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GuruZac

macrumors 68040
Sep 9, 2015
3,748
11,733
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Though small, and likely not readily seen unless looking for them, it's a $1200+ device so blemishes are not acceptable. I would return. On almost any other product you would get some kind of discount for any defect, especially electronics, appliances, hell, even a car. But you won't get a blemish-discount on a new Apple product so return for another one.
 

Marty80

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2015
604
594
Melbourne
I would just keep it. That’s a non issue imo.
If he uses a case I cannot see any reason to be concerned.

Sometimes when one is to picky about the appearance. The next replacement may have a more issues particularly related to hardware.

I have a few dead pixels on both of my Sony oled TVs I cannot see them from a distance so I have no concern, and am too hesitant to replace.
 
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Coconutx

macrumors member
Sep 7, 2022
98
84
Though small, and likely not readily seen unless looking for them, it's a $1200+ device so blemishes are not acceptable. I would return. On almost any other product you would get some kind of discount for any defect, especially electronics, appliances, hell, even a car. But you won't get a blemish-discount on a new Apple product so return for another one.
I got used to having perfect products; must be my OCD, kicking in, but paying £1199 pounds for a phone is kind of madness to have flaws.
All my phones remain perfect in my otterbox case. Even still have a perfect iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pro Max in a screen protector and case since release day.

I expect nothing less than perfection. I have to say Apple QC has improved throughout the recent years. Perfect Macbook Air M2, M3, and all Apple watches. The worst exchange game was the iPhone 5 and 6 went through 5 to 6 all with nicks and dust under the screen and dead pixels light leak all these phones opened in front of the Apple staff. That really stressed me out.
Let's face it, getting a mass-produced product is always a lottery game you have to play.
 
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Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,776
6,478
Upstate NY . Was FL.
I got used to having perfect products; must be my OCD, kicking in, but paying £1199 pounds for a phone is kind of madness to have flaws.
All my phones remain perfect in my otterbox case. Even still have a perfect iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pro Max in a screen protector and case since release day.

I expect nothing less than perfection. I have to say Apple QC has improved throughout the recent years. Perfect Macbook Air M2, M3, and all Apple watches. The worst exchange game was the iPhone 5 and 6 went through 5 to 6 all with nicks and dust under the screen and dead pixels light leak all these phones opened in front of the Apple staff. That really stressed me out.
Let's face it, getting a mass-produced product is always a lottery game you have to play.
Yep. My iPhone 14PM remained perfect. It was black with zero shiny chips or scratches and 97% battery health to boot. I really made the next owner really happy. God bless me 🤣
 
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Allen_Wentz

macrumors 68040
Dec 3, 2016
3,275
3,701
USA
My new iPhone 16 Pro Max came with these blemishes straight out of the box. They only come off with a lens wipe, but quickly reappear once you touch the phone. Is this due to the coating used to achieve the gold color? does anyone else have this issue on their titanium frame?
Apple has bombproof return policies, so return it if you get a lemon. Why complain here?
 
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killhippie

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2016
689
754
UK
I get my iPhone and put a silicone case on it and now and then clean it, I don't go over it with a micrometer, or a jewellers loupe, or an electron microscope! If it looks good to the eye then its fine.

These are mass made units from china or India or Vietnam and no matter where they are made, they are not a single unique creation you paid millions for. Also the more you swap the more you may get some realy bad issues and you also get noticed by Apple for wasting lots of their phones or other gear.

I remember some guy a few years back returned 16 phones I think, that's crazy, don't obsess, and the old 'I paid blah for this so it should be perfect' is bull, I paid a lot for a Sony master series OLED with 3 dead pixles at the edge of the screen that I cannot see unless I am like two inches away (or getting my cat down off the unit which is when I saw them about 2 inches away from the screen) now out of 8 million that's not bad, and the next unit could have much worse issues. Nothing is perfect no matter how much you pay, let alone mass produced phones tablets and TV's and computers with an Apple logo. Jeez get a life people.
 

Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
Apple has bombproof return policies, so return it if you get a lemon. Why complain here?
Its nothing more then sharing experience on a forum. This is an Apple product forum right? It is the perfect place to share an experience. Not sure why you are complaining though…
 
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Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
I get my iPhone and put a silicone case on it and now and then clean it, I don't go over it with a micrometer, or a jewellers loupe, or an electron microscope! If it looks good to the eye then its fine.

