Some models of iPhone 12 have lost color of its aluminum chassis, according to a new report from Svetapple.sk, which includes photographs of a PRODUCT (RED) model iPhone 12 that that has been noticeably leached in color.
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The side of the iPhone 12 near the power button has faded to an orange hue and there is a clear boundary where the red coloration has been exhausted.
Svetapple.sk says the iPhone has been used in a transparent case, so the friction of one hand has not been a factor, though it’s unclear if the case itself may have caused the problem.
There have been similar reports of fading from iPhone 11 and iPhone SE 2 users. MacRumors the t101 reader, for example, shared photos of an iPhone 11 with a spectacular loss of color at the edges. This iPhone model had also been in a transparent case. Although many of the reports have focused on the red iPhone models, the fading has been seen less frequently on the iPhone 11 models of different colors.
Some MacRumors readers speculated that the color diffusion is due to ultraviolet-enabled exposure enabled by the clear case, but the problem would probably be more widespread if it were an ultraviolet exposure problem. It has also been speculated that the problem could be caused by a chemical reaction with a case, but there is no clear explanation.
There are a limited number of reports on color diffusion, but this is a problem that seems to have persisted for years, as there are also complaints about the iPhone XR. Aside from the iphone 12 photos shared by Svetapple.sk, we haven’t seen similar reports of color loss on other iphone 12 devices, and this could be a widespread manufacturing flaw.
Apple probably considers color diffusion to be a cosmetic issue, so it is unknown whether devices that suffer from color loss will be replaced.