{"id":38190,"date":"2025-09-23T06:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T06:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/38190\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T06:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T06:56:11","slug":"the-iphone-17-camera-has-an-important-design-flaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/38190\/","title":{"rendered":"The iPhone 17 Camera Has an Important Design Flaw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n            We may earn a commission from links on this page.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Folks are finally starting to get their iPhone 17s, and now that the new phones are in the hands of people who don\u2019t work for Apple, flaws are starting to come to light. Specifically, durability testers are saying that you might want to slap a case on your new phone.<\/p>\n<p>Most notably, it turns out that the iPhone 17 Pro has a major flaw with its camera bump. While the lenses themselves are fine, the edges on the raised camera \u201cplateau\u201d (as Apple is calling it) can apparently get scuffed just by hanging out in the same bag or pocket as household items like coins or keys. That\u2019s according to testing by reliable YouTube reviewer Zack Nelson, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KrOBzFwVzwA&amp;t=50s\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">JerryRigEverything<\/a>, who bemoaned Apple\u2019s decision to avoid adding a chamfer or other protective barrier around the camera bump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it was intentional,\u201d the YouTuber says in his video. \u201cSo it looks cooler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KrOBzFwVzwA&amp;t=50s%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BCAccording\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">According<\/a> to Nelson, the scratches probably have to do with Apple\u2019s decision to move back to anodized aluminum for this model, as opposed to the titanium the company started using with the iPhone 15 Pro. Aluminum provides better cooling, and strong scratch resistance anywhere that the anodizing process adheres to, but the catch is that without chamfers, those corners tend to get missed during the anodizing bath.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, when Nelson tried to scratch the flat parts of the plateau (as well as the rest of the back of the phone), it only produced dust that could be easily wiped off, good as new. But those camera plateau corners remained permanently chipped, even after wiping.<\/p>\n<p>This follows a similar report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-09-19\/chinese-iphone-buyers-complain-of-scratches-on-new-pro-models\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bloomberg<\/a>, which noted that display models of both the blue iPhone 17 Pro and black iPhone Air seemed especially prone to scratches, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/broken-iphone-17-air\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">posts from users<\/a>, pointing out scratches across all colors and multiple models of the new iPhones, especially after being <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/amisecured\/status\/1969144282809581972\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">attached to MagSafe accessories<\/a>. While it\u2019s possible that some of these scratches could be wiped away, as shown in Nelson\u2019s video, those around the corners look particularly nasty, and I\u2019m not just talking about the camera plateau.<\/p>\n<p>                What do you think so far?<\/p>\n<p>How to stop scratches on your iPhone 17<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s certainly not ideal that your bare iPhone could be susceptible to scratches, there is a simple solution\u2014slap a case on it. That\u2019ll hide your fancy Apple branding, sure, but it will also ensure your phone doesn\u2019t take the brunt of your keys or loose quarters, and add a barrier around those camera plateau edges.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This year, Apple has three case options, including a clear plastic, silicone, and a new fabric style case called TechWoven. In testing by YouTuber Arun Maini, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/pa8bfKRgsYE\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mrwhosetheboss<\/a>, the clear case was easily susceptible to scratches by simple household objects, but all other options held up well. That\u2019s a relief for anyone who was burned by Apple\u2019s previous fabric case, FineWoven, which also had its own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/my-iphone-15-pro-maxs-finewoven-case-had-a-rough-week-and-it-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">scratch-related drama<\/a> when it debuted alongside the iPhone 15 line.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, you could go third-party. In that case, you\u2019ve got plenty of options. Lifehacker sister publication <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/best-iphone-16-and-iphone-16-pro-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CNET<\/a> has praised <a data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-template=\"News\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\" data-ga-element=\"offer\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-event_label=\"Otterbox\" href=\"https:\/\/zdcs.link\/9wj2ob?pageview_type=Standard&amp;template=News&amp;module=content_body&amp;element=offer&amp;item=text-link&amp;element_label=Otterbox&amp;short_url=9wj2ob&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Flifehacker.com%2Ftech%2Fiphone-17-camera-has-important-design-flaw&amp;event_label=Otterbox&amp;split_test_identifier=015ZvAUxXams0rnBpajhMg2&amp;split_test_variant=A\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\">Otterbox<\/a> in the past, which I can also attest to by personal experience. For a more premium look, you could also go for <a data-ga-click=\"1\" data-ga-template=\"News\" data-ga-module=\"content_body\" data-ga-element=\"offer\" data-ga-item=\"text-link\" data-ga-event_label=\"Nomad\u2019s leather cases\" href=\"https:\/\/zdcs.link\/a5X7o5?pageview_type=Standard&amp;template=News&amp;module=content_body&amp;element=offer&amp;item=text-link&amp;element_label=Nomad%E2%80%99s%20leather%20cases&amp;short_url=a5X7o5&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Flifehacker.com%2Ftech%2Fiphone-17-camera-has-important-design-flaw&amp;event_label=Nomad%26rsquo%3Bs%20leather%20cases&amp;split_test_identifier=015ZvAUxXams0rnBpajhMg2&amp;split_test_variant=A\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"open in a new window\">Nomad\u2019s leather cases<\/a>, which I can also give a personal recommendation to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We may earn a commission from links on this page. Folks are finally starting to get their iPhone&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-38190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}