What you need to know
- Apple support discussion thread suggests iPhone 11 could be prone to scratching
- Several users have taken to the forum with photos of their damaged iPhone 11.
- Many of the disgruntled customers claim their phones were scratched whilst inside their pockets.
Following the launch of the iPhone 11, a discussion thread over on Apple Support is gaining significant traction over claims that the iPhone 11's screen seems to be particularly prone to scratching. First picked up by GottaBeMobile, the thread can be found over on Apple's communities page.
In the iPhone hardware section one user posted the following:
Iphone 11 screen scratchesmy wife and me have put our brand new iphones 11 inside our pocket pants and both screens get scratched the second day of use (mines right in the selfie camera, apple says "without mal function"...). Has someone experimented somethg similar? We are really dissapointed, apple only cares if you have bought "apple care"....we cant use the screen without a protection: worst screen ever....👎
Since that post on September 25, 92 people have replied and the post has over 2000 views. Several users have uploaded photos of their scratched iPhone 11 devices.
One user in a separate thread posted:
Is anyone else having issues with the 11 Pro scratching easily? Had it less than a week. Never dropped it. I carry it in my pocket with no keys or change in it.my iPhone SE I had for 3 years has no scratches, and my new 11 Pro already has a scratch I can feel with my fingernail. Very disappointed considering this was supposed to be the toughest glass on a smartphone.
Whilst these complaints are concerning when taken at face value, it's important to note a couple of factors. The first is that this seems to happen every year. In fact, if you put the word "scratch" into the search tab of the Apple Support forums you'll get 600 results. Whilst it may seem like a high number of reports so early into a phone's lifespan, it's also important to remember that this is an incredibly small portion of iPhone users reporting the problems, so it's certainly too early to say that the iPhone 11 is somehow flawed or more prone to scratching than previous iPhones.
Apple's press release for the newest iPhone states:
The most powerful devices are also designed to be durable — iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max feature the toughest glass ever in a smartphone and are rated IP68 for water resistance up to 4 meters for up to 30 minutes, and are protected against everyday spills including coffee and soda.
Having said that, Apple's iPhones in recent years have tended toward being more shatter resistant, which can sometimes mean compromising how resistant the screen is to scratching. It remains to be seen whether these reports fall into the category of previous launch complaints, or whether there is something more significant afoot.
