Watch out — these iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air colors are reportedly getting scratched easily

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That was fast

iPhone 17 Pro Max shown in hand
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Time to buy a case for your new iPhone. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is reporting that some of the darker colors for the iPhone 17 Pro models and the iPhone Air are picking up marks and scratches far more easily than the lighter colors. In some cases, people are seeing these marred iPhones in the Apple Stores where they are displayed.

Specifically, the issue seems to be affecting the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in the Deep Blue colorway and the iPhone Air in Space Black.

A French publication, Consomac, reported similar issues in France, but it's not clear how prevalent this issue is or if the devices were possibly mishandled. Accounts in China, one of the first regions to get the phones, were sharing images of scratched handsets.

This year, Apple changed the frame of the iPhone 17 Pro models from titanium to aluminum unibody with a Ceramic Shield area on the rear of the phone. In comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro features a titanium body with a glass back.

iPhone 17 Pro Max shown in hand

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Both are stronger than aluminum, but if aluminum is this much more prone to scratches, it's not a good look for Apple's higher-end variants. That said, the iPhone Air features a titanium frame with a glass-like Ceramic Shield.

Gurman also mentioned that the MagSafe chargers used by Apple in stores appear to be leaving marks on the backs of the phones.

That all said, display models aren't always taken care of by people in the same way that they would baby their personal iPhone, which is also most likely in a case.

Our global editor in chief Mark Spoonauer reviewed the blue iPhone 17 Pro Max and has been using it for over a week. He does not see any scratches or scuff marks on his unit so far but we'll keep an eye out.

And, from what we've seen, the brighter colors like orange on the Pro models or white and light gold for the iPhone Air don't appear to be having these same issues, or the lighter hues are hiding the scratches better.

Apple launch headaches

iPhone 16 family

(Image credit: Future)

The iPhone 17 launch isn't going smoothly for Apple.

The Stolen Device Protection feature is wreaking havoc on iPhone 17 trade-ins. The feature is great for preventing a thief from turning off Find My tracking but it's currently causing issues with letting people swap out their phones.

Plus, some iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models are suffering from a "rare" camera glitch, which causes black boxes and white lines to appear in photos. Fortunately, Apple already has a fix in the works coming in a future update, but it's not ideal.

The company is no stranger to launch headaches, as the iPhone 16 debuted with a litany of issues affecting everything from the display and cameras to durability problems.

Many of those problems were ironed out in the ensuing weeks and months, and we expect the iPhone 17's launch issues will similarly be resolved.

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Scott Younker
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him. He also handles all the Connections coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game since it released.

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