It’s frequent for an iPhone launch to be accompanied by complaints that the brand new handsets are defective indirectly. Some years these complaints will snowball right into a main scandal, equivalent to Antennagate in 2010 or Bendgate in 2014. Different occasions they don’t actually go wherever.
Which class does the so-called Scratchgate state of affairs come beneath? It’s onerous to inform at this level, however Apple is doing its greatest to nudge public opinion within the latter path.
Scratchgate is, inevitably, the title that’s been given to widespread studies that some new handsets are exhibiting extra scratches than would usually be anticipated. The deep blue 17 Professional and 17 Professional Max and the black iPhone Air “exhibited scuffs after just some hours of being on show,” in accordance with Bloomberg. It was additionally seen that MagSafe chargers had been typically leaving a round mark on the again of the iPhone 17 Professional.
Apple responded to those studies final week, blaming the problem on the tools used to show the handsets in retail shops. The corporate advised 9to5Mac, “it has decided these imperfections are brought on by worn MagSafe stands utilized in some shops. It additionally clarifies that the marks aren’t scratches, however somewhat materials switch from the stand to the cellphone that’s detachable with cleansing.”
However not everyone seems to be satisfied. As Presently‘s Joe Foley factors out, a few of the studies come not from retail browsers however from individuals who’ve purchased the telephones themselves, and until these folks additionally introduced the worn MagSafe stands residence with them, that rationalization doesn’t add up for them. These consumers “appear satisfied that what they’re seeing are actual chips and scratches,” Foley provides.
Within the newest version of his Energy On publication, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman addresses the controversy and provides his take. And he’s not totally shopping for the excuse both.
“The fact is that the iPhone 17 Professional doesn’t actually have a difficulty on par with previous iPhone “gates,” such because the iPhone 4 antenna woes in 2010 and the iPhone 6 bending downside in 2014,” Gurman writes. “However it’s additionally true that the purely aluminum portion surrounding the iPhone 17 Professional digital camera space can get fairly scuffed up. And that has nothing to do with the MagSafe leaving marks on the glass space of the gadgets.”
Whether or not or not you’re satisfied by Apple’s rationalization, the best strategy to defend your new iPhone (wanting leaving it within the field) is to make use of one of many greatest iPhone 17 instances we’ve rounded up and reviewed.
Scratchgate is the catchiest and most high-profile problem to hit the late-2025 iPhones, but it surely isn’t the one one. Apple itself has acknowledged {that a} reported photographic downside is certainly “one thing that may occur in very uncommon instances when an LED gentle show is extraordinarily brilliant and shining immediately into the digital camera.” There have additionally been studies of a Wi-Fi bug, however this reportedly has been mounted by iOS 26.1.
