If Steve Jobs were still alive, he would have told consumers complaining about scratching on the aluminum and glass designs of the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pros, “There is no scratching issue. Stay tuned.”
Just as quickly as consumers got their hands on the new super-thin iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro/17 Pro Max on launch day last Friday, Sept. 19, videos and reports started going viral showing scratches and scuff marks on retail demo units at Apple stores worldwide. The videos threatened a new “scratchgate” for Apple’s new premium smartphones, which start at $999 for the iPhone Air and $1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro.
See iPhone 17 Series at Apple
See iPhone 17 Series at Best Buy
Jobs famously told a Gizmodo reader, “There is no reception issue. Stay tuned,” following the launch of the iPhone 4 when consumers found that gripping the phone in a certain way that covered the antenna bands built into the stainless steel band caused the cellular signal to drop to unusable levels.
His “reality distortion field” or gaslighting wouldn’t have worked as well in today’s social media world, where every and any issue is exaggerated without proper context. Social media users are more incentivized to perpetuate an uninformed narrative to keep the viral train running. Follow-ups and education on why something may be happening are less favored, even if they’re done, because they don’t get as many views or spark the same amount of outrage.
Demo unit iPhone 17 Pro scratches on day 1… (it’s not even 24 hours yet) Use a case immediately if you don’t wait to experience this kind of issue. I’m very disappointed with the quality here pic.twitter.com/zRjIQrl3zA — Bradley (@VerdeSelvans) September 19, 2025
Every video seems to show the new iPhones with visible damage to the aluminum frames, particularly around the iPhone 17 Pros’ massive rectangular camera “plateau” or to the glass backside. The scratches are most prominent on the new Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue colorways, which, after damage, reveal the silver aluminum underneath.
Can't believe the iPhone 17 Pro demo units in stores are already scratched up. Didn't take long at all. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/0qxSD25lit — Safari✈️ (@update4weekly) September 18, 2025
How can expensive new iPhones have such poor durability? The situation is all the more ironic considering Apple actually claims the entire iPhone lineup this year uses a Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass that is advertised as three times more scratch-resistant than iPhones with Ceramic Shield. Gizmodo reached out to Apple but didn’t receive a response by the time of publishing. We’ll update this story if we receive a statement.
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