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uptempos

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 25, 2015
81
55
I use a case on my phone, and its never been dropped. Is this the finish coming off since the button is exposed?

Is this considered normal wear and tear, and is there any way to fix this?
 

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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,870
8,727
Arizona/Illinois
PVD coating is wearing off/discoloring. Only way to fix it is to replace the switch which in my opinion is not worth it.. coatings wear off depending on what they’ve been exposed to through use. DLC is much more resistant to wear compared to PVD...
 

alpi123

macrumors 68020
Jun 18, 2014
2,023
3,376
Oh, sorry this has happened to you. My Xs Max is still looking pristine... it depends from case to case.
 

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
Looks like the anodized coating has worn off. Looks like **** !

if you have AppleCare make use of it and bring it in for a tuneup 👌🏻
 

LFC2020

macrumors P6
Apr 4, 2020
16,874
38,036
I always buy the silver iPhones because of this problem.

No coating on the silver stainless steal band plus like the look of the stainless steal finish.

is their a way Apple could stop this from happening?

How about melting the stainless steal then mixing the color into it?

So if it does scratch it’ll still look the same colour.
 

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
Chances are the guy running the dunk tank got his formula wrong. I wanted the silver too but it was unavailable, and I didn’t want gold.. I have a case on it anyways. If I drove a desk I’d run it caseless.
 

Spudlicious

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2015
936
818
Bedfordshire, England
I always buy the silver iPhones because of this problem.

No coating on the silver stainless steal band plus like the look of the stainless steal finish.

is their a way Apple could stop this from happening?

How about melting the stainless steal then mixing the color into it?

So if it does scratch it’ll still look the same colour.

Steel is molten at around 2500°F so I don’t think it’s possible to add pigment like you can with plastics, it would be vaporised. Certainly all the coloured steel we see has been coated/plated/painted in some manner. There’s bound to be someone on the forum who knows more about this topic.
 
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BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,870
8,727
Arizona/Illinois
Steel is molten at around 2500°F so I don’t think it’s possible to add pigment like you can with plastics, it would be vaporised. Certainly all the coloured steel we see has been coated/plated/painted in some manner. There’s bound to be someone on the forum who knows more about this topic.
Armor for knights was colored using oxidation and heat. I saw an episode on Nova that showed the process that turns the hardened steel a wonderful blue color similar to what titanium looks like on an exhaust but over time it wear/fades away. Not sure how it could be done to stainless steel...
 
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