If you’re reading this as you’re sitting in line to buy the iPhone 5, prepare to be a tad disappointed. According to some reports, the iPhone 5 will show signs of wear and tear pretty darn fast.
This might take the edge off, bit it’s worth noting that a couple of forums are
actively discussing a potential issue with the anodized-aluminum enclosure employed by the latest iPhone.
According to one person who’s gone to the trouble of ruining a demo unit,
the device gets easily scratched.
The image above is the result of several encounters with keys and a SIM card tray.
If this means we’ll have to designate a pocket solely to the iPhone 5, some customers are sure to be disappointed.
Also worth mentioning is a note from Pocket-Lint’s review of the iPhone 5 which confirms the issue: “… 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.”
The site reportedly had two iPhone 5 units for review, and both exhibited the same signs of wear, “ruling out a fluke manufacturing error.”
Just to keep a good level of objectivity going until this thing is confirmed, perhaps it is also worth pointing out that every phone out there is susceptible to wear and tear.
Some users take better care of their handsets than others, while some handsets take more damage than others, as a result of design compromises.
And making the iPhone 5's chassis from steel using the currently-employed machining process is next to impossible (not to mention the added heft).
In fact, some customers would rather have their iPhone exhibit a scratch or two say, after taking a 5-foot plunge, rather than have it destroyed. Compared to the all-glass iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 is sure to incur less trips to your local repair shop.
But we’re curious. How does this so-called issue affect your purchase?
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