iPhone 4 bumpers scratch stainless steel band!

I can certainly confirm the bumper will scuff the steel. Do I care? Not really. I like the insulation the bumper gives. can set the phone down and not worry about the glass. I will try polishing. Seems worth it. I use mine in a pretty harsh environment. I really should get an Otterbox. Had one for my 3G and it was great. The screen protector that is on those got pretty bad fast though. Hate to cover up the retina display.
The Bumper fits loosely. Any dust that gets in there will be pressed and rubbed against the steel. Seems the steel is soft enough to get marred by this. Stainless will mar. It just wont rust.
I wonder how many other cases mar the stainless? I do know that the iPhone 4 has stayed prettier than any other phone I have owned. I always scratch them. I am real carful not to drop any of them but plastic scratches. Glass and stainless seem to scratch less. The Glass on my iP4 is perfect.

Well after Apple very kindly replaced my marked iphone I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk putting my bumper back on, would like to point out that my bumper had no obvious ridges etc so the ingress of dirty theory probably has merit! I have just carefully cut and wrapped my ss band with clear sellotape, it sound's cheap and crude (probably is) but hey it worked! you cant tell its on the phone if you take your time and cut and apply it correctly, the best bit is I have now refitted my bumper with no danger of it marking the phone, and guess what! it fits so much better no movement that I can discern the best bit is it cost me nothing and so i'm a happy camper once more... got to laugh though, all that research and development, millions of dollars spent, free bumpers they should have chucked in a roll of sellotape lol

that bumper is pretty cheap. Purchasing anything else would be better than that bumper.

Thanks for the advice I have tried this and was buffing for about 20 mins and no joy all that happened was it made my phone minty fresh lol! I cannot feel the scratch So it's not deep at all any other suggestions before apple get another returned phone?

Many thanks

I have not taken the Bumper off my iPhone 4 yet and I'm not sure if I want to after reading some of the posts on here! 😟

OK, first I promise you I am not shilling for this company but I really like this inexpensive case I got from a site called handhelditems.com

Here is the link for a clear plastic hard case that fits great, is easy to remove for cleaning (just find a seam of the case near the speaker at the bottom of phone and run your finger nail along it to separate the two pieces) and has not scuffed or scratched my ip4 in any way over the past month I've owned it.

http://www.handhelditems.com/iphone-crystal-hard-case-clear-p-138014.html

Only $6.99!

I really like it and at that price plus a few $ extra for tax and shipping you can afford to give it a try.
I got the clear one cause it let's the nice design of the phone show.

One last thing, at first the case looked like it would not fit right (when I unwrapped it) but once I put the phone in and snapped it together it was tight and secure. The finish of the case will show scratches but just be careful and - as I do - try not to be too anal!
It's really just fine.

Message was edited by: paulking

Message was edited by: paulking

Covent Garden in London actually replaced phone, after being rude and dismissive at first.

They admit a fault with the phone and the bumper. Useless.

Had my bumper for one month. No scratches. Some marring, but that comes off with a rub of a moist finger. Steel in about 7-8 on the hardness scale; plastic 3 or 3; diamond is 10. The blackish marring is evidence that the steel is harder than the plastic.

Try scratching your stainless steel utensil with a plastic knife. Not going to happen. However, 'dirt' which is mostly ground grains of rock material like silica, quartz, etc is near the hardness of steels and with scratch it. Think of sandpaper.

The bumper has a nice rubber lip that helps keeps dirt out; but it can happen. Worst were the cases for the 3G and 3GS; That chrome finish really showed scratches, but the IP4 brushed or matte finish (i.e. pre-scratched) reduces the appearance of marks much better.

Like I said, no scratches on mine yet.

