Apple has acknowledged that worn MagSafe charging stands in its retail shops are inflicting marks on the brand new iPhone 17 Professional fashions, addressing considerations that emerged inside hours of the machine’s launch. Apple informed 9to5Mac that the seen imperfections on demo items will not be scratches, however quite “material transfer” from growing old show tools that may be eliminated with cleansing. (Some customers, it’s value noting, say they tried rubbing out the marks on the Apple Retailer’s demo items however “nothing happened,” claiming “they’re scratches.”)
The sturdiness controversy, dubbed “scratchgate” on social media, first gained prominence via a Bloomberg report printed final Friday, the identical day Apple launched its new iPhones. Bloomberg journalists visiting Apple shops in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London mentioned they discovered deep blue variants of the iPhone 17 Professional and Professional Max exhibiting scuffs after simply hours on show. The black iPhone Air additionally exhibited comparable vulnerability to scratching.
Apple clarified to 9to5Mac that “worn MagSafe stands used in some stores” are the culprits behind the marks, which seem primarily across the MagSafe cutout on the machine’s again. The corporate emphasised these are “not scratches, but rather material transfer from the stand to the phone that is removable with cleaning.” (Once more, some say that’s simpler mentioned than finished.) Apple mentioned it’s working to deal with the issue by presumably changing the worn charging stands, and famous that different iPhone fashions, together with iPhone 16 variants, are equally affected.
Nonetheless, the in-store charging problem represents solely a part of the sturdiness narrative surrounding Apple’s return to aluminum building. Standard sturdiness tester Zack Nelson of the JerryRigEverything channel, which has practically 10 million subscribers, highlighted a separate concern in a video over the weekend, demonstrating that the raised edges across the iPhone 17 Professional’s digicam plateau are significantly prone to everlasting scratching. Nelson mentioned this vulnerability stems from Apple’s determination to not add “a chamfer, fillet, or radius around the camera plateau.”
Apple defended this design alternative, telling 9to5Mac the iPhone 17 Professional’s digicam plateau edges “have similar characteristics to the edges of the anodized aluminum cases on other Apple products, including other iPhone models and MacBooks.” The corporate maintains these edges are sturdy and endure rigorous testing, although it acknowledges customers “may see normal wear and tear, including small abrasions, over time.”
Apple didn’t instantly reply to Fortune‘s request for remark.
The sturdiness considerations signify a notable shift from the titanium-framed iPhone 16 Professional collection to what Apple describes as a “lightweight aerospace-grade 7000-series aluminum alloy” design. Whereas Apple emphasizes the anodization layer exceeds business requirements for microhardness, the fabric change has sparked debate about trade-offs between thermal efficiency and scratch resistance.
For what it’s value, intensive testing suggests Apple’s claims about sturdiness are spot-on broadly talking. The iPhone 17 lineup, in addition to the iPhone Air, advantages from Corning’s new Ceramic Protect 2, which covers the entrance of all 4 new iPhone fashions and has considerably improved scratch resistance in comparison with earlier generations. The iPhone Air has significantly impressed in bend and scratch checks, sustaining structural integrity regardless of its ultra-thin profile. You’ll be able to watch JerryRigEverything’s video on that to see it in motion, it’s fairly spectacular.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to assist with an preliminary draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the data earlier than publishing.
Fortune International Discussion board returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and international leaders will collect for a dynamic, invitation-only occasion shaping the way forward for enterprise. Apply for an invite.
