Scuffs/Scratches On New iPhone 5 Right Out Of The Box

Ha ha ha. Apple just deleted a new discussion I started asking people if they've experienced as many problems as I have with their iPhone 5.

I have dealt with 3 different white iphone 5's and after getting the 3rd one without scuffs and dents (but it has a little dirt in the glass by the bottom that I am choosing to live with)

I discovered the following:

*Rattling noise by the camera (Some units have less noise, more noise, or no noise at all from what I hear)

*Ghosting/flickering keyboard when in the apps store trying to enter my iTunes password)

*"Purple Gate" lens flare, while I understand that this happens in every camera, the iPhone 5's is a lot worse than the previous generations camera.

*Terrible battery life. Went from 100% to 5% within 5 hours with moderate use.

Now the latest thing: Not being able to slide settings on and/or off in the settings menu. Anyone else not able to do this?

rickstervt wrote:

I received my new white iphone. It has two very small scratches on the camfered edge in the back but you really have to look for them. This phone built week 41.

well this is very interesting!

that the phone is out of week 41 which is... last week. So they are giving weeksn produced one week before. And what's more... it seems that in week 41 they have not completely solved the quality control issue and the scratches problems in production...

what do you think?

Do you guys really think someone from Apple is reading these comments and deleting them subjectively? I guess if they are at least reading them that's a good thing.

They other person that said his comment was deleted had lots of x'd out profanities. I did see it and it was forwarded to my email as I'm still following these posts. I can somewhat understand a moderator (if there really is one) deleting those that are borderline offensive. I'm guess that there might even be an automated one in the system that detects and deletes automatically. Our system we use online also does this.

But if your comment was deleted simply because it was asking for feedback, that's wrong.

V.S., You'd make a great SQA (Service and Quality Assurance tester). Seriously! Good test engineers are hard to find. These are great bugs you're uncovering and Apple's dev team is also as thorough as you are. Hoping they know this and are planning fixes for them. Some will likely be resolve via OS update, but I'm just guessing.

I know you've likely been told this, but have you tried running these test with a virgin OS setting (none of your data installed on the phone)? Some of the software issues (setting button not working, battery life, could be affected by "old" data. I've experienced some similar in the past and wiping the phone, though painful, seemed to addresss this. It's still a problem though as it's a terrible experience for the user and the phone should not do this. Just suggesting a verification test. Only thought of this since you mentioned the setting button not working. Pretty big bug.

I think I've seen the flicker on the keyboard once, but didn't notice it again. It appears to be a common issue and one that will addressed with OS fix. If it were to flicker the entire screen and not just in iTunes, it would lean toward a bigger OS issue or likely hardware related.

Just my 2-cents worth. Hope it helps.

Just got my 32gb Black iPhone 5 from Verizon Monday...and Tuesday I noticed that I have a scratch on the inside of my camera lens....it is not on the surface of the lens....Verizon sending out a new phone as we speak since this falls under their Damage on Arrival clause....I hope the next one does not have the same issue....been seeing alot of the same issue I have on other message boards....

Just talked to the customer service in Germany about an iphone that hasn't been delivered yet and asked what my options are if the phone comes scratched out of the box. I was told that the chances for a white iphone 5 to have these issues is significantly lower and even if it does they send a new device and i won't need to send the old one back because they will pick it up the right from my home at a time that i will decide. I guess in Germany they are -ironically- trying harder to fulfill people's expectations.

Douglas Lee

Mritacca, are YOU a paid basher? Did you actually buy an iPhone 5? Looking at your posts; they have the character of a basher.

Mr Lee

I do not work as a paid basher. I have a right to complain and bash and vent out as I wish when I purchase a product and it is not sold as marketed. I spend my hard earned money and Apple has an over hyped marketing campaign on the iPhone 5! I will continue to comment as such until Apple clearly addresses and fixes the issue at hand with iPhone 5 build quality or until they remove the over hyped marketing on their website!

If you want to spend 700$ on a newly damaged iDevice, that is your business. I refuse to spend that kind of money on a new product that looks damaged out of box!

