After the original announcement of the iPhone 5, one early concern amongst readers was how well the anodized aluminum back and edges of the black iPhone 5 would hold up over time.
One lengthy thread on our forums has been actively discussing the potential issue and Pocket-Lint in their review did note some wear around the edges after some early usage.
Ditching the glass back and reducing the thickness of the glass panel on the front has affected the design of the metal band around the edge of the iPhone. It is now chamfered and while that looks pretty, we've already noticed that on the black model the edge has started to wear, revealing the shiny silver aluminium metal underneath the "slate" coloured coating and, indeed, we've witnessed it on two separate models, ruling out a fluke manufacturing error.
One person on another forum got straight to the matter and took keys and a SIM card tray pin to the back and edges of an in-store iPhone 5 unit with these results.
Of course, purposefully scratching a device is a bit extreme, but daily usage of any phone will generate some wear and tear. This may be a concern if you are particularly sensitive to the issue.
Monday October 19, 2026 9:37 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today sent out invites for an experience in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, and the "Pro and tell" tagline on the invitation likely means that the rumored MacBook models with touch-enabled OLED displays will stick with MacBook Pro branding instead of the once-rumored "MacBook Ultra" name.
The long-rumored "iPhone Ultra" ended up being named iPhone Duo, so speculation that Apple...
Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Juli Clover
With just three days to go until the iPhone Duo is released, Apple is getting ready for the launch. Behind the scenes, the App Store now has screenshots of Apple's built-in apps running on the Duo. We've seen some apps in marketing materials, but images of the ones we haven't seen give us an idea of what it will be like using the iPhone Duo day to day.
Many apps are shown in landscape...
Monday October 19, 2026 9:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's Greg Joswiak today hinted at new product announcements coming next week, sharing a social media post that says "Can't wait to pro and tell next week."
Rumors suggest Apple is planning to debut the new MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen display, an M6 entry-level MacBook Pro, an M6 iMac, an iPad mini with an OLED display.
Can't wait to pro and tell next week....
Nice way to condone the vandalism of someone else's property, wonder if that person will be conducting the same special 'tests' on their own $700 piece of equipment?
And the guy who scratched the in-store iPhone should be made to pay for it. He should've scratched his own phone.
EDIT: UPS just delivered my phone no more than two minutes ago and I can confirm that there are no scratches on mine out of the box (as others have reported to be the case with theirs).
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
