This iPhone 17 Pro Model May Be a Scratch Magnet

If you haven’t yet picked up one of Apple’s new iPhone 17 Pro models, you may want to give some thought to color and case options, as it seems that at least one finish isn’t holding up nearly as well as the others.

This year, Apple released the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max in only three colors: silver, cosmic orange, and deep blue. In an unusual twist, the dark neutral that had been available on the iPhone since Apple introduced a glossy black plastic finish on the 2008 iPhone 3G was nowhere to be found. The addition of an orange color was also a first, but, contrary to the title of a well-known Netflix series, we think that deep blue is actually the new black here.

However, it’s far from the first time we’ve seen a dark blue shade on an iPhone. The iPhone 12 Pro gave us Pacific Blue, while the iPhone 15 Pro later ushered in Apple’s short-lived titanium phase with a very similar Blue Titanium. Deep blue is a bit darker than these, but it’s still close enough that we’d put it in the same family.

More significantly, it’s the only dark finish available for the iPhone 17 Pro. Unfortunately, it’s also turning out to be the most scuff-prone.

I’d seen passing comments last week that the deep blue iPhone 17 Pro models weren’t holding up so well, but it wasn’t until I saw a few in person that I realized just how bad it was. Over the weekend, I visited two different Apple Stores in the Toronto area, and was surprised that every deep blue iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max on display was noticeably worse off on the back than the cosmic orange and silver models shown alongside them.

When I saw the first one, I assumed it was an exception. Perhaps that had been handled more than the others — these are display units, after all. Then again, it’s hard to believe that more people would be handling the deep blue version than the much more interesting cosmic orange, and those models remained spotless by comparison.

Curious, I checked the rest of the models on display, and without exception, they were all in a much more scuffed-up state than the cosmic orange and silver models. The next day, I happened to be near a different Apple Store and popped in out of curiosity, only to discover the same problem across every deep blue iPhone 17 Pro model that was on display.

It seems my admittedly anecdotal observations aren’t unique. French blog Consomac and Bloomberg News found the same across multiple stores internationally:

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

Although it wasn’t nearly as noticeable in my own observations, the Bloomberg team reported that the space black iPhone Air also suffered from similar scratching compared to the lighter sky blue, light gold, and cloud white versions.

Gurman explains this as partly due to the move to anodized aluminum for the casing, where the darker top layer wears away, revealing the natural aluminum color, which makes scuffs more visible. The use of aluminum for the camera plateau and frame around the glass exacerbates the problem.

However, this doesn’t explain why the iPhone Air is also scuffing up so easily. This uses a much more durable titanium frame, rather than aluminum. Still, one thing the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models do have in common is the Ceramic Shield 2 glass on the back. The standard iPhone 17 models, which don’t seem to have the same problem, still use the same back glass as last year’s entire iPhone 16 lineup.

Ceramic Shield 2 is supposed to be more durable against impacts and scratches than the glass that was used before, but it may still be more prone to showing scuffs. Gurman also notes that the MagSafe charger can leave a visible circular mark on the glass, which is something that I also observed at the Apple Store, where the iPhone 17 Pro models are held on MagSafe units.

It’s not clear whether those scuffs can be cleaned off the glass portion. I tried to wipe them with a dry shirt sleeve, but it didn’t make any difference; a damp cloth might do more. It’s hard to imagine the Ceramic Shield glass being prone to actual scratches, but the mark on the MagSafe ring suggests it may also be discoloration in the glass caused by heat.

The good news is that those opting for the vibrant cosmic orange or silver models likely won’t be affected. Some of the problems with the deep blue iPhone 17 Pro and space black iPhone Air can be mitigated with a case, but only a few cases actually cover the camera plateau, so you’ll have to choose carefully if you really want to protect this year’s darker iPhone models from scratches and scuffs.