My black iPhone 5 recently just came in and I as well noticed 4 nicks on it. There was also some white material that I scratched off on the edge and was still protruding inside. I was not very happy with the quality. I did like the LTE speed. It's a big difference from the iPhone 4 which I recently had. I went into Apple to see what they can do and the guy was willing to give me a replacement. However he kept pushing me to buy the Apple care pro. He asked me 4 times if I wanted it. So he brought out a new one for me and I again notice 3 nicks. He seemed very irritated and said "If it was me I would take it." I told him, "Well I'm not you." Lol. His manager over heard him and brought me a new one. He then said if this one has an imperfection he could not do anything. I'm usually not the type of person to complain so I told myself I would just keep the next one. Although I did pay full price I was not happy with Apple. So the third one had only one little tiny nick. On one side there was a hairline scratch. The color on the edges that connected the phone together had some weird dark color on it. It was barely noticeable, but I felt bad for the guy because I know it's not his fault. I have had every iPhone since the first one came out. Never have I had this problem. The quality on the new iPhone is horrible. I hate to say it but if Steve Jobs was still alive...

mmm, the weirdist thing happned today. I had my iPhone replaced 3 days ago on Monday (the 3rd unit) and at the time in store, I noticed that there was a black mark on the aluminum chamfer, it was tiny so I didn't care and it was better than the dent I had previously. Well after getting the phone, I basically inspected it extremely carefully and found that the black mark was the only cosmetic blemish. I took the phone and put it in my Otterbox case and let it there until today. When I opened the case up just to give the phone another check, I could not find that black mark anymore. No matter how hard I looked and how much light I turned out, the mark was gone.

Now I'm thinking its either I switched too many phones and I had some sort of crazy halucination the first time I inspected the phone or it might have been a dirt speck. Its just weird since I tried wiping it off before but it stayed, it seemed like it was a chip in the aluminum but not a deep dent. Now after being in the case, its suddenly gone.

Well now it seems that I indeed have an iPhone that Apple originally marketed. Every edge is clean, no scratches on the screen and no marks on the aluminum. This certainly made my day 🙂

I can tell you that I have gone through 11 devices both white & black. Nicks, chips and/or scratches on every single device. I have dealt with both the store and Apple Care. My case is now in Upper Management's hands and we will see what happens. I love Apple products but I can honestly say that this is not the Apple I know. They have changed and I believe if Steve was still here, this would not be happening. They have simply gotten too big. I can tell you that the white is probably the only way to go if you are as picky as I am. I understand that these phones will sustain marks through normal use but out of the box!!! I have been dealing with this since launch day and I am exhausted from this. I am about at my end. I have told myself that if this problem isn't fixed and I do not end up with a decent phone, I will sell all of my Apple products and go Windows 8. This is not what I want to do but I cannot use a companies products that will not stand behind them or refuses to admit fault. I understand that the phones are built by FoxConn but the QC should be handled by Apple. I would feel so much better if Apple would publicly address this issue and at least show some accountability but good luck with that. They already had the Maps issue to deal with and this would further damage their reputation, not to mention their stock.

I wish Steve were here. Just my two cents.

It is their community board so they claimed it was against their TOS. But some butthead actually replied first, probably alerted Apple and they took it down. I was actually asking a legitimate question trying to find out if anyone else was experiencing as many issues with the phone as I am.

KyleinHawaii, You're probably right that some of those things will be fixed by a software update. (Hopefully)

Just a bit disapointing that a lot of us are going through all these bugs and issues with the phone. Apple's quality control has gone out the window.

Excellent suggestion. I'm going to try it out this weekend. Thank you.

I'm on my third iphone 5, and this one seems to have hardware issues that prevent the iOS from working properly. The Badge app icons on many apps (including Reminders app) does not work. It doesn't show the red circle with the numbers to let me know that I have pending items. I've tried restoring as new phone and everything, as per Apple Care's instructions. Still nothing...

To anyone who hasn't received or bought this phone yet, I'd suggest either waiting until all manufacturing issues are resolved, or skipping this model altogether and going for a Samsung or other Android phone, or even the Iphone4 or 4s. This phone is the absolute worst as far as build quality.

How do u know when your phone was assembled? I am getting mine tomorrow it was shipped from verizon on the 15th. Do u think it will be clean and free of chips, dings, and scratches?

So today I got back from my road trip to the New Orleans Apple Store 350 miles away.

Worst customer service experience I've ever had in my life.

Turns out they gave me a non-Sprint iPhone 5 and I talked with Apple/Sprint on a 3 way call for 2 hours.

I tried getting a refund from Sprint and they said I'm past my 14 day grace period. No refund will be given. I AM STUCK WITH THIS BROKEN PHONE AND I DROVE 350 MILES TO NEW ORLEANS FOR NO REASON.

I hate you Apple. I hate you so much. As soon as my contract is up, I'm chucking this phone in a river.

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