Pinkgate Solved: New Test Confirms No Discoloration on iPhone 17 Pro

The “Pinkgate” Incident: An In-depth Look

In October, a few weeks following the release of the latest iPhone series, numerous images surfaced online depicting the iPhone 17 Pro in an orange aluminum color that had seemingly turned pink. Meanwhile, the Ceramic Shield glass back maintained its original orange hue. This phenomenon quickly earned the nickname “pinkgate.” Apple has not formally addressed this issue, instead directing users to the iPhone cleaning guidelines which advise against the use of bleach or hydrogen peroxide.

Investigative Experiment by CNET

Curious about the validity of these claims, CNET conducted an experiment by purchasing the two mentioned products—a spray-on oxygen bleach cleaner and concentrated bleach. They applied these solutions across the back surface of an iPhone, leaving it on for durations ranging from 30 minutes to an hour and repeated the process several times since October. “Several months later, I can’t see any notable difference. Under certain lighting conditions, if I squint and tilt the phone just so, I think I might see a slight color shift. But it might also be my imagination. Certainly, it’s nothing like the dramatic shift shown in the original Reddit post.”

Conclusive Thoughts

The results are definitive: while it’s likely that these cleaning agents are not ideal for the iPhone’s aluminum, they do not cause dramatic and rapid color changes if used only occasionally for cleaning purposes. Thus, the cause of the color change observed in the viral images remains unidentified. “I can’t say for sure whether the pink iPhone 17 Pro photos posted by the Reddit user are genuine. My human side wants to believe them, but my journalistic instincts remain skeptical.”