iPhone 12 Pro Silver iPhone 12 Pro does NOT have PVD finish!

[Brettka7]

For someone that don’t even know what PVD is. Does these findings, or other findings, suggest that any 12 (not the pro) color is harder to scratch? Or harder to notice scratches?

I wanted the white 12, but if any color is better scratch wise I’ll change my mind

If I answer your question directly it probably won’t make proper sense, so I’m going to answer it a bit differently.

Most likely, anodized aluminum (12) will be the most scratch resistant. We have already seen some 12 Pro users with scratched sides. Of the anodized options, the silver will show the least amount of scratches because silver scratches to silver and the lighter color disguises any discoloration from scratches.

It sounds like Apple has made the gold color the hardest to scratch; it may even be harder than anodized aluminum. Blue and graphite should be about equal in scratch resistance and silver should be the easiest to scratch of the entire 2020 iPhone lineup. A few moments ago I actually noticed a couple small, light scuffs on my silver Pro from going in and out of my car’s cup holder.

The one and only model from the 12 line that can be polished to remove scratches is the silver 12 Pro because it is raw stainless steel. Polishing takes so little material off the top that for all intents and purposes, it can be polished infinite times through the device’s usable life.

 

[supertiffany]

so only the gold color has pvd finish?

 

[danilko1]

My X, XS, and 11 Pro, hasn't scratched in the years I have had them. I am sure they are coated just like the 12 Pro is today. I have them in cases, but surely the scratching would show around the charging port. I have paid attention, and I see no wear on this area. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I'm careful. But when it's dark and trying to plug my phone in at midnight or 1 AM, it can be a little hit and miss... They look fine.

 

[johannnn]

If I answer your question directly it probably won’t make proper sense, so I’m going to answer it a bit differently.

Most likely, anodized aluminum (12) will be the most scratch resistant. We have already seen some 12 Pro users with scratched sides. Of the anodized options, the silver will show the least amount of scratches because silver scratches to silver and the lighter color disguises any discoloration from scratches.

It sounds like Apple has made the gold color the hardest to scratch; it may even be harder than anodized aluminum. Blue and graphite should be about equal in scratch resistance and silver should be the easiest to scratch of the entire 2020 iPhone lineup. A few moments ago I actually noticed a couple small, light scuffs on my silver Pro from going in and out of my car’s cup holder.

Thanks for the information. So do I understand this correctly. Of the iPhone 12 (non-Pro) models, silver is the easiest to scratch, but also the model where scratches are the least visible?

This didn't make my choice easier :O

 

[Brettka7]

Thanks for the information. So do I understand this correctly. Of the iPhone 12 (non-Pro) models, silver is the easiest to scratch, but also the model where scratches are the least visible?

This didn't make my choice easier :O

All non-Pro models have equal scratch resistance. The silver is the least likely to have noticeable wear and tear to the anodized aluminum finish because silver scratches to silver.

The Pro models are the only ones that have differences in scratch resistance between colors.

 

[Brettka7]

My X, XS, and 11 Pro, hasn't scratched in the years I have had them. I am sure they are coated just like the 12 Pro is today. I have them in cases, but surely the scratching would show around the charging port. I have paid attention, and I see no wear on this area. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I'm careful. But when it's dark and trying to plug my phone in at midnight or 1 AM, it can be a little hit and miss... They look fine.

If you have a color other than silver, you do have the finish!

I can tell you for a fact the silver X, XS, and 11 Pro do not have a PVD finish because I have used sandpaper on their bezels to remove deeper scratches before polishing.

 

[whizkid11]

Wasn’t the iPhone 10 space gray bezels with PVD coating and plenty of users complained that scratches could not be polished your because it would expose the silver underneath?

Wouldn’t the same thing apply here with the PVD coated bezels?

So basically if you get any blemish on them, which will happen 100%, you’re screwed.

 

[Traverse]

Wasn’t the iPhone 10 space gray bezels with PVD coating and plenty of users complained that scratches could not be polished your because it would expose the silver underneath?

Wouldn’t the same thing apply here with the PVD coated bezels?

So basically if you get any blemish on them, which will happen 100%, you’re screwed.

Technically yes, but the coating has proving to be exceptional. My space grey 11 Pro is blemish free after one year even with some dings.

 

[whizkid11]

So is the PVD on the 11 Pro different from the PVD on the 10?

The reason why I got the 10, which I have now, and silver, is because of the issue with the bands on the space gray. I have kept it in a case with the microfiber lining for three years and there’s lots of little micro scratches/blemishes which can be polished out. The space gray would’ve been a disaster.

I am considering the graphite for the 12 pro. However, if it’s going to be problematic, maybe I am better off just sticking with the silver. Because even if the silver is PVD coated, it’s probably just a clear coating and would not affect the appearance if it was scratched or polished out.

 

[whizkid11]

Also there’s a post about someone having a 12 Pro in silver and graphite that both got scratched bands from the in store Belkin screen protector machine. The graphite is probably forever marred.

 

[Brettka7]

I’ve now had the honor of double confirming this.

Today I was trimming my beard in the shower. Suddenly the water turns off and I’m covered in hair. I wasn’t about to get hair everywhere so I decided to wait for my complex’s water to come back on while browsing the web. Suddenly the water comes spurting out but it’s BROWN from who knows what, so my reaction was to jerk backwards. Dinged the upper right corner of my phone and got a little bummed out despite how minor it was.

Eventually I decided to sand and polish the corner already knowing it’s raw steel. Came out beautifully!

Damaged:

Sanded with 2000 grit:

Perfect again!

 

[DotCom2]

I’ve now had the honor of double confirming this.

