Video Owners of Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have been reporting that the shell of their pricey handsets is getting scratched up already, and the reason appears to be a shift to aluminum.

The two handsets introduced at Apple's annual iPhone marketing event in September featured an anodized aluminum shell, rather than the titanium frame Apple has used in some past models. Display phones in iThing stores are already showing signs of wear, particularly around the raised camera mounting on the rear of the phone, and a microscopic investigation by iFixit has shown why.

Anodizing creates an oxide layer around the metal to protect it from unsightly scratches, but it has limitations. Aluminum isn't quite as good as titanium at building an anodized layer, but the design makes matters worse.

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