VF

Message was edited by: viewfly

i just took off my case to clean my phone and i have the scratches too. was very surprised. its the incipio NGP case. i am not using a bumper.

i am not sure how a rubber case can scratch stainless steel unless of course the metal is either not really stainless steel or somehow came off the line improperly treated. i tried to rub the scuffs off the metal but it is definitely permanently scratched. very strange. kinda ***** tbh

mine has scuff marks on the band. i have no idea how. either the metal is faulty or its not really stainless steel

Just an FYI to anyone who's planning on taking their iPhone in for replacement for this issue. I got no love from the Apple Store at The Grove in LA. The Genius said that they'll only replace an iPhone for hardware issues, not cosmetic ones. I just wasted 75 minutes of my semi-precious time. FML

himoura,
The SS band may well be good quality stainless, just not the type that should have been used for this application.
There are all kinds of SS from very soft to extremely hard. Because Apple claims it was machined from a solid chunk of SS I would assume they used a soft grade of SS to make the machining easier and faster.
Normally one would anneal the metal machine it and then heat treat it to gain the hardness required for the end task.
It appears someone forgot to heat treat the SS band after they put the satin finish on the outside portion of the band(s).

I have one of the Apple bumpers but have not used it out of concern it would damage my phone like others have experienced. I too use the Incipio NGP and was very happy with it until you said that is what you have been using and now have a scratched phone. My solution... I ain't taking it off EVER, I don't want to know what has happened underneath it.

yea i didnt mean to sound to harsh... this isnt a deal breaker at all for me.

on second thought it could either be a chrome coating that is easy to scuff off or simply a buffing of the steel that comes off. it seems that the scuff marks are very smooth. kind of makes me wonder if they did buff it or coat it with chrome it would have been a lot better to just simply leave it smooth.

Edit~ yea i just read the bottom of your post and that seems very likely. its totally possible that some of these bands were skipped on the heat treatment. they have literally manufactured millions and millions of these. the demand is off the charts. i could understand something like this happening.

Message was edited by: himoura

himoura,

You said "didn't mean to sound harsh" - I must have use too many words, I was *not being critical* of your post. My only intent was to say there are many grades of SS and some are very soft. Many people think all SS is very hard which is not true.

My Incipio NGP case has been off several times in the last month or so. I am always looking for something a little easier on the eyes. Prior to the iPhone 4 I have never used a case with any of my previous phones but with the antenna issue on the 4 I don't have a choice.

I have always in the past just used a carrying (belt) case. A permanent case on such a pretty phone... well it defeats the purpose of the iP4 looks.

My opinions:
1. The external (touchable) antenna was probable not the best idea Apple ever had.
2. The material used for the external antenna was also not researched very well by Apple.

Conclusion; You can't use the iP4 with out a case for several reasons.
1. AntennaGate.
2. Without a case the iP4 is like a bar of soap, destine to be dropped, due to the slippery coating on both sides.
3. Apple new a long time prior to releasing this phone that people would need a case to correct the above issues. My justification for this claim is this is the first time that Apple has ever made a case available for their phones (to the best of my knowledge). Coincidence, I think not.

Just a couple of points i wanted to comment on from my last post.

1. Apple bumper - Apparently i have heard mix reports that the first ever bumpers dont scratch the case because they contain plastic hold and volume buttons, The later version and case program bumpers have metal hold and volume buttons. Metal on metal causes scuffs.

2. If a apple product damages the product it was designed and build for and its faulty you have the right as a customer to demand a refund or replacement for an non damage product. Speaking to apple store they said that it was a fault and was happy to replace the iphone for me.

If you think its stupid or silly to replace a product that is faulty or becomes damaged due to a official product causing damage. I will never buy an apple official product again and hope this shows that sometimes the big companies drop the ball and causes early adaptors to have so many problems.

3. Anyone had a problem with their iphone 4 muting or holding calls when making or recieving phone calls? well september saw a new hardware change to the front screen which moves the sensor from above the ear piece to underneath the camera. this can be seen if you place a lamp or light source on the screen. The old versions will have the sensor above the ear piece and new version will have the sensor next the camera. LAME!

This is really annoying because the hardware revision is only 2 months after launch yet none of us would ever know.

EE