iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air are prone to scratches, especially the dark colors

Apple unveiled the iPhone 17 series on September 9 and introduced the slimmest iPhone ever, the iPhone Air, along with the typical Pro and Pro Max models. The iPhone 17 Pro has an aluminum body while the iPhone Air boasts a ceramic shield at the front and back. However, display units in the Apple Stores in China, France, and London have been spotted with visible scratches and scuffs after only a few hours of handling.

Russian YouTuber Wylsacom posted a video yesterday, September 18, where they scratch tested the iPhone 17 Pro. They noted that the Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro was quite susceptible to scratches and French publication Consomac corroborated the findings with their hands on at the Apple Store in Lyon Confluence. This was the case for the dark colored models, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Space Black iPhone Air.

Scratches were prevalent around the MagSafe charging area of the iPhone Air and across the entire back of iPhone 17 Pro models. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also reported on similar findings for demo units across Shanghai, Hong Kong, and London. The Pro models have an aluminum unibody which Apple decided to use this time around because of the vapour chamber to efficiently dissipate heat.

The iPhone Air, on the other hand, uses a ceramic shield that is quite resistant to bending, but is not great at retaining color. Apple says the front is 3x more scratch resistant and the back is 4x more crack resistant compared to previous iPhone models, but doesn’t advertise the scratch resistance for the back. A lot of fans are still waiting for the famous JerryRigEverything to put the iPhone 17 series, especially the iPhone Air, through his durability test, but there are a couple of bend tests online that show how strong the iPhone Air is.