iPhone 5 Owners Seeing Scuffs and Scratches Out of the Box

Apple announced this morning 5 million weekend sales for the iPhone 5 (earlier they announced 2 million pre-orders in 24 hours). With the official launch in Canada on September 21st, it appears some iPhone 5 units have arrived with scuffs and scratches right out of the box.

Now, of course yield rates are never perfect, but this time around it appears the issue is more common than we think it is. Our own black iPhone 5 arrived with a hairline scratch on the aluminum back. Other writers have experienced the same thing with their new iPhones out of the box, and this thread over at the Apple Support Communities relays similar experiences (plus this MacRumors forums thread also shows extensive discussion about the issue).

This issue is different than what we previously discussed about the backs scratching easily.

What can you do? New iPhone 5 purchases have a 14 day return window, so I would suggest calling Apple to get a replacement. Apple Stores can mail back online pre-orders for you. Alternatively, you can call Apple and they’ll send you out a box to return your iPhone 5. If you want to use your existing iPhone 5 while a new one arrives, you’ll be required to have a pre-auth charge for the incoming phone on your credit card.

Have you seen any scuffs or scratches on your iPhone 5 out of the box? Vote below (you will have to visit the site to vote):