Users report iPhone 17 Pro is prone to scratches

It's iPhone 17 launch day. Consumers around the world are lining up at their local Apple stores in order to pick up the latest line of smartphones from Apple: the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 series.

However, within just a few hours of the new iPhone launching, Apple customers took to social media to share something a bit odd.

Some of the brand new iPhone 17 Pro devices on display in Apple Stores were already scratched.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Demo unit iPhone 17 Pro scratches on day 1…(it’s not even 24 hours yet)" posted one user on X alongside photos of the scratched devices. "Use a case immediately if you don’t wait to experience this kind of issue. I’m very disappointed with the quality here."

Photos and videos of the scratched-up in-store demo iPhone 17 Pro units quickly spread online, and some X users are already sharing photos of their own scratched phones, though we can't verify these posts.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

As Bloomberg's Apple insider Mark Gurman reports, the outlet experienced scratched-up iPhone 17 Pro devices in-person at various locations around the world, including Apple stores in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

According to Gurman, it's not just the iPhone 17 Pro either. The iPhone 17 Pro Max and black iPhone Air were also "prone to scratching." The iPhone 17 Pro devices were also susceptible to a circular mark on the back of the device left by Apple’s MagSafe charger.

Of course, there's a simple solution to scratching: Start using an iPhone 17 Pro case immediately.

Is this why there's no black iPhone 17 Pro?

When Apple introduced its new iPhone 17 line, many Apple fans noticed that a black iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max was conspicuously absent from the lineup. A black iPhone offering has long been a standard iPhone color option, if not outright seen as the default iPhone option for many Apple customers. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are only available in Silver, Cosmic Orange, and Deep Blue.

Gurman believes that the easily scratchable rear of the new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could explain the absence of the black iPhone 17 Pro.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This year, Apple decided to replace the titanium body of the iPhone 16 Pro with an aluminum unibody for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models. Anodized aluminium is notoriously prone to scratches, and these scratches are much more visible on darker-colored devices. 

The fact that Bloomberg only noticed scratches on the back of the black iPhone Air, which unlike the Pro and Pro Max is made with a Ceramic Shield, further substantiates this theory.

Apple likely won't experience any sales troubles due to this issue. Apple has had issues with scratch-prone iPhone models before. However, this might finally explain why we didn't get an iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max in black this year.