Dyegate: Dye from blue jeans discolors iPhone’s plastic strips

BGR has spoken with several iPhone 6 owners over the past couple of weeks who have encountered a very annoying issue with Apple’s new iPhones,” Zach Epstein reports for BGR. “The issue involves pockets on men’s jeans, but this time it’s not a matter of Apple’s gigantic iPhone phablet fitting into pockets. In fact, these particular iPhone users might wish their smartphones didn’t fit in their pockets.”

Epstein reports, “Some iPhone owners who don’t cover their phones with a protective case are finding that after sliding an iPhone in and out of the pockets on their jeans for a period of time, some of the dye from the denim is rubbing off onto the plastic strips on the back of the phone.

“The result is an unsightly discoloration that makes the iPhone look dirty and old. Conventional soaps and other cleaning products one might use in an effort to remove the darkening on the plastic strips apparently have not worked,” Epstein reports. “One BGR reader jokingly referred to the problem as ‘Dyegate.'”

Read more, and see the photos, in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Ooh, now Apple is doomed for sure. (smirk)

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Rob” for the heads up.]

69 Comments

    1. I think the issue is not with the quality of the jeans, but rather the choice of materials for the phone. The 5c was a plastic phone, cheaper materials, cheaper price tag.

      The 6 and 6plus are *not* cheaper versions.. they’re the flagship product. Glass, sapphire, aluminum, etc. Premium materials that should resist color contamination even from cheap clothing, and should at a minimum wash clean. The article suggests it does not wash, at least easily.

        1. Exactly! Thank you, I’ve seen jeans costing $500. That guy complaining about it being so much more is really buying $20 jeans? Come on, man. He also eating ramen noodles?

        2. Everyone can spend whatever they want on jeans or anything else….but in MY opinion, spending that much on jeans is idiotic unless you already have more than enough money to retire.

          Ditto for going out for a “night on the town” and blowing $50+ on drinks regularly, $50+ per person dinners, etc, etc, etc…

          Personally, I’m going to skip all that, make other smart financial decisions and be well-retired by 50.

          Enjoy your jeans, though!! 😀

    1. I prefer Levi Capitol E jeans, $500 a pair. If I’m really feeling like I need a hug, I go with 7 For All Mankind. Really nice cut. I’ve always wanted a pair of APO jeans though. $4000 a pair. I understand the denim is just sublime. I used to date a woman who later turned out to be a man but now he’s a woman for real but we broke up due to lack of honesty, and she/he only wore Escada. $10,000 a pair. Now if you really want to get swanky, you can go for one of the original Levi Strauss 1880s. $65000 a pair. I understand Chlesea Clinton won’t be caught dead in anything except Secret Circus. Diamond encrusted jeans, at 1.3 million a pair.

      /s

      1. I have not worn jeans in 30 years.

        After the college degree is hung on the wall, you realize the need is gone and move on.

        North Face, baby! Lasts longer, does not shrink or fade, lightweight, and at a better price saves bucks to buy more worthwhile things, like iDevices. 🙂

    2. I love Tommy Bahama clothes. The quality can’t be beat. I’ve paid over a hundred dollars for several of their shirts. They’re my favorite shirts by far. Like my electronics, I buy quality. Their stuff is worth every dollar.

  1. Everyone bending and dyeing their iPhones with tight jeans, please promptly remove the phones from your pockets, please pull down your jeans, please pull down our underwear, take your iPhone and shove it up your a;lesbjq mleqpwwa,.mg qo

        1. Well said.

          Kaplanmike obviously is polar opposite in political viewpoint and all power to him. That said, he has just demonstrated once again that liberals today are not free thinkers. The proof is asking you not express your political opinion.

          I believe Kaplanmike should refrain from politely asking for personal censorship on views that upset him.

        2. Yeah, conservatives are SO open-minded. Love how they don’t try to intrude on what I do in the privacy of my bedroom. Trying to fire women for taking “whore pills”?!!!? You people are disgusting. Jesus would be ashamed.

        3. Conservatives are the most open minded and smartest crowd on the planet.

          Politically correct dullards with memorized talking points who can’t critically think are the real evil of free speech screwing up the USA.

          One thing you and KMike are incapable of is stifling my free speech. I would say sorry it bothers you, but lib ranters do not appreciate courtesy.

        4. IIRC, on the rare occasion that Thelonious does venture into politics, it usually seems to be against black people doing/saying stupid things and expecting special treatment. The fact that he appears to *be* black has always made it a particularly interesting view to read, IMO.

          Sorry for throwing in my political 2 cents, but there it is. 🙂

        5. You missed the point and so sadly, you are Wrong Again.

          Black on black critiques are most interesting.

          Only a Democrat would have a problem with that.

    1. I once had a new car with beautiful off-white seats. My jeans rubbed blue color on the sides of the seat and I sued an slandered Peugeot. I got hundreds of thousands and just when I went to spend it I woke up…..

  2. GATEgate. Today officially eradicated the archaic reference to Watergate scandel from 1970s via the term “gate” as a pseudo handcuffing term to promote FUD in a propagandizing manner.

        1. I thought Mr. Greenjeans was great! He reminded me of my Grandfather. I was sad when I found I couldn’t find green jeans in the store any more. I must have been six at the time. I had to resign myself to the onslaught of adulthood. 😥

  3. I’ve had some colored t-shirts lately that were bleached by my deodorant. No other shirts or t-shirts suffered this problem. They were designer look but cheap. I learned a lesson. Some manufacturers are using dye that really is bad. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if all the denim being talked about in this article were so-called designer jeans, not made by the major, and weren’t very expensive. Just married way up over their low budget cost materials and processes. If any dye really is coming off jeans onto phones, it’s a jean issue and not a phone issue.

  4. Apple just announced iWear, their new line of jeans. Now you can put iPhones in your iWear jeans without risk of dye leaching. Check it out in the Apple Store iPhone accessories section.

  5. The real tragedy is the toxic garbage from the blue jean dyeing (and especially chemical fading) manufacturing in Bangladesh. I never realized just how bad the impact on the third world is to feed the insatiable consumerism of our world until I saw a trailer for the documentary “The Blue River” – Can actually see it from space – died blue-jean blue. I appreciate Apple’s stance on keeping an eye on their supply-chain. We should demand it of everyone whose products we buy.

  6. Can we just stop calling every single issue that comes up “____gate”? Like it is some huge conspiracy that is going to bring down society as we know it. Give it a rest.

  7. I recall a few years ago, when Apple was making white polycarbonate MacBooks, some people had problems with the palm rests discoloring. They seem to learn slowly.

    Hey Apple, aluminum good, glass good, plastic bad.

    1. I was going to say the same thing! Those things are the best. They also are the best for cleaning my Apple keyboard keys. Wring it out pretty well and hold the device upside down to make sure water can’t get in.

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