iPhone XS I'm on my 16th iPhone Xs

[PumpkingKing]

That not 100% correct: The OP *says* Apple allowed this. We have no prove this whole story has really happened.

Would I have something to gain by addressing Apple customers here if it was all some elaborate lie? Remember that I merely explained my story and asks others for their iPhone experience. My story doesn’t even necessarily need to have anything to do with it. If you have trouble believing, why not just look at the question in a different light? Imagine I didn’t explain my story. Imagine the question is something like, ‘has anyone noticed any issues with the latest iPhones?’. You could even add in issues resembling those that were seen in iPhone 10 (X). Problem solved

 

[kargurin]

That not 100% correct: The OP *says* Apple allowed this. We have no prove this whole story has really happened.

No this couldn’t have happened. But with 18k clicks mission accomplished!

 

[Plett]

The OP must have A LOT of time on their hands to go through 16 iPhone's. After the third time, I would cut my losses and keep my old phone or just wait a month or two.

Apple has to have the OP flagged at this point, right?

God I hope so, what do DB. Who does that? get a Samsung OP, you aren't fit inside the Apple garden.

 

[MacLappy]

Hi OP, sorry to hear that you couldn’t find a keeper. Noticing that there are quite a few threads addressing issues with build quality on the iPhone XS, XS Max. Maybe consider the iPhone XR? I got 2 from my local telco on launch day, 1 red and 1 blue, did not have to open multiple boxes and both were in pristine condition on first try.

 

[SquireSCA]

If it takes you 16 tries to get a "good one", then you either need to pick a different manufacturer, or maybe admit that you are insanely OCD and the problem is you, not the phone...

 

[BoricuaHec01]

OP, I came to the realization that you are completely insane. Believe me, I too have OCD but your case is literally out of this world. Please, go see someone about this, I'm being so serious. You can't possibly feel good about yourself going through 16 (brand new) phones trying to find one without a dust spec. Like dude, c'mon now.

 

[SquireSCA]

OP, I came to the realization that you are completely insane. Believe me, I too have OCD but your case is literally out of this world. Please, go see someone about this, I'm being so serious. You can't possibly feel good about yourself going through 16 (brand new) phones trying to find one without a dust spec. Like dude, c'mon now.

I enjoy phones and new tech... but I think perhaps this speaks to a bigger issue where someone's phone is so integral to their daily life that they obsess in a truly unhealthy way... I agree, I think the OP needs to talk to someone and maybe unplug for awhile, a sort of "digital detox"...

No phone is this important to warrant that kind if insane behavior.

 

[BoricuaHec01]

I enjoy phones and new tech... but I think perhaps this speaks to a bigger issue where someone's phone is so integral to their daily life that they obsess in a truly unhealthy way... I agree, I think the OP needs to talk to someone and maybe unplug for awhile, a sort of "digital detox"...

No phone is this important to warrant that kind if insane behavior.

Exactly my point, anxiety is a real annoying and uncomfortable feeling so I try to refrain myself from that as much as possible. These phones are used as a tool, not a comic book that you put back in plastic after you finish reading them.

On a side note, Apple should really ban the OP for having them open 16 brand new, unused iPhones for his idiotic reasons.

 

[thadoggfather]

I’d be most worried about screen uniformity and quality personally, not a minor nick or something comparatively petty. Especially after going through a few rounds.

Screen quality and functionality are my top priorities when looking for a good unit

 

[StarShot]

Why don't you take a breather and report back to tell us when you're on your 50th XS?

 

[44267547]

I’d be most worried about screen uniformity and quality personally, not a minor nick or something comparatively petty.

So you find it acceptable have a ‘minor Nick’ on the display or casing when they’re charging $1100 for an iPhone? Then your standards are lower than others, because that is _not_ acceptable, and I don’t think Apple would find that acceptable either if they didn’t intend the phone to be manufactured that way and they would even encourage for the customer to return the phone for an exchange. Although, I can understand one or two exchanges, but 16 is between Apple and the OP.

 

[SquireSCA]

There is no way in hell that he got 15 “Unacceptable” and damaged phones in a row. Just stop...

