The iPhone 12 series was arguably the most anticipated smartphone launch of the year. And, with that out of the way, people have finally started to get their hands on the new smartphones. This year, Apple has made a ton of improvements to the overall design of the phone. From the flat edges to a more refined experience, the iPhone 12 moves towards a likable design direction.
One big emphasis on this year’s iPhone 12 series from Apple has been durability. Since the device is flat, there is much less chance of it damaging the display while falling sideways. Not only that, but Apple has also gone the extra mile and has included a Ceramic Shield on top of the front glass. According to Apple, the Ceramic Shield makes it the ‘strongest glass ever on an iPhone’.
Also read: iPhone 12 box doesn’t include a charger for the ‘environment’ but that’s BS
However, while it does look promising on paper, actual real-life results have proven to be not-so-great. According to many early adopters of the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, the phones are highly susceptible to being scratched.
iPhone 12 gets scratched up despite minimal contact
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility for phones to get scratched up in your pockets, especially when they’re in there with keys. However, little contact with another surface should never result in a scratch. For instance, if you put your phone down on your screen it should, in theory, stay perfectly fine. The new iPhone 12 though, has been racking up scratches for different users with the same kind of contact.
Jaime Rivera, who is a renowned phone reviewer found that out the hard way as his new iPhone 12 Pro got scratched up just by merely stacking it on top of another phone. This left a pretty big and visible scratch on his display leaving doubts and questions about the legitimacy of the Ceramic coating.
Ceramic Shield huh? ?
I just stacked the phones together in the first 5 minutes.. pic.twitter.com/DgLcBGnsAU
— Jaime Rivera (@Jaime_Rivera) October 23, 2020
Even more surprising was the fact that this happened just within 5 minutes, meaning that it doesn’t take long for the new iPhone to get damaged. So, you might want to have a case or tempered glass protector ready before you even start using your new iPhone. And, while it is a bummer that the iPhone 12 is a scratch magnet, that is the price you pay for having a more rigid display.
The display strength trade-off
By this point, you might be wondering how a phone display rated to be the strongest ever in its history is getting scratched up so easily. After all, we’ve all seen drop tests and such of the new iPhone and it looks more durable than ever. So, what exactly is going on here?
The answer is that there’s always a trade-off. The iPhone 12 series isn’t the first line of phones to suffer from this issue. This is the same thing that happened when Android manufacturers started switching over to Gorilla Glass 5 for their displays. While it was true that the new glass was much harder to break and thus more durable, the extra rigidity also made the displays more susceptible to scratches.
Our assumption is that the ceramic coating on the iPhone 12 display works in a similar fashion. It has arguably become much more durable than before since it is less prone to breaking. However, this in turn makes the glass more rigid and prone to accumulating scratches. Having said that, the scratch could also just be a result of rare specific scenarios.
In any case, if you’re using an iPhone 12 or plan on getting one, slapping on a tempered glass protector or a protective case would really help with extending the life of your device.