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YouTuber Reveals Major iPhone Weakness Amid ‘Scratch Gate’ Controversy
The anodized aluminum casing on iPhone 17 Pro models lacks sufficient magnesium, causing a brittle layer prone to flaking near the raised camera bump, experts say.
- On Friday, ScratchGate went viral as users in China and beyond noticed the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max scratched more easily than expected.
- Apple swapped titanium for heat-forged aluminum and anodized the casing this year, but iFixit found the anodized finish brittle and loosely attached around the camera plateau.
- Using microscope-backed scratch tests, the iFixit teardown team and David Niebuhr found level 4 hardness tore away the anodized layer at camera edges, corroborated by Zack Nelson’s videos, with Niebuhr stating `Apple could have prevented this by making a more gradual curve and avoiding a relatively sharp corner.`
- Reviewers recommended buyers invest in a case and iFixit gave the Pro a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10, noting a fix before the iPhone 18 seems unlikely.
- Despite passing flame and bend tests, Pro models retain three 48-megapixel Fusion rear cameras, unlike the standard iPhone 17 and iPhone Air, which lack the sharply raised camera bump.
Insights by Ground AI
12 Articles
12 Articles
iPhone 17 Pro Scratch Issue Concerns Users Amid ‘Scratchgate’ Reports
Photo Credit: VCG | VCG via Getty Images Just days after the release of the iPhone 17 series, Apple seems to have run headfirst into a controversy with the aptly-named ‘scratchgate’ issue. Early adopters of the latest iPhone model have seemingly reported cases of the phone easily inviting scratches on its body. As such, dedicated followers of the technology giants have flocked to the internet to gather more information regarding the topic. Apple…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
60% Center
L 40%
C 60%
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