iPhone 17 buyers complain of scratches on new blue Pro, black Air models

SHANGHAI – Gadget shoppers from Hong Kong to London to New York waited in long lines on Sept 19 to purchase Apple’s latest iPhones. But some arrived at retailers to find that certain store models were already scratched.

The deep blue variants of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max exhibited scuffs and scratches after just a few hours of being on display, Bloomberg News found from visits to Apple’s Hong Kong, Shanghai and London stores.

The black iPhone Air also showed itself to be prone to scratching.

It is the US company’s first major hardware redesign in years, returning to an aluminium shell and featuring what Apple had touted as a more scratch-resistant finish on the back.

It is unclear how widespread the issue is.

Consumers in China, one of the first markets where the new devices went on sale, took to social media earlier on Sept 19 with photos of scratches on the back of the newly released iPhone 17 line-up.

The related hashtag was among the top trending topics on China’s Weibo, with more than 40 million views.

Aluminium, the material Apple used for its iPhone 17 Pro and Max enclosures, is known to be scratch prone, and the blemishes are especially conspicuous on darker-coloured devices.

The iPhone 5, released in 2012, received similar complaints from users about scuffs on the black and slate models.

The iPhone 17 Pro is offered in three shades, with the deep blue being the darkest. That handset is not offered in black, which is otherwise a mainstay in Apple’s usual iPhone colour selection.

Apple has contended with launch-day hiccups in past years.

Users also complained about how the iPhone 7’s glossy black finish could be easily scuffed.

Earlier, the super thin iPhone 6 experienced a more serious issue, as users found it was susceptible to bending.

The iPhone 4 also infamously had a problem with its wireless antenna failing when held in a certain way.

The fresh social media backlash threatens to disrupt an otherwise strong debut for the iPhone 17, which Apple is counting on to maintain its momentum at a time when the company is struggling to roll out artificial intelligence features.

Early sales across Asia showed strong demand for the Pro models.

In Hong Kong, a small crowd assembled at Apple’s flagship store to check out the new handsets, but stock for walk-in purchases was limited only to the novel iPhone Air.

Anyone wanting to purchase an iPhone 17 or Pro edition was directed to order online, where Apple indicated wait times of roughly three weeks.

Australia, New Zealand, China and Singapore’s Apple stores showed similar shipping times, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max wait extending to as long as four weeks.

In South Korea, the 17 Pro could be had within a week whereas the Pro Max was marked as unavailable until late October. BLOOMBERG