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levels

macrumors regular
Jan 22, 2008
128
86
Just called Apple Support- they told me they aren't aware of the issue(who knows how true this is).

It's a bit tricky overall to try to place this lottery to get a "perfect" one for a few reasons-
1)These phones are barely in stock anywhere
2)I do the Apple Upgrade program, and gave them back my phone at the time of purchase so have no other phone to use if I just return this one.
3)Returning and repurchasing on the upgrade program is a bit of a pain in general since they need to close out your entire loan and they re-run your credit to start a new phone.
4)From what I've seen- about 75% of the phones have this gap- I checked about 20 in the store. You can only see the gap in certain lighting/angels, but I bet it's there on more phones than people realize. So is it worth going through all this just hoping you get one that is better without Apple confirming they have a new batch where it's fixed?
5)I have a lot of stuff stored on my phone, each time going through this restore and then logging in, making sure all my apple music is downloaded(I have issues with this every year), is also quite a pain although probably the least of my concerns.

The other option, and probably easiest option, is to do an "advanced replacement" under Apple Care where they ship you another unit while you keep yours and then you send yours back. This makes the most sense- but it also means you normally get a refurbished phone back(although there may not be any actual refurbished units yet out there) and they told me even though it falls under refurbished, it will definitely be brand new since the phones are so new.

With that said, yes this the life of the OCD person, no denying that lol.
 

Sal09

macrumors 601
Sep 21, 2014
4,946
7,972
United Kingdom
Hey guys, just a quick question to any new iPhone 13 Pro owners like me:

Do you guys have what appears to be like the tiniest gap in between the top speaker and the steel band? It’s only visible at certain angles in the right light, but i’m worried that I may have received a dud with a broken waterproof seal that will need replacing. Check attached photos to see what I mean.

I appreciate any help, Thanks in advance
Off topic.
If you dont mind me asking which screen protector are you using ? ?
 

TheSynchronizer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 2, 2014
443
729
Off topic.
If you dont mind me asking which screen protector are you using ? ?
Spigen AlignMaster Full Coverage... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B095RLLMVY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Works great, feels great, highly recommended:)

Though I must add that this is the second one from the pack - probably my fault but I got dust under the first one and then some more dust and ruined it so had to try again and be more careful with the second one
 
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No One Unique

macrumors newbie
Oct 4, 2021
14
5
I went in to my local Apple store and the technician told me it’s totally normal for the gap to be there and under normal circumstances it shouldn’t impair the water resistant seal, however the tech then said they don’t recommend trusting the water seal. Under normal lighting you have to strain your eyes to see the gap… but it’s still there. Imperfections are part of life, still for a $1599 phone I’d expect better. I currently have a 7 plus, 11Pro Max and now the 13Pro Max… the only phone with the gap is the 13 which is brand new. Both my other devices are Apple care replacements… shouldn’t the new device have better standards…
 

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AndrewR23

Contributor
Jun 24, 2010
4,644
1,797
I went in to my local Apple store and the technician told me it’s totally normal for the gap to be there and under normal circumstances it shouldn’t impair the water resistant seal, however the tech then said they don’t recommend trusting the water seal. Under normal lighting you have to strain your eyes to see the gap… but it’s still there. Imperfections are part of life, still for a $1599 phone I’d expect better. I currently have a 7 plus, 11Pro Max and now the 13Pro Max… the only phone with the gap is the 13 which is brand new. Both my other devices are Apple care replacements… shouldn’t the new device have better standards…
Ya yours is way worse than mine. My dads new 13 pro is perfect with no gap. It’s all luck I’m afraid
 
I went in to my local Apple store and the technician told me it’s totally normal for the gap to be there and under normal circumstances it shouldn’t impair the water resistant seal, however the tech then said they don’t recommend trusting the water seal. Under normal lighting you have to strain your eyes to see the gap… but it’s still there. Imperfections are part of life, still for a $1599 phone I’d expect better. I currently have a 7 plus, 11Pro Max and now the 13Pro Max… the only phone with the gap is the 13 which is brand new. Both my other devices are Apple care replacements… shouldn’t the new device have better standards…
Were you able to compare your iPhone with the display models in store?
 
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No One Unique

macrumors newbie
Oct 4, 2021
14
5
Were you able to compare your iPhone with the display models in store?
At Apple and Best Buy. The display units at my local Apple store didn’t have any gaps, at least on the 3 or 4 pro max models I looked at. didn’t look at any other phones. However all of the mini-max display units at Best Buy had gaps comparable to mine.
 

leebroath

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2010
1,358
952
Scotland
I went in to my local Apple store and the technician told me it’s totally normal for the gap to be there and under normal circumstances it shouldn’t impair the water resistant seal, however the tech then said they don’t recommend trusting the water seal. Under normal lighting you have to strain your eyes to see the gap… but it’s still there. Imperfections are part of life, still for a $1599 phone I’d expect better. I currently have a 7 plus, 11Pro Max and now the 13Pro Max… the only phone with the gap is the 13 which is brand new. Both my other devices are Apple care replacements… shouldn’t the new device have better standards…

Try pushing the top down with your fingers, see if you can close the gap with a bit pf pressure
 

levels

macrumors regular
Jan 22, 2008
128
86
So in the end: Is the gap normal or not?

Hard to say. If you ask apple, and even more so if you show them since it’s so minor, they are probably going to tell you this is well within tolerance.

Depending on the angle/lighting, you can’t even see the gap so some of these pictures people are posting may not even be capturing it.

With that said, when I checked the display units at the store, 1 out of about every 4 didn’t seem to have any gap(from what I could see) while the rest did. While I do have a bit of OCD and notice these things, my bigger concern is will lint/dust get in the gap and cause any issues at all. IMO the product is expensive enough where this shouldn’t be an issue at all, but if you go for a replacement you’re just playing a low-odds lottery until they confirm it’s something they are fixing/is an issue.
 
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Shadowbech

macrumors G3
Oct 18, 2011
9,038
5,894
Majority of the floor models at the apple store near me has gaps above the speaker. So I take it that it is normal. :rolleyes:
 
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bavaria089

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2021
34
20
California
yup all 4 of them Hawaii had it too. my dads doesn't. it looks like this lottery finding one without will be very difficult
It really is a lottery… you may get one with no gap or just a small gap but then it could have some scratches out of the box etc.

I am really OCD and had to go through 3 iPhone 13 Pro Max Sierra Blue until I received one that has no scratches on the frame or on the glass back… until I discovered the small gap :) I am so sick and tired to play Quality Control for Apple and may just try to ignore it. The Apple Hotline told me to exchange it but who knows what I will receive next.
 
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AndrewR23

Contributor
Jun 24, 2010
4,644
1,797
I guess if it bugs some people much, just return it and get a new one?
I did lol. my second one had the same exact gap at an apple store 2000 miles away from my first one. now only AppleCare + returns are an option and forget that
 

AndrewR23

Contributor
Jun 24, 2010
4,644
1,797
So what did the engineers say? Why is there a gap?
he is talking about a different gap. the one we are talking about you can see metal underneath and ive never had that on any iPhone ever before this one. ive never seen the inside of my phone before
 
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