Two weeks into retail availability, owners of the iPhone 18 Pro are reporting paint fading on their devices. The issue appears concentrated on Burgundy, the flagship shade Apple introduced this fall, though a smaller number of complaints have surfaced around the Black model as well.
Photographs posted across Reddit and X show a pale, washed-out shift in pigment. In most shared examples, the fading begins directly around the camera rings on the rear island before creeping onto the aluminum frame. Several buyers claimed the discoloration was visible straight out of the box, while others noticed the tone drifting after brief outdoor use.
Online theories have multiplied quickly. Some owners suspect ultraviolet sunlight exposure is reacting with the surface treatment. Others point to localized heat spikes during 4K video recording sessions, or simple lint and residue accumulating in the tight grooves around the lenses. A more probable culprit is an inconsistency in early anodizing batches at the factory floor, which would explain why the fault seems isolated to specific devices rather than widespread across every unit shipped.
History Repeats on the Pro Line
This is not unfamiliar ground for Apple's hero finishes. Around this time last year, buyers of the iPhone 17 Pro ran into an almost identical headache with the Cosmic Orange variant, with scattered complaints affecting the Deep Blue model. In that cycle, Apple eventually acknowledged the surface defect and swapped out compromised hardware for affected owners.
Apple refreshed its palette for the iPhone 18 Pro by dropping Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue in favor of Burgundy and Glacier, while retaining Black and Silver. So far, Glacier units have not drawn similar complaints online. The shared photos have also been accompanied by isolated user grievances about cracked speaker audio on fresh devices, though the cosmetic bleaching is what has caught the most traction.
For now, affected customers have little recourse beyond customer service tickets or snapping on a protective case to mask the wear. Apple has not yet issued a public advisory regarding the finish issues on the iPhone 18 Pro. If the company adheres to last year's playbook, formal repair or replacement procedures could take several weeks to roll out across retail channels.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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