- The Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro and Space Black iPhone Air reportedly get scratched easily
- These phones may also show visible marks after being used with MagSafe accessories
- Lighter colors seem less affected
The iPhone 17 series is off to a strong start, with these phones achieving great reviews and seemingly being in high demand, but now that they’ve arrived in some buyers hands, we’re hearing reports of a potential issue.
As reported by Bloomberg, a number of buyers are finding that these handsets scratch easily, with the Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the Space Black iPhone Air seemingly being the most susceptible to visible scratching.
Most of the scratching seems to be on the glass panel below the camera block, as seen in this X post from @amisecured, but some images and videos also show scratches on the camera housing.
@Apple sorry but #Scratchgate is real and very disappointing – a case will help but i reckon even a few minutes without a case in the pocket with keys and the phone is damaged – truly shame on you! My iPhone 13 Pro Max has been without a case and there are NO scratches at all… pic.twitter.com/toWqY2Osv2September 19, 2025
There are even reports of visible marks being left by MagSafe chargers, as you can see in images shared by Consomac, so it seems these iPhone shades really show off damage.
That’s presumably why the other shades – most of which are lighter – aren’t so far proving as problematic, as while they may well be just as easy to scratch, the scratches are perhaps less visible on them.
Beyond that, Apple’s decision to switch from titanium on the iPhone 16 Pro series to aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro could also be having an impact.
Tainted beauty
That’s unfortunate, because when unblemished these are beautiful phones, and the Deep Blue shade is quite striking, while the Space Black is sure to be very popular – as black shades usually are.
Still, we wouldn’t say you should avoid these colors now. For one thing, it’s unclear how widespread these scratching reports actually are, so your phone might be fine. For another, while the scratches aren’t desirable they’re purely cosmetic, so won’t affect the functionality of your device.
And we’d always recommend putting an expensive phone in a case anyway – it’s just perhaps all the more important here.
We’ve contacted Apple for comment on this scratching issue and will update this article if we hear back.
