iPhone 17 Pro Teardown Suggests "Scratchgate" Is Real

Just when we thought iPhone Air's design would potentially bring back bendgate, it turns out the sturdier iPhone 17 Pro has a major flaw, which is being referred to as "Scratchgate". This was revealed in iFixit's teardown of the iPhone 17 Pro, alongside the fact that the phone is now harder to repair.

According to iFixit's recent teardown, the scratchgate flaw was exposed when conducting scratch tests on the iPhone 17 Pro. The issue centres on the camera plateau, where the phone's anodised colour finish over the aluminium material is reportedly prone to scratching and rubbing off with ease.

iFixit consulted with engineering professor David Neibuhr, who explained that the damage is due to a phenomenon called "Spalling". He further elaborated that the sharp, flat edges of the new camera plateau prevent the anodised colour finish from sticking as strongly as the rest of the body. This weak adhesion makes the colour susceptible to flaking off when it comes to objects like coins.

Besides the new scratchgate, the teardown also reveals that Apple has done away with the dual-entry design, and the only way to access the internals is by removing the display, which is adhered quite strongly. Although the good news is that Apple still gives users a window into the battery from the back, making battery replacements easier.

Speaking of which, the battery, instead of being adhered to the mid-frame of the phone, is now stuck to an independent plate, which all comes off together. It uses the same electrically debonding adhesive tape, which comes off easily when a 12V current is supplied. Apple first started using the adhesive in the iPhone 16 series

Lastly, the iPhone 17 Pro is the first iPhone to use Torx screws, alongside a lot more other screws that hold most of the components together. The teardown also gives us a look at the vapour cooling chamber that keeps the temperatures in check.

Despite its hard-to-repair design, Apple's engineers have made repair manuals accessible for the iPhone 17 and other models from day one. Therefore, iFixit gave the iPhone 17 Pro a solid 7/10, which is considered pretty good. The slimmer iPhone Air also received a provisional 7/10 repair score, and surprisingly seemed much easier to repair than the iPhone 17 Pro.