iPhone 15 Pro build quality woes compounded with new swollen battery claim

Apple finally succeeded in releasing the long-awaited first-gen titanium iPhone in 2023. However, it seems a step up to this material is not the end-game of mobile device durability as possibly implied during its introduction.

It now seems prospective iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max owners might have to concede that the devices might need at least as much care and attention as the previous generation, according to a body of analysis that now includes a satisfying scratch test of the handsets' new PVD coating under the microscope by iFixit.

Then again, the newer smartphones should at least look better out of the box, as roundly hyped by Apple during their introduction. However, even that advantage may not have worked out for a handful of consumers. The leaker Majin Buu claims to have curated reports of a small number of 15 Pro units across several markets that "appear to have display misalignment, dirt on the camera lenses, scratches on the screen and signs of damage in various areas".

Another 15 Pro on Reddit seems to have run afoul of another potential risk of upgrading to the latest and ideally shiniest mobile device. u/Leather_Cheerio_402 claims to have only acquired the device "on Monday" (September 25, 2023), only for it to exhibit signs of a swollen battery just a few days later.

These incidents are isolated thus far, albeit magnified through Apple's insistence on backing the iPhone 15 Pro series as the most premium of their line so far. Nevertheless, their ability to set a smartphone design trend has already taken a ding that has yet to be buffed out.

Buy an oddly nostalgic Spigen Classic C1 MagFit case for the iPhone 15 Pro Max on Amazon.