These are mass made units from china or India or Vietnam and no matter where they are made, they are not a single unique creation you paid millions for. Also the more you swap the more you may get some realy bad issues and you also get noticed by Apple for wasting lots of their phones or other gear.

I remember some guy a few years back returned 16 phones I think, that's crazy, don't obsess, and the old 'I paid blah for this so it should be perfect' is bull, I paid a lot for a Sony master series OLED with 3 dead pixles at the edge of the screen that I cannot see unless I am like two inches away (or getting my cat down off the unit which is when I saw them about 2 inches away from the screen) now out of 8 million that's not bad, and the next unit could have much worse issues. Nothing is perfect no matter how much you pay, let alone mass produced phones tablets and TV's and computers with an Apple logo. Jeez get a life people.
A product like this should come in a pristine condition. That is what people are paying for when they go for Apple products. Accepting faults like this is consumer behaviour that creates slacking companies because they know they can get away with it.

Production issues should never be accepted by the consumer. If people complain enough, QC will get better and the consumer will profit from it.

Recently there seems to be some issues with the camera lenses of the 16 pro’s where a lot of people are experiencing dust particles on the telephoto lens. Should people accept this? Heck no! This is non-acceptable and people should complain. People pay a lot of money for high level of quality and UX with Apple.
 
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killhippie

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2016
689
754
UK
A product like this should come in a pristine condition. That is what people are paying for when they go for Apple products. Accepting faults like this is consumer behaviour that creates slacking companies because they know they can get away with it.

Production issues should never be accepted by the consumer. If people complain enough, QC will get better and the consumer will profit from it.

Recently there seems to be some issues with the camera lenses of the 16 pro’s where a lot of people are experiencing dust particles on the telephoto lens. Should people accept this? Heck no! This is non-acceptable and people should complain. People pay a lot of money for high level of quality and UX with Apple.
No they are not they are paying for a tool, going over phones in such fine detail is more OSD than anything else, if you want a perfect phone spend 50k and get one built for yourself, even then it will have manufacturing tolerances, when millions of units are made. they cannot check every one. People pay for the Apple logo and expect far to much these days.
 
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Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
No they are not they are paying for a tool, going over phones in such fine detail is more OSD than anything else, if you want a perfect phone spend 50k and get one built for yourself, even then it will have manufacturing tolerances, when millions of units are made. they cannot check every one. People pay for the Apple logo and expect far to much these days.
Nonsens! With all respect, but you are a brands wet dream. An iPhones camera lens should not be full of dust specs or has blemishes on the casing, period.

Speaking of tolerances, its getting bigger by the year = less productions cost, same selling price = more profit!
Consumer behaviour like this is creating slacking companies.

Again, it should not have multiple dust specs on the lens! Lets not normalise these kind of issues.
 
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Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,776
6,478
Upstate NY . Was FL.
No they are not they are paying for a tool, going over phones in such fine detail is more OSD than anything else, if you want a perfect phone spend 50k and get one built for yourself, even then it will have manufacturing tolerances, when millions of units are made. they cannot check every one. People pay for the Apple logo and expect far to much these days.
I’ve even heard some luxury vehicles come out of the factory with paint imperfections. Hell I remember my brand new non luxury vehicles had defects also. Hyundai, Ram truck and Nissan at the time when I used to buy new vehicles.
 
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Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
I’ve even heard some luxury vehicles come out of the factory with paint imperfections. Hell I remember my brand new non luxury vehicles had defects also. Hyundai, Ram truck and Nissan at the time when I used to buy new vehicles.
If the fault would hinder the functionality of the car (like dust on the lens of an iPhone) it would be directly addressed.
Scratch on paint means potential rust and would also be fixed and would get a discount.

In most cases the expectation is that the delivered car is in pristine condition, and mostly is. Nobody wants a scratched car if they had a choice.

Apple doesn't discount scratched iPhones but rather asks the full price. Also, repairing a new iPhone is far from what a consumer may expect. Again, lets not normalise these kind of faults in consumer electronics.
 
