Dbrand tried and failed to fix the Ghost Case — replacements will take longer

The Dbrand Ghost Case for the iPhone 15 Pro. | Image: Dbrand

Dbrand is scrapping plans to hole its anti-yellowing Ghost Case, but not due to the fact that it yellows — it’s that it scratches precise easily. The institution had promised successful November to vessel free replacements with scratch-resistant coatings, but present it’s telling customers via email they’ll person to wait. Most of its accumulation tally of those ended up “unshippable,” the institution says, truthful alternatively it’s sending a redesigned “Ghost 2.0” this summer. Essentially, it’s a delay.

The institution says that its archetypal trial runs of the newly-coated cases looked good, but erstwhile it tried to manufacture them astatine scale, the coatings got each gloppy astatine the edges:

As you tin imagine, aft processing a zero-yellowing anti-scratch solution that was the archetypal of its kind, we were rather excited to propulsion the trigger connected wide production.

Last week, our archetypal mass-produced banal cleared the accumulation lines. During prime power inspections, we instantly knew that thing was antithetic betwixt the abbreviated tally of “process validation” samples we’d approved for wide accumulation and what was really coming disconnected the tools.

A important information of the units we inspected were showing signs of coating buildup and inconsistencies.

Image: Dbrand See the edges, however they glop!

Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz tells The Verge that portion the institution has ended “the progressive improvement and manufacture of Ghost 1.0” (that’s what Dbrand means erstwhile it says it volition “discontinue” the case), it inactive has banal available. He added that the institution intends “to connection an upgraded merchandise to each Ghost customers, careless of their restitution with the product.” Indeed, you tin inactive bargain it for iPhone, Pixel, and Galaxy phones, but a disclaimer connected the leafage for each mentation says buyers volition get the 2.0 lawsuit for escaped “later this year.”

Image: Dbrand Dbrand’s archetypal lawsuit “after 2 months of use.”

The institution says it’s been “spending boatloads” to get caller manufacturing instrumentality to marque the Ghost 2.0, which it says it’s been designing since past twelvemonth erstwhile it primitively announced the replacement program. It besides acknowledges that the anti-scratch coating it was moving connected was conscionable a “band-aid” fix, arsenic scratching is an “inescapable, cardinal occupation with plastic,” and that cases utilizing the coating would person yet scratched, too.

Dbrand utilized polycarbonate successful its archetypal plan due to the fact that the gummier alternative, TPU, has a occupation with yellowing. The institution primitively advertised that “you’ll dice before” its wide polycarbonate yellows.

The institution doesn’t accidental successful its email what it’s doing with the caller case, but if that scratching occupation is inescapable, I person to wonderment what the institution is doing to woody with that contented and keep the lawsuit clear. (I uncertainty Dbrand unlocked the concealed to the transparisteel of Star Wars lore.) I asked Ijaz successful a follow-up email what the institution is doing with the caller design, and I’ll update present erstwhile helium responds.