 

[thadoggfather]

So you find it acceptable have a ‘minor Nick’ on the display or casing when they’re charging $1100 for an iPhone? Then your standards are lower than others, because that is _not_ acceptable, and I don’t think Apple would find that acceptable either if they didn’t intend the phone to be manufactured that way and they would even encourage for the customer to return the phone for an exchange. Although, I can understand one or two exchanges, but 16 is between Apple and the OP.

I don’t think it’s acceptable but at some point for my own self preservation I’d have to pick my QC battles or accept it as weak sauce and stay with an older gen

I cause scratches on my devices. I prefer to be the one causing them but

 

[SquireSCA]

I guess for those of us that see phones as a tool, we are more forgiving... for someone who sees it as a status symbol and an integral part of their image, they will go through 16 to get the perfect one... and ironically drop it and scratch it a week later, anyway... haha

 

[faksnima]

I'll add - Every phone I've ever purchased had a skin go on it immediately, a screen protector, and a case, right out of the box. This XS Max is my first since the 4 and I'm on my fourth space grey variant. Here are my issues:

1.) First XS Max - chips/scratches in the band.
2.) Second XS Max - chips/scratches in the band.
3.) Third XS Max - dust/scratches? under the back glass.
4.) Fourth XS Max - chip/scratch and dust under back glass.

I want to point out for each of these four phones I either peeled the wrap and immediately went to install a full body skin or I peeled the wrap, examined it for scratches (quickly at the store - not thoroughly enough, I gather), and placed the wrap back on. In any case the only material that touched the phone prior to my discovery of scratches, chips, blemishes, or imperfections, was the material the phone was shipped in and/or any dust particles that rested upon it.

I took advantage of the Costco trade in offer for this phone and, as such, I'm going to go through with the rebate process before I attempt another swap (that, and I'm sure I'm not Costco's favorite person at this moment in time). Needless to say this has been very frustrating. I expected better QC from Apple, especially for a $1200 phone.

Off topic - how is the genius bar in terms of repairs? If you have concerns regarding signal strength, for example, do they do in-warranty swaps? Are the swaps new or refurbs?

 

[a-m-k]

God I hope so, what do DB. Who does that? get a Samsung OP, you aren't fit inside the Apple garden.

Shouldn't you say "orchard". Just saying. Since it afterall....

 

[faksnima]

The grass isn't greener at Samsung's garden. I just came back from 8 years on Android (my last iPhone was the 4), and the two weeks with the XS Max, while frustrating due to some limitations, were a breath of fresh air in terms of speed and battery life. Samsung's android updates are so slow that if they break something it will take nearly a year to fix, if they ever get around to fixing it in the first place. My S8+ was fast and decent on battery. After Oreo? It's sitting on my desk, after a low-medium intensity day at 10%, the last 20% or so was idle drain. The battery has been replaced, as has the screen, and the charging port and it's been formatted.

As annoyed as I am with Apple QC, I'm confident that I'll have an enjoyable experience once I get a phone in "brand new" condition without any chips, scratches, or dust under the screen.

That begs the question, why do these units have chips in the glass or blemishes in the steel? I get glass is fragile, so couldn't Apple do a better job protecting protecting what amounts to a luxury device? Yes, these are tools - but you could replicate 80-90% of the experience with a vastly cheaper android device. Aside from 'feel', smoothness, reliability and security - this is largely a vanity item. As such, even Apple advertises the phone as a piece of jewelry. I'm with OP - there is no excuse for items damaged out of the box. I can believe 15 of them had blemishes. I was willing to put aside some markings on the stainless steel bands due to the PVD process, but glass chips or anomalies are out of the question.

 

[stafil]

My experience is getting good XS Maxes for me and wife on launch date on first try.

Then went in store to buy for my dad. First literally dead out of the box.

Second one the off axis color shift was awful. The top half of the screen looked blue and the bottom half yellow. That bad.

Third was spot on.

I don’t see why one shouldn’t be fussy when buying an expensive item. To be honest these units should not have made it through quality control in the first place.

Although I wouldn’t bother with 16 returns. I would probably give up after 3-4. Almost gave up on the second.

 

[slippery-pete]

I have owned every iPhone but the 8 and never had a QC issue with any of them. Maybe I am just “lucky”. Find it extremely hard to believe someone would have issues with 4 phones with QC issues...16 even harder to believe.

 

[0906742]

First of all, sorry for the long post.

