Matte Black variant of the iPhone 7 seems to be suffering from chipping and peeling paint

In terms of looks, the Matte Black model of the iPhone is definitely eye-catching. But there seems to be issues with it. Users have been complaining on Apple’s Support Communities of the paint starting to chip or peel off in areas with little wear, even those that have been put in cases. Some of the photos seen on the thread show the chipping happening near the speaker grille and volume buttons. This isn’t the first time this has been an issue for iPhone users, though. Back in 2012, complaints were heard over the Black and Slate iPhone 5, even the iPhone 6 and 6s had complaints. But MacRumors is pointing out there is more this time around.

However, since this is considered a cosmetic issue, Apple isn’t making these devices eligible for repair. That has been the stance of the company for finish issues. In the grand scheme of things, it does seem like a minor issue but if it gets unsightly for you, some users have resorted to using sharpies or paint. Others have even sold off their phones to get one in a color less prone to damage.

Apple iPhone 7 sales might be affected by its older brothers

While the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are solid devices, it seems they’re under threat by their own older siblings. Ahead of Apple’s release of its quarterly results, some Wall Street analysts predict that the iPhone 6 and 6s pulled down the average selling price of the current Apple flagship phones during the holiday season. And that could hurt the overall results of the company for the quarter.

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There’s a software workaround when the iPhone 7’s home button doesn’t work

Aside from taking out the headphone jack, Apple also revamped the home button in the iPhone 7. Instead of having a mechanical button, a force sensitive static button is in its place. And at times it might not work. But there seems to be a workaround for that. A MacRumors forum user found that the iPhone 7 displays a home button on the screen when it sees there’s a problem with the button.

According to the user, the message showed up when the phone turned off while it was charging. When he restarted the device, he said “it worked at first then started spazzing out. The Haptic engine kept firing [three to four] times in a row for every ‘press’. I restarted [the phone] again and it’s back to not working.” With Apple supposedly planning to remove the button entirely for the 10^th-anniversary iPhone, this might be considered as a precursor for that.

This is one way you can listen to music while charging the iPhone 7

Much of the hullaballoo surrounding the new iPhone 7 is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. For those who wanted a wired experience with the new iPhones, you’ll either need to use the supplied headphones from Apple or that adapter to plug in your preferred headset. But the caveat is you can’t listen to music while charging. Belkin has a solution with its new Lightning Audio and Charge Rockstar. The adapter comes with two Lightning ports so you can plug the charge in one port and the supplied adapter in the other. Yes, we can see the tangled mess it can become but at least here’s one solution. The adapter will retail for US$40 or around CA$50. Or you can just spring for the new AirPods or use/buy a Bluetooth headset.