Spontaneous separation of new iPhone 5

That's just crazy talk. It does continue to point out, though, that Apple has gone too far with this thinness obsession. They've made a product, now, that folds like a cheap deck chair if you so much as bend over with this thing in your pocket. And we've seen now where the weak spot is.
Damn glad I held off getting this one.

Good one though OP.

Wow this is an amazing story! I can just see it now, there you are using your phone, when all of a sudden, some mysterious unseen force starts slowly bending the unibody of the phone away from the screen as you watch in horror!!

Supernatural forces are at play, maybe Samsung have awoken some ancient force by reading a spell from a Galaxy Note!

Complete BS in my opinion.

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Sedrick said:

That's just crazy talk. It does continue to point out, though, that Apple has gone too far with this thinness obsession. They've made a product, now, that folds like a cheap deck chair if you so much as bend over with this thing in your pocket. And we've seen now where the weak spot is.
Damn glad I held off getting this one.

Good one though OP.

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Awwww Sedrick I almost thought you were going to get though an entire post without a dig at Apple! Well done to you though, glad to see you are still on form

Are you Uri Geller?

Well, I just hope the aluminium band of my iPhone doesn't suddenly bend out of shape on me for no reason

Like others I find it a bit difficult to believe that such damage can happen spontaneously. BUT on the other hand if would be difficult to apply enough external pressure to bend and break the aluminium body that much without pushing very hard on the front of the phone and also bending it quite severely (and probably damaging or even breaking the glass while doing so). So I wouldn't completely rule out the option of defective aluminium or bad assembly causing strong pressure from the inside of the phone.

OP, can you post a picture of the front and back?

NovemberWhiskey said:

This is a serious question: How tight are your jeans? Is it possible they were bent/put under stress while in your pocket?

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This shouldn't happen skinny jeans or not.

Yeah, there's no way this 'just occurred'. That actual stress fracturing of the aluminum? Come on.

Now don't flame me or the OP just yet on this one because Aluminium can actually spontaneously bend!

It all goes back to when the aluminium was smelted, extruded, annealed and if this process is not completed impeccably well, You get what is called "Snap Back" and this is when the aluminium try's to go back to it's natural state!

Even though this experience of aluminium bending is not the same as the OP's it show's that Aluminium can just bend without external forces!

A friend of ours had an extension built with one of the sides of the building being a wall of glass and the structure beams were made of aluminium! The problem occurred when two of the massive sheets of glass started to crack and shatter and it turned out that the aluminium beams were bending themselves thus breaking the glass! When the structural engineers came in and did a full report as to what caused the glass to break it was proved that the Aluminium was bending caused by the annealing process and it was caused by a difference in surface stresses pulling against each other! Ian thinks it was called Biaxial behaviour!

So i am not saying in any way what so ever this is what is happening to the select number of iPhone 5's that are reported to be bent! but it can happen.

Marco123 said:

It's obvious that the phone has benn sat on or something similar. But it's also obvious that the aluminium shell is going to be a disaster for apple.
The metal does not have the strength for something such as a phone.

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How so? The first iPhone had an aluminum shell. Mine still looks brand new.

macinhand said:

So i am not saying in any way what so ever this is what is happening to the select number of iPhone 5's that are reported to be bent! but it can happen.

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So you're comparing a structure that is massive, with many factors acting on it like weather, sun heating/cooling, earth changes (settleing, earthquake ect), weight of the massive panels of glass ect ect to a smartphone that really has none of those things going on. Yeah, that proves your point clearly.

KPOM said:

How so? The first iPhone had an aluminum shell. Mine still looks brand new.

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The iPhone 5 is both thinner (by quite a margin) and longer, two things which are making the structure more fragile and easier to bend.

Also if you look at the tear down pictures, in the case of the original iPhone there seems to be an internal steel chassis onto which everything is attached (components and outer aluminium part). Looking at the iPhone 5, there is no such thing and everything put inside or attached onto the aluminium enclosure (unibody style).

So in the first case the aluminium is there as a cover and maybe to provide additional rigidity to the inside steel chassis, whereas in the case of the iPhone 5 the aluminium seems to be the main part making the device rigid.

bob24 said:

The iPhone 5 is both thinner (by quite a margin) and longer, two things which are making the structure more fragile and easier to bend.

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Is the aluminum any thinner? I'm guessing not much so, if any. Also the front is still glass. Torsional rigidity is as much a function of structural design as it is thinness and length.

this weakness concerns me - and its not the first report of the iPhone 5 bending at the volume buttons. i frequently work with my phone in my pocket and it gets stress from bending and crouching. i'm convinced this new phone cannot hold up to the same forces as my iPhone 4. being taller and thinner doesn't seem to be a good combination.

