iPhone X That polished stainless steel.....yikes.

[Glideslope]

I am. I have no interest in slathering it in polishing compound at this point. I will probably send it in to Verizon as-is in the fall when I trade up. I plan on downgrading in storage next time, so if they take money off the value for scratches, I’ll still be ok.

No need. Get a small micro fibre cloth (type used on cars.) Slightly moisten(damp not wet) a very small circle. Put a very small dab of plain Colgate Toothpaste in the center. Carefully rub this into and around the stainless surface. Should clean up. Not solvents, harsh chemicals.

 

[spiderman0616]

A couple of you seem to think I'm bothered by this--I'm really not. Again, if Apple had called me one day and said, "Would you rather we switched to polished stainless steel for the antenna bands on the iPhone X or should we stick with bead blasted aluminum?" I would have chosen the stainless steel for its strength, even knowing how easily it would scratch up. I knew before the purchase that this would happen eventually.

Again, it doesn't bug me, and with a case on my phone, it shouldn't get to the point where it looks super terrible by the time I do my yearly Verizon upgrade. This is not a complaint thread. I was just spitballing about what Apple might do differently in the future, if they do anything at all. If they stuck with polished stainless, I'd be ok with it. The big advantage is that if you really want to you CAN fix the polished stainless on the white models if the marks bother you. The bead blasted aluminum could never be fixed. I tried to fix a mark on my iPhone 4 once and only made it worse.

 

[BarracksSi]

A couple of you seem to think I'm bothered by this--I'm really not.

Ok. Well, what slays me is people who get a scratch on their phone (or, even dumber, on their Apple Watch) and think they can make a claim for replacement through AppleCare.

I keep saying that when I get my own iPhone X, I'm going to take a sheet metal screw and put a gouge in it, posting a photo of the destruction-in-progress here in the forum. It'll be even more awesome if I get the black model. Oh, the tears and handwringing that will ensue...

 

[spiderman0616]

Ok. Well, what slays me is people who get a scratch on their phone (or, even dumber, on their Apple Watch) and think they can make a claim for replacement through AppleCare.

I keep saying that when I get my own iPhone X, I'm going to take a sheet metal screw and put a gouge in it, posting a photo of the destruction-in-progress here in the forum. It'll be even more awesome if I get the black model. Oh, the tears and handwringing that will ensue...

A few weeks after I got my Apple Watch, my wife and I were watching TV in bed--I still had it on and at some point her wedding ring grazed against the screen and made a hairline scratch.

My attitude was that it's a watch that gets worn on my body and is going to get banged against stuff. Every watch I've ever owned has gotten banged up eventually. The scratch was not visible unless you really looked for it in really really bright direct light and definitely did not affect the overall look/functionality of the watch. In fact, I usually don't even remember it's there.

Oddly enough, almost 3 years later, I'm still wearing the same Apple Watch (planning on an upgrade this year) and to this day that is still the ONLY damage it's taken. The casing still looks brand new, and after all the bike rides, hikes, home repairs, moving to a new house, etc. all while wearing that Apple Watch, that one minor scratch is still the only damage it's incurred that I can see.

I used to be a lot more anal retentive about my Apple gadgets years ago, but have calmed WAY down about it in recent years. Especially with iPhones that I trade in yearly anyway. I take as good of care of them as I can, I trade them in, life moves on.

 

[44267547]

_Returning_ back to the topic with the iPhone stainless X bands, they scratch so easily because Thats the nature of surgical stainless, there are some who polish the bands and others who do not. For those who do polish the bands, avoid polishing paste, as you don’t want that to get lodged in between the ports, speaker hole grills, crevices, etc. If anyone uses polishing paste for the bands, use it sparingly, you don’t need much to have the product to be effective to remove the scratches.

Cape cod cloths work very well, try to avoid having the cloth touch the display, which some have said there can be a reaction with the oleophobic coating of the coating has not already worn off or its a newer iPhone.

 

[eoblaed]

The satin bead blasting of the previous aluminum iPhones made them the most slippery metal object on earth. Insanely slippery. What a horrible design choice. I wonder how many iPhones Jony Ive dropped before he said enough is enough- but maybe that was part of the planned obsolescence- dropping phones.

