There are reports on Reddit of the cosmic orange version of the iPhone 17 Pro turning pink. As PCMag's Eric Zeman noted, it's likely that the phone came into contact with cleaning substances that affected the finish, turning it from vibrant orange to an equally outrageous pink. I love pink phones and the idea of a hot pink iPhone 17 Pro filled me with joy so I wanted to see if I could test the theory and see just what cleaning with the wrong products can do to your phone.
It's important to note here that the iPhone 17 Pro I used was bought by CNET for the purposes of testing. Had I paid over $1,000 of my own money I wouldn't be so reckless in smearing it with chemicals that could harm it. And you shouldn't either. If you need to clean your phone, do it safely. Disclaimer aside, let's dive in.
Do not do what I do. Keep this away from your phone. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
The chemicals
I bought two chemicals to test this out. Zeman explains that it may be oxidation that caused the color to change and that hydrogen peroxide could do this. I couldn't find this over the counter in the UK, so I instead bought an "oxy-active" stain remover spray that, among other things, contains "oxygen-based bleaching agents" which sounded ideal. Apple also clearly states "don't use products containing bleach or hydrogen peroxide" on its support page so, naturally, I bought some thick bleach too.
Oxy application
I started by spraying the oxy cleaner on a microfiber cloth until it was noticeably wet from the liquid and then liberally applied this all over the rear of the iPhone. The Reddit user with the affected phone showed that it only affected the metal parts, not the glass back panel, so I made sure to focus my attention on the sides and camera bar.
Smearing on the chemicals with a cloth. Andrew Lanxon/CNET
With the phone well and truly doused in chemicals that have no business being anywhere near a phone, I left it to sit and think about what it had done for 30 minutes -- after which time I wiped it dry and took a close inspection. Disappointingly, my phone was still factory orange, rather than "what the hell have you done to your phone" pink. Time to move on.
Bleach blast
... continue reading