AFDoc said:

So you're comparing a structure that is massive, with many factors acting on it like weather, sun heating/cooling, earth changes (settleing, earthquake ect), weight of the massive panels of glass ect ect to a smartphone that really has none of those things going on. Yeah, that proves your point clearly.

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You do understand that (and I'll try and make this as clear as possible for you ) the structure mentioned would have a large amount of aluminium, much thicker than used in the iPhone because it is larger? The conditions affecting it would be larger than those affecting the iPhone too.
But, the iPhone uses a smaller amount of that material, ergo, the conditions that the phone are under would only need a minimised amount to see an effect.

Do you see?

master-ceo said:

This shouldn't happen skinny jeans or not.

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It's probably not a great idea to have your phone in your back pocket when your sitting. But I agree if this thing is bending from being in the front pocket, it shouldn't bend that easy. But hey, it might be the most frail iPhone but it looks pretty.

KPOM said:

Is the aluminum any thinner? I'm guessing not much so, if any. Also the front is still glass. Torsional rigidity is as much a function of structural design as it is thinness and length.

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Well ... even if the aluminium is the same width, the fact the is is shaped into longer and thiner shape automatically makes it more fragile. If you take the same thickness aluminium as the iPhone and make a 1 meter long piece out of it; it will probably be quite ease to bend without any kind of tool because you have more leverage.

And in any case, as I mentioned the structure of the original iPhone is quite different: http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/NjuoopIOJJBCiLT5.large

As you can see there is an internal steel frame to hold everything toghether.

BlindMellon said:

this weakness concerns me

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BlindMellon said:

i'm convinced this new phone cannot hold up to the same forces as my iPhone 4

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I wouldn't let it concern you too much if you don't actually own an iPhone 5

Anyway I've said it before and I'll say it again, we should be calling this BENT-GATE at every given oppertunity

*waits for phone to bend by itself*

AFDoc said:

So you're comparing a structure that is massive, with many factors acting on it like weather, sun heating/cooling, earth changes (settleing, earthquake ect), weight of the massive panels of glass ect ect to a smartphone that really has none of those things going on. Yeah, that proves your point clearly.

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As i said in my post don't flame me so get off your high horse and read my post properly!! No i am not comparing the two scenarios and if you read my post you will see that!

I was pointing out the fact that Aluminium can spontaneously bend!

And for your information the glass panels are not held in the aluminium beams they were there as structural guides and the whole structure is inside between the two building so it is not subject to any of your suggestions!!!

AFDoc said:

Basically you expect us to believe that gravity alone caused your phone to bend for some mysterious reason.

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I once saw a guy who could make a spoon bend just by staring at it, using the power of his mind!

Perhaps something similar happened to this iPhone?!

I dunno, i still think this is all BS.

The other day when i was walking to my car, i saw some dog poo in the grass and at the last second before i stepped in it, i lost my balance. The entire right side of my body slammed against my suv, and i heard my iphone DOONK against the fender.

It was in my front pocket, i was wearing runners. Not much cushion there. I was praying it didnt hit the little metal button my pocket has to keep it closed. I don't use a case, and really wasn't thrilled about it getting damaged.

Upon inspection, phone was flawless still. No damn bends or any other weird crap.

Thigh slightly bruised...as well as my pride.

I guess we'll all have to just start carrying the 5 around in our purses.

Sedrick said:

I guess we'll all have to just start carrying the 5 around in our purses.

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Hahahaha yeah good one, I like that! Carry it around in our purses! oh my sides are splitting!

This has got to be the funniest of all the BS stories!

Sir Ruben said:

I wouldn't let it concern you too much if you don't actually own an iPhone 5

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when should i be concerned about it, after it bends in half from bending over working in the yard? it's a large investment for me and this just seems to be another in an ever growing list of problems with this phone. you seem to be one of the big apple supporters here and i can appreciate that but you cant be blind to all these problems. (or maybe you can)

Some thing had to cause the stress crack. Just holding it and having it do it by itself is not only highly unlikely, but borders on fraud. Many put their phones in the pocket and over time sitting down may cause some stress. Having it in the rear pocket (Real dumb idea) will cause more stress. Read a thread many months ago where the OP asked everyone which pocket do they carry their iphone in. Some mentioned the rear pocket.

I cannot buy the OP's story one bit. That iphone was stressed by someone, not by itself.

Sedrick said:

I guess we'll all have to just start carrying the 5 around in our purses.

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"It's a male, European, carry-all!"