You're never going to get satin metal on an iPhone again. Anyway- you're using it in a case (as everyone should). Does it really matter what the band looks like if you can't even see it? (inside the case).

(highlight mine)

If he's like me: zero.

I've never experienced nor understood the claims of 'slipperiness'. Maybe a lot of people out there handle their phones after handling butter sticks? Maybe my hands are really covered in little suckers like octopus tentacles?

 

[SmugMaverick]

I have the silver X and have a few micro scratches but expected it.

I loved the iPhone 7 in Jet Black and iPhone 5 in Black/Slate, two of the best devices Apple has ever done.

I'd buy a jet black X2 this year if they do one.

 

[iRutherford]

Too many excuses, too much unneeded explanation when the answer you're looking for is really "yes". They've done it before with the iPhone 4 and 4S. The bands are stainless steel, yet not polished or shiny, and it lasted a long time without scratches. Personally, the glossy finish looks cheap and tacky which is why I went with the iPhone 8 Plus. I saw the iPhone XR (silver) at the Apple Store and it's tempting. So beautiful.

 

[spiderman0616]

Too many excuses, too much unneeded explanation when the answer you're looking for is really "yes". They've done it before with the iPhone 4 and 4S. The bands are stainless steel, yet not polished or shiny, and it lasted a long time without scratches. Personally, the glossy finish looks cheap and tacky which is why I went with the iPhone 8 Plus. I saw the iPhone XR (silver) at the Apple Store and it's tempting. So beautiful.

I don't love that the stainless scratches so easily, but that's stainless for you. It's not an Apple thing, it's a stainless thing. Go look at your silverware and you'll see the same thing.

What I do love though is that even when it scratches, at least the silver model, it still looks pretty great, and it's MUCH sturdier than aluminum.

 

[iRutherford]

I don't love that the stainless scratches so easily, but that's stainless for you. It's not an Apple thing, it's a stainless thing. Go look at your silverware and you'll see the same thing.

What I do love though is that even when it scratches, at least the silver model, it still looks pretty great, and it's MUCH sturdier than aluminum.

What I'm saying is, they can use stainless steel and give it a finish similar to that of the iPhone 4 and 4S (matte) so that it doesn't scratch easily. I still see these phones sometimes and the stainless steel band looks amazing. It's Apple's choice to polish that of the X, XS and XS Max and make it shiny. They really don't have to.

 

[spiderman0616]

What I'm saying is, they can use stainless steel and give it a finish similar to that of the iPhone 4 and 4S (matte) so that it doesn't scratch easily. I still see these phones sometimes and the stainless steel band looks amazing. It's Apple's choice to polish that of the X, XS and XS Max and make it shiny. They really don't have to.

I would be curious to see how that would look and how it would wear over time with steel. My iPhone X band got some pretty crazy hairline scratches just from being taken out of the case a few times. Nothing so bad that Verizon didn't give me full value for it on trade for my XS Max, but it was still there. For my XS Max, I put it in my Speck Presidio Grip case and haven't taken it back out. If my antenna band is going to get marked up regardless, I don't want to see it until I do my yearly trade in. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[Five_Oh]

What I'm saying is, they can use stainless steel and give it a finish similar to that of the iPhone 4 and 4S (matte) so that it doesn't scratch easily. I still see these phones sometimes and the stainless steel band looks amazing. It's Apple's choice to polish that of the X, XS and XS Max and make it shiny. They really don't have to.

You're right. They don't have to. It was a design choice.

It was the right one for THIS phone.

 

[44267547]

You're right. They don't have to. It was a design choice.

It was the right one for THIS phone.

For the price point, Apple better have executed the best materials possible, the stainless steel bands are aesthetic, but add to the Weight of the phone. I actually prefer the aluminum bands on the iPhone 8 paired with the glass back, the 7000 Series aluminum is lightweight, yet still very durable.

 

[Five_Oh]

For the price point, Apple better have executed the best materials possible, the stainless steel bands are aesthetic, but add to the Weight of the phone. I actually prefer the aluminum bands on the iPhone 8 paired with the glass back, the 7000 Series aluminum is lightweight, yet still very durable.

Maybe you are right. Maybe the choice of stainless was dual purpose. Aesthetics and stiffness due to the full screen display (lack of forehead and chin)