Today I was trimming my beard in the shower. Suddenly the water turns off and I’m covered in hair. I wasn’t about to get hair everywhere so I decided to wait for my complex’s water to come back on while browsing the web. Suddenly the water comes spitting out but it’s BROWN from who knows what, so my reaction was to jerk backwards. Dinged the upper right corner of my phone and get a little bummed out despite how minor it was.

Eventually I decided to sand and polish the corner already knowing it’s raw steel. Came out beautifully!

Damaged:

View attachment 974751

Sanded with 2000 grit:

View attachment 974752

Perfect again!

View attachment 974753

Yay! Looks great!

 

[whizkid11]

Did you polish after sanding?

 

[Brettka7]

Did you polish after sanding?

Yes, used Autosol on a cotton pad

 

[mbuhlayaw]

Yes, used Autosol on a cotton pad

Do you think same results can be achieved by using cape cod cloth?

 

[Ndona2]

Do you think same results can be achieved by using cape cod cloth?

Was wondering the same thing ..

 

[Brettka7]

Do you think same results can be achieved by using cape cod cloth?

If you’re simply polishing, I think cape cod will work. I don’t think it would remove sanding scratches. I thing Autosol works more quickly and is more controllable in aggressiveness by changing the amount of polish used on a spot.

 

[cman-uk]

View attachment 973459

I polished this whole corner. No change cosmetically because it wasn’t scratched or scuffed to begin with.

Do you have a screen protector on your phone? The screen looks matt, and not shiny!

(if so, which one did you apply? it looks look, as it appears to run right to the edge, unlike most)

 

[IconIc215]

I’ve now had the honor of double confirming this.

Today I was trimming my beard in the shower. Suddenly the water turns off and I’m covered in hair. I wasn’t about to get hair everywhere so I decided to wait for my complex’s water to come back on while browsing the web. Suddenly the water comes spurting out but it’s BROWN from who knows what, so my reaction was to jerk backwards. Dinged the upper right corner of my phone and got a little bummed out despite how minor it was.

Eventually I decided to sand and polish the corner already knowing it’s raw steel. Came out beautifully!

Damaged:

View attachment 974751

Sanded with 2000 grit:

View attachment 974752

Perfect again!

View attachment 974753

Wow I am impressed. That came out great! I have always steered my decision away from Silver because of how easy it generally gets marked up but after seeing before/after pics that is convincing. You seemed to have done this pretty easily.

 

[Brettka7]

Do you have a screen protector on your phone? The screen looks matt, and not shiny!

(if so, which one did you apply? it looks look, as it appears to run right to the edge, unlike most)

I was thinking the same thing looking back at the pic, but no. I can’t apply a screen protector without dust or hair if my life depended on it. I think it’s just the glare of the fluorescent lights playing with the look of the glass.

 

[Brettka7]

Wow I am impressed. That came out great! I have always steered my decision away from Silver because of how easy it generally gets marked up but after seeing before/after pics that is convincing. You seemed to have done this pretty easily.

I do have several years of experience in automotive paint, so those skills transfer over to polishing metal as well. However with car paint I’d have to use a sanding block and it would take ages to do by hand. Comparatively, stainless steel is much easier, more forgiving, and polishes out by hand in minutes.

 

[Kennyasdf]

Hi there thanks for posting this. I recently tried to polish some scratches on my iPhone 12 Pro Silver using Autosol Metal Polish. However I seem to have created some swirl marks/scratches using the polish. I used a clean microfibre cloth and am using the Metal Polish variant (not sure if the stainless steel variant would prevent this?) any idea how I can fix the swirl marks? I’ve attached an image and a video. Maybe a bit hard to see as they only appear in direct light. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I do have several years of experience in automotive paint, so those skills transfer over to polishing metal as well. However with car paint I’d have to use a sanding block and it would take ages to do by hand. Comparatively, stainless steel is much easier, more forgiving, and polishes out by hand in minutes.

 

[Sam in SoCal]

I would never get silver because I don’t wanna spend my time in ownership sanding it down every time it gets micro scratches. I was at the Apple Store today because my brother had a genius appointment for his laptop and I looked at the phones again and silver was the only one that had scratches on it. Every single silver pro on display. Have fun with that I think I will beginning a gold Pro Max on order next week. By the way the graphite color had a tinge of midnight green when looking at it or angling It. So either get the pac blue or the gold. Don’t waste your time with the other two colors

 

[Traverse]

I would never get silver because I don’t wanna spend my time in ownership sanding it down every time it gets micro scratches. I was at the Apple Store today because my brother had a genius appointment for his laptop and I looked at the phones again and silver was the only one that had scratches on it. Every single silver pro on display. Have fun with that I think I will beginning a gold Pro Max on order next week. By the way the graphite color had a tinge of midnight green when looking at it or angling It. So either get the pac blue or the gold. Don’t waste your time with the other two colors

You’re on a forum of enthusiasts. For most people, it’s fine. I had a silver iPhone XS and while it did pick up some scratches, none were really bad or noticeable in use.

I did have bad scratches on the corner from Apple’s leather case (some grit from my pocket must have gotten between the case and phone. After that I went without a case and it was fine.

 

[DotCom2]

I would never get silver because I don’t wanna spend my time in ownership sanding it down every time it gets micro scratches. I was at the Apple Store today because my brother had a genius appointment for his laptop and I looked at the phones again and silver was the only one that had scratches on it. Every single silver pro on display. Have fun with that I think I will beginning a gold Pro Max on order next week. By the way the graphite color had a tinge of midnight green when looking at it or angling It. So either get the pac blue or the gold. Don’t waste your time with the other two colors

Don't forget that the lighting in most stores is usually fluorescent and can cast a very different light on objects. Usually a greenish cast. When at the Apple store, and the color of something is important to me, I always ask if I can take the object over to the window with natural light. They usually are more than happy to accommodate me.
Walmart has the worst lighting ever!