Scuffgate (iphone5)

[Tegeril]

Yeah but not this fast or this visibly, unless it's a super-cheap product. I have a cheap $10 set of anodized screwdrivers from Newegg that I've been using for over a year and barely have any wear on them.

I'm guessing they rushed the process.

I feel like there's some kind of variation in use that can account for the difference. Screw drivers typically lay on their handles and not along the anodized shaft. They are also not precision machined to be perfectly flat and thus scrape against any material that may be not also perfectly flat underneath them.

Do I think it's possible that the process is flawed? Sure. Do I think a decision to anodize a device that people use in a way that is almost guaranteed to scratch it up is bad? Absolutely.

I am still not sure they can do much about it and the phone doesn't look 'right' without darker aluminum with the black glass so I'm not sure what the alternative is.

 

[Kaido]

I feel like there's some kind of variation in use that can account for the difference. Screw drivers typically lay on their handles and not along the anodized shaft. They are also not precision machined to be perfectly flat and thus scrape against any material that may be not also perfectly flat underneath them.

Do I think it's possible that the process is flawed? Sure. Do I think a decision to anodize a device that people use in a way that is almost guaranteed to scratch it up is bad? Absolutely.

I am still not sure they can do much about it and the phone doesn't look 'right' without darker aluminum with the black glass so I'm not sure what the alternative is.

Hmm, that's a good point. Most of the anodized stuff I've used is somewhat tubular - bicycle parts, paintball gun parts, R/C car parts, etc.

I checked with a couple of my buddies IRL and they are all having scuffing issues, including on the white iPhone 5. Bummer.

 

[Tegeril]

I wonder what the white ones look like as it's probably not as much of a tonal shift from scratched to unscratched. I'm still trying to decide if I'm getting black or white =\

 

[Wreckem]

I wonder what the white ones look like as it's probably not as much of a tonal shift from scratched to unscratched. I'm still trying to decide if I'm getting black or white =\

There is no tonal difference other than in three spots. The Apple logo on the back is high polish, so if scratched it would show. Same with the two bands of high polish around the entirety of the phone.

I got the white because Apple is correct, anodizing can wear away. Even the best anodizing can easily be scratched through.

 

[TwoAlpha]

There's a lot of different types of anodizing. Apple is using Type II anodizing. We call it "pretty" anodizing here - looks good with lots of colors, not really good for durability or wear resistance.

Type III hard anodizing would LOOK like you're scratching it with keys but it's really removing metal from the keys like sandpaper. It will wipe right off. It's harder than steel!

I designed firearms in a previous life and we had lots of parts (AR-15/M16 receivers, aluminum 1911 and M-9 frames for example) hard anodized and they can take a beating. You can even specify anodize buildup (thickness) with Type III.

It looks like there's a mini market for an anodizer to strip and Type III these iPhone backs. You'd just have to watch screw and peg holes for tolerance changes.