Many gadget shoppers in China took to social media on Friday with photos of scratches on the back of the newly released iPhone 17 lineup from Apple Inc., potentially marring the launch of the company’s marquee product.
The deep blue variants of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max exhibited scuffs and scratches after just a few hours of being on display, Bloomberg News found from visits to Apple’s Hong Kong and Shanghai stores. It’s the US company’s first major hardware redesign in years, returning to an aluminum shell and featuring what Apple had touted as a more scratch-resistant finish on the back.
Instead, images of grazed-up store units surfaced on China’s Weibo, and display models in the stores Bloomberg visited exhibited similar markings. The black iPhone Air showed itself to also be prone to scratching, the reporters observed.
It’s unclear how widespread the issue is, or if it’s a problem beyond China — one of the first markets to get the new iPhone 17. As of Friday afternoon, the related hashtag was among the top trending topics on Weibo, with more than 40 million views. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple has contended with launch-day hiccups in past years. Users also complained about how the iPhone 7’s glossy black finish could be easily scuffed. Earlier, the super thin iPhone 6 experienced a more serious issue, as users found it was susceptible to bending. The iPhone 4 also infamously had a problem with its wireless antenna failing when held in a certain way.
The fresh social media backlash threatens to disrupt an otherwise strong debut for the iPhone 17, which Apple is counting on to maintain its momentum at a time that the company is struggling to roll out AI features.
Early sales across Asia showed strong demand for the Pro models. In Hong Kong, a small crowd assembled at Apple’s flagship store to check out the new handsets, but stock for walk-in purchases was limited only to the novel iPhone Air. Anyone wanting to purchase an iPhone 17 or Pro edition was directed to order online, where Apple indicated wait times of roughly three weeks.
Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Singapore's Apple stores showed similar shipping times, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max wait extending to as long as four weeks. In South Korea, the 17 Pro could be had within a week whereas the Pro Max was marked as unavailable until late October.
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