Some Apple customers are complaining that the paintwork on their matte black iPhone 7's are chipping ' even though their devices allegedly haven't been dropped or bashed.In a discussion thread on Apple's website, numerous iPhone 7 owners have been sharing their stories of chipped devices, starting in November 2016. We first heard about the complaints via Apple news site 9to5Mac.The chips seem to be appearing most often around the speaker grille and the buttons on the device, and multiple users are complaining it happened even though they kept their iPhones in cases and did nothing to damage them."The paint is starting to chip at the speaker grille and it is very disappointing from Apple. I have never dropped or knocked the phone against anything," one user complained."I have this issue on my matte black too. I noticed it on my mute switch, 2 small dots that I initially thought was dust. But after cleaning it off I realized that it's the paint chipping off. So the next day I went down to my locals service center and try to make a warranty claim. But the staff said that cosmetic damages are not under warranty," another said in December."So I ended up selling my iPhone 7 and got a silver one and after another month I never notice any sort of paint chipping." (Other users also said they had had no issues with other iPhone 7 colours.)Another customer said (emphasis ours):"I have the same issue! Not near the edges or buttons but on the back of the phone. There's one tiny spot smack dab in between the Apple logo and the edge of the device. I don't know how this happened given I use a lint roller on the pocket I keep the phone in and I have a screen protector and TPU case on, also I've never dropped it. I first thought this was dust on the device but realized it's not. it bothers me a 3/10, I try not to make a big deal out of anything that's not a least a 5/10 on the s**t that bugs me scale. I thought about getting a new one and selling the current but at this point I think it could happen to the new one too."The Matte Black iPhone chips/loses color so quickly. Color regret '' Owen '' (@ow) December 4, 2016"I am using the matt black model and I realised a bit of the paint chipped off at my volume button too. I am a very meticulous user and it never happened with my old iphone 6 model," one said in November 2016. They said they took in to an Apple Service Provider, but was told that "cosmetic damage isn't covered under warranty."This appears to be a strictly cosmetic issue, and doesn't affect how the device runs ' and is less serious than previous iPhone issues like "bendgate," when iPhone 6's were found to bend easily or "antennagate," which involved signal issues for the iPhone 4. But it's clearly frustrating some customers, who have spend hundreds of dollars on the premium devices."This is unacceptable for a phone that costs more than 1000' and it looks pretty bad," one said.I chipped the matte black metal on my iPhone 7 :(((' strasser (@brystrasser) December 9, 2016This isn't the first time an iPhone has been criticised over its susceptibility to cosmetic damage. Back in 2012, customers complained that the iPhone 5 chipped and scuffed easily ' to which exec Phil Schiller responded that "any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal."Some iPhone 7 owners have resorted to DIY solutions to the issue. One says they "remedied it with black acrylic paint that costs $5 at Michael's. It's not perfect, but made the chipped paint spots on my 7+ matte black less of an eye sore."Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Science says parents of unsuccessful kids could have these 6 things in common
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