My iPhone 16 Pro Max's screen is getting scratched easily

I thought I was the only one. I’m so mad!! Not even 24 hours and 1 deep scratch and one over the island.

Have had the 16 pro for a few days and the screen is full of scratches. Pretty ordinary quality for the price to be honest.

The first day of use not even in my pocket just use it scratched on the lower corner screen this “new Ceramic Shield” “50x stronger” is bs it shouldn’t scratch easier than my iPhone 12 which seen better days I’m disappointed on a $1500 phone

Ditto here. Had a 13 Pro Max for years without a screen protector and only a few mild scratches here and there, and that's with dropping the phone a few times.

Responses saying "this happens every release, people should put screen protectors, blah blah blah" are posted by people who believe screen protectors are absolutely necessary. If they were so necessary, one shouldn't have to pay the additional $65 on top of a $1,000 phone. Get off your high horse. A screen protector shouldn't be necessary for users who take care of their screens.

I bought my 16 Pro Max two hours ago. I put it in a pocket of a pair of fleece line jeans when I left the Apple Store I pulled it out of my pocket, it immediately had scratches the first and only time I use the phone. I was literally still in the parking lot of the Apple Store.

Apple should have a recall on the iPhone pro max 16 screens. I have had iPhones over 10 years and never had a phone screen scratch like this and so easily. And it’s deep scratch! Why are they ignoring this?

No one said that previous iPhones couldn’t be scratched. We know how glass works. We’re saying that it is EASIER THIS YEAR TO SCRATCH THE GLASS THAN IN PREVIOUS YEARS. Some of us haven’t had to EVER use screen protectors and have never seen a scratch. Should your phone scratch when all you do is put it in your soft pants pocket and never drop it? Does that seem right to you?

I heard this before I updated my phone and thought it was just an exaggeration.

But, just one day after I bought my 16 pro max I found a few deep scratches and I was really careful with it, didn’t even put it on the display.

checked my 12 pro max, and for 4 years without any protection, there’re only couple of small scratches on it.

I don’t understand how can they claim that this is the most solid glass ever.

also drop tests on YouTube shows that this is a lie

As a former manufacturing engineer, I think that there is a few percentage which out below acceptable quality. Like when cut chips from large wafer, there is always something we have throw away. So to the people who are saying every new release, people are complaining. I guess they don’t think about quality. I am looking at two iPhone 14s (one work, the other I own), after two years of using I still see zero scratch. Yes I played the same game with my nails, still not scratches. I think we (who has scratches) got a sub-par yield from Apple

I have more scratch in 2 days on my 16 pro max than on my 13 pro max in 3 years.

Every iPhone screen ever made can be scratched and every year, people come here after getting a new iPhone saying their screen scratched too easily. While the Ceramic Shield glass on iPhone (unfortunately named, in my opinion) can be scratched, it is significantly harder to break. And that is a trade off. No one has yet learned how to make glass which is harder to scratch and break at the same time.

This is why Apple installs screen protectors in-store every day and screen protectors are a multi-billion dollar business. Install a screen protector to avoid future scratches, which will likely hide whatever scratch you’ve now gotten. When I get a new iPhone, I put a screen protector on it, before I even turn it on to set it up.

Cosmetic damage is NOT covered by your warranty.

screen protector may prevent the iPhone from scratching, but it does not prevent it from hairline crackers. I do have a screen protector but still have hairline crackers. I used my iPhone 11 for more than five years without a single hairline crack, but this iPhone 16 Pro Max the hairline crack appeared out of nowhere within the first month

i’m not even planning to get AppleCare+  as someone already mentioned when you purchase a high quality expensive iPhone around $3000 AUD you have certain expectations of product standards- expecting upgrades to be superior to previous models not inferior. That is why this type of forums are useful because people get to share their experiences, it shows you are not the only one - it’s much more powerful when people get together and share experiences. So Apple can look at this thread to understand  that a lot of people have the same issue.  Even the best companies might have a bad manufacturing batch etc

I have had my 16 pro max for 1 week tomorrow and it is broken on the very edge and has scratches. I have the screen protector on when it happened. It was never dropped. I had my 12 pro Max for years and just turned it in with no scratches and no screen protector. What is going on? This is ridiculous for this price range.