My last 2-3 iPhones have all had some manufacturing faults. I have been wondering if there is some difference in quality between factories where these are manufactured? I know my experience is scientifically meaningless but for example my previous iPhone 7 had minor scratches on the screen and slight imperfections in anodized back right out of the box. Based on the serial number this unit was from Zhengzhou - Foxconn factory (serial number starting with F1). However we bought phones with my wife at the same time and she selected different colour and it was from factory Chengdu - Foxconn (serial number starting with DN). That one was flawless in every way. It even had much better screen, it was completely even and I could not find any marks or scratches on it.

Just this week we upgraded our phones to model X. Again this one was based from the serial number from Zhengzhou - Foxconn factory (serial number starting with FK) and AGAIN mine had small scratches on the screen (at the same location as my previous iPhone) and this time glass back had few scratches on the curved part near stainless steel rim (they were actually so deep that I could feel them with my finger) but they mostly show up when looking them under good lightning.
Again my wife selected different colour and it was from factory Chengdu - Foxconn (serial number starting with DN). And AGAIN this one was flawless in terms of any markings on the case. Also it had PERFECT screen, no unevenness what so ever, even with darker near black greys. Display on mine is pretty nice (but just about tolerable for me as I'm very critical viewer when it comes to displays) but it is darker and murkier looking on the bottom and especially with near black greys are terrible in uniformity (bottom part of the screen dark and upper much lighter), it also flickers when it is adjusting brightness automatically when brightness control is going all the way down. My wife's flickers much less when adjusting.

However both of the phones are makings more or less "sounds" when gently pressing or twisting them from the sides and wife's phone also making that sound when tapping glass back at certain locations. I'm not sure if they are supposed to be like that? I was not really twisting the phone or anything when I first noticed that. Mine would sometimes make cracking sound when picking it up and then I noticed that it sometimes make that sound when doing mentioned procedures but usually it does not do it twice in a row at the same location but once you have pressed some other locations. My wife's phone however is squeking like sneaker shoes (not very loud but it makes it all the time when very slightly twisting it). By twisting I don't mean using force to actually twist or bend the phone, just holding it that way and using only slight twisting force.

I know I could have returned mine but phones are not bought directly from Apple shop but from authorized reseller, so only choice would have been claiming manufacturing fault and having them swapped but as far as I know they will not be swapped for brand new retail box but instead you get white box refurbished phone. I know many peoples say they are like new but as far as I know they are actually faulty phones that have been fixed and replaced with new casing to make them look new. Well for me that is still a used phone and I'm not very keen to idea having just bought spanking new expensive top of the line phone and having it swapped to "used" phone. So I guess again I'm going to just try to live with what I have.
It definitely looks to me that from now on I will be very cautious when buying a new phone or anything else (as I had many problems with my iPad too) and definitely I'm trying to avoid phones with serial starting with F.

Just out of curiosity since thread starter had serial numbers of the phones he tested maybe he could list the first letter or two from the serial numbers of those? It would be interesting to see what factory they were from.

 

[AlphaGuitarist]

I have a release day iPhone X from the Zhengzhou factory (FK serial no.). It's still flawless, just as it was when I received it.

 

[The Game 161]

OP where are you at now? This new phone been ok for you since?

 

[0906742]

I have a release day iPhone X from the Zhengzhou factory (FK serial no.). It's still flawless, just as it was when I received it.

Did you check it under good lightning and have you ever compared display to another x unit (yours is completely uniform in all brightness levels and whites also look perfectly even between different parts of the screen)? Differencies can be painfully visible when you have two units side by side. Also have you ever heard it making any squeking, snapping, popping or what ever sounds when pressing back glass, sides or by using slight twisting/torsion force?

Ours had build date 4-5 months ago. By the way is there any limitation how old units can be sold? I guess batteries will take some hit from long shelf life and since X is already old model I don't know how long ago production stopped and moved to XS.

 

[Ebok]

The only things I care for are dead pixels or dust under the screen, and that the buttons aren’t mushy.

Scuffs and scratches will happen even if you have a case, so what’s the point?

 

[0906742]

Scuffs and scratches will happen even if you have a case, so what’s the point?

Really, is X more vunerable or why? Because I never had any scuffs and scratches on my iPhones, other than those that came from the factory. Using screen protector and soft inner lined cases from Apple should keep the phone unmarked.