchgate” on social media, erupted within hours of the new iPhone’s launch, casting a long and unwelcome shadow over what should have been a triumphant moment for the tech giant.
The issue first gained prominence in a Bloomberg report published last Friday, the same day the phones were released.
Journalists visiting Apple stores across the globe, from New York to Shanghai, reported finding the deep blue variants of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max showing visible scuffs after just a few hours on public display.
‘Material transfer’ or a permanent blemish?
In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple moved to quell the growing uproar, acknowledging the marks but framing them not as a flaw in the phone, but as a problem with its own aging store equipment.
The company stated that “worn MagSafe stands used in some stores” were the culprits, and that the visible imperfections were “not scratches, but rather material transfer from the stand to the phone that is removable with cleaning.”
This explanation, however, has been met with a healthy dose of public skepticism. Some users have reported trying to rub the marks off the demo units themselves, only to find that “nothing happened,” leading them to claim “they’re scratches.”
Apple has said it is working to address the problem by replacing the worn charging stands.
The price of a new design: a return to aluminum
This in-store issue is just one front in a broader and more complex debate over Apple’s design choices.
The durability concerns are directly linked to the company’s decision to shift from the titanium-framed iPhone 16 Pro to what it describes as a “lightweight aerospace-grade 7000-series aluminum alloy” for the new model.
While Apple insists the material is highly durable, the change has sparked a debate about the potential trade-offs between a lighter design, better thermal performance, and scratch resistance.
This concern has been amplified by the influential durability tester Zack Nelson of the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel.
In a video released over the weekend, Nelson highlighted a separate and potentially more serious vulnerability, demonstrating that the raised edges around the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera plateau are particularly susceptible to permanent scratching.
He attributed this flaw to Apple’s decision not to add “a chamfer, fillet, or radius around the camera plateau.”
Apple has defended this design choice, telling 9to5Mac that the camera plateau’s edges “have similar characteristics to the edges of the anodized aluminum cases on other Apple products, including other iPhone models and MacBooks.”
The company maintains the edges are durable, but it does acknowledge that users “may see normal wear and tear, including small abrasions, over time.”
For all the controversy, it’s worth noting that the new iPhones are, in many respects, more durable than ever. All four new models are protected by Corning’s new Ceramic Shield 2, which has substantially improved scratch resistance over previous generations.
But in the high-stakes world of flagship smartphones, perception is often reality, and for now, the perception of the iPhone 17 Pro is that it is a beautiful, powerful, but ultimately fragile device.
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