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Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,776
6,478
Upstate NY . Was FL.
If the fault would hinder the functionality of the car (like dust on the lens of an iPhone) it would be directly addressed.
Scratch on paint means potential rust and would also be fixed and would get a discount.

In most cases the expectation is that the delivered car is in pristine condition, and mostly is. Nobody wants a scratched car if they had a choice.

Apple doesn't discount scratched iPhones but rather asks the full price. Also, repairing a new iPhone is far from what a consumer may expect. Again, lets not normalise these kind of faults in consumer electronics.
Without getting into the dynamics and particulars about the cars it wasn’t a scratch or chip / impact which normally occurs after the fact . I was referring to a dust nib here or there or a panel gaps not being even. I wasn’t normalizing any of these items. Since I too have been affected with damaged iPhones out of the box. Posted here in the past. Guoged scratched frame etc were the last on a few iPhone 13PM and 12PM devices at the time. Photos were also posted.
 
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Biro

macrumors 6502a
Jan 11, 2012
880
1,426
Again, scratches and blemishes are part of the titanium experience. Even with titanium watches costing tens of thousands of dollars. And if you buy a mark-free titanium device, it won’t stay mark-free for very long. Talk about OCD-fueled first-world problems.
 

Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
Again, scratches and blemishes are part of the titanium experience. Even with titanium watches costing tens of thousands of dollars. And if you buy a mark-free titanium device, it won’t stay mark-free for very long. Talk about OCD-fueled first-world problems
Out of the box? No its not! This is complete BS. Sorry my friend, its just not.
 
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Biro

macrumors 6502a
Jan 11, 2012
880
1,426
Out of the box? No its not! This is complete BS. Sorry my friend, its just not.
Clearly you have little to no experience with titanium. It’s very strong and light - but scuffs up and scratches easily. Fact.
 
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Furrr

macrumors member
Sep 25, 2022
69
111
Amsterdam, Nederland
Clearly you have little to no experience with titanium. It’s very strong and light - but scuffs up and scratches easily. Fact.

A titanium iPhone or an Apple watch (or any product for that matter) should not come scuffed out of the box. That is just complete nonsense. And nobody should accept that.

I have enough experience with titanium, privately and professionally to argue against your statement. Not only that, almost all metals scratch easily. That does not mean a new product should come scuffed out of the box. It should come in a pristine, unscuffed state to the end user. Especially an Apple product.

This is what chat GPT has to say on this matter 😉:

IMG_5378.jpeg
 
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sparkles61785

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2009
141
26
I exchanged the phone and got a near perfect new phone. There is the tinniest blemish near the speaker grill, but it is very difficult to see. The screen on the replacement phone is also more even than the prior phone; the prior phone was warm on the top half and pink and cool on the bottom half. So I’m keeping it. Of note, the new phone was produced in September of this year, while the first phone was produced in July. I think the first batches were definitely rushed.

in the end, I'm happy I replaced mine! It’s unacceptable for a $1500 phone to be flawed out of the box.
 

Fred Zed

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2019
5,776
6,478
Upstate NY . Was FL.
I exchanged the phone and got a near perfect new phone. There is the tinniest blemish near the speaker grill, but it is very difficult to see. The screen on the replacement phone is also more even than the prior phone; the prior phone was warm on the top half and pink and cool on the bottom half. So I’m keeping it. Of note, the new phone was produced in September of this year, while the first phone was produced in July. I think the first batches were definitely rushed.

in the end, I'm happy I replaced mine! It’s unacceptable for a $1500 phone to be flawed out of the box.
In my opinion first batches aren’t an indicator of QC issues. There’s been times I’ve bought new iPhones in January and they did possess QC issues with screen , scuffs on stainless steel frame or once even a creaky back glass. All bought in January. In my opinion it’s a lottery.
 
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Bako-MacAddict

macrumors 68010
Jun 7, 2012
2,000
1,401
California
Yep. For that reason, I ended up returning my desert 16 Pro and getting a different color. I wasn’t actually crazy about the color anyway though.
Same thing happened to me when I went to pick up my phone. Instantly fell in love with the black titanium and returned it without hesitation.
 
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