Before rushing out to spend $2,000 on Apple’s latest iPhone 17 Pro, buyers may want to think twice. Reports are emerging of a serious design flaw: the paint on the back of the new colored models is chipping and scuffing far too easily.

Apple heavily promoted the new aluminum unibody design earlier this month, highlighting fresh finishes such as Cosmic Orange. But it appears engineers overlooked durability testing, with customers now venting frustration as their devices pick up scratches and peeling paint almost immediately.

From pockets full of keys to everyday handling, users are finding that their phones quickly show ugly marks, exposing the silver aluminum underneath. In some cases, the damage was spotted even before the devices left store shelves. French tech site Consomac published images of scratched iPhone 17 Pro display units, while The Verge noted similar damage to the Deep Blue variant.

Click to see damage video.

 

Social media has already dubbed the controversy “scratchgate” and “scuffgate.” The issue isn’t limited to the Pro models either—Apple’s iPhone Air, particularly in black, has been affected too. Bloomberg reports that demo units in Apple Stores across New York, London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai showed visible scuffs within hours of being displayed.

This isn’t Apple’s first brush with durability complaints. Over a decade ago, the iPhone 5’s anodized aluminum body drew criticism for scratching easily. At the time, Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller defended the issue as “normal” wear and tear. Production was later slowed as stricter quality controls were introduced..

Click to see video.

The problem also seems to extend beyond iPhones. Apple’s MacBook Air, across both the M3 and M4 generations, has faced similar complaints about its aluminum shell being prone to scratches. Even Apple Store staff have acknowledged customer concerns.

For now, Apple has yet to comment publicly on the iPhone 17 Pro’s paint durability—but the backlash is already building.