The mystery of my bent iPhone 5

Honestly, it looks like it was stuck in a pocket of your jeans, and then sat on. Could have been front or back. Likely no case is going to protect against that. They're good for protecting against drops and impacts.

Clint

Yep, looks like someone sat on it.
That doesn't happen on its own or because of a case.

Nelly133 said:

This morning, I took my iPhone 5 out of its Otterbox defender for a little clean.

I was massively surprised to see that it had somehow become bent.

It has not been dropped and has lived in its case for a month or so. It was pristine when it went in the case.

The bend is uniform and starts at the bottom of the lower volume switch.

There seems to be other stories of this happening; has anyone got any experience on how Apple deals with such a thing? Or are they going to say, you damaged it, not our problem?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Worth a try if you're near an Apple store. Otherwise maybe not. Don't mention you sat on it.

Want to add that I sit on my phone in the car, on my bed, it stays in my front pocket while working construction, no case and its not bent. It does worry me that one day ill pull it out and find it damaged but so far so good.

These things are forcefully being bent.

Could be something like getting into your car and forgetting your i5 is in your rear pocket.

Ive done that a few times on previous iPhones, but the i5 is Alu and will bend easily.

If you want to see my story about the same issue, including a detailed account of Apple's response see

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1465403/

titled spontaneous separation of new iphone5

sparky1680 said:

If you want to see my story about the same issue, including a detailed account of Apple's response see

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1465403/

titled spontaneous separation of new iphone5

Click to expand...

Spontaneous huh?

Applejuiced said:

Spontaneous huh?

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LoL yeah.... guess he believes we're all "special" to believe it was spontaneous.

I think the issue isn't how it bent, but that it BENT guys.

All hope may not be lost..

I had a similar issue. As much damage that we can inflict on this product on our own, as owners, is one thing..but much like all of you, I take good care of my phone and there was not a single mark on my iPhone 5 other than this bend. If we were all damaging our phones on our own, there is now way that every single one would be bent in the same exact spot..this issue is all over google! I tried the AT&T as well as Apple store route in terms of getting it replaced and was not helped at all until I called high up enough through Apple. I was pleased to finally be told that I would be receiving a replacement phone. I'm more satisfied, however, with the chance that my complaint was lodged high enough in order to do something for all of the people who are being left out in the cold on this issue.. Good luck to you all.

dxh225 said:

I had a similar issue. As much damage that we can inflict on this product on our own, as owners, is one thing..but much like all of you, I take good care of my phone and there was not a single mark on my iPhone 5 other than this bend. If we were all damaging our phones on our own, there is now way that every single one would be bent in the same exact spot..this issue is all over google! I tried the AT&T as well as Apple store route in terms of getting it replaced and was not helped at all until I called high up enough through Apple. I was pleased to finally be told that I would be receiving a replacement phone. I'm more satisfied, however, with the chance that my complaint was lodged high enough in order to do something for all of the people who are being left out in the cold on this issue.. Good luck to you all.

Click to expand...

Its very simple.
The old models iphone 4 and 4S when sat on the back would just crack because it was glass.
Now its metal and when you put force on metal it bends as you can see.
The phone doesnt bent like that on its on wether you admit it or not its user damage.
Next time be more carefull with it. Glad they replaced it for free for you but no matter what you claim it doesnt happen magically on its own. We got 4 iphone 5's on my family plan and they're all perfectly straight.

theres only one explanation: ALIENS

MacTaculous said:

theres only one explanation: ALIENS

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Or Uri Gellar is on a rampage telepathically bending them

This has been happening too much... Weak materials under load.

Time to get this sorted!

MacTaculous said:

theres only one explanation: ALIENS

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LMAO

It would be nice to have only one thread where people post pictures of their damage iphone 5

If you search in google you will find a lot of threads about this issue.

Nelly133 said:

So, I went to my local Apple store.
I showed them the problem, They could see that there was no visible damage to the phone and accepted it was defective.

Free replacement.

Thanks to those that put serious responses in - but Aliens? Seriously....

I think the bottom line is that the iPhone 5 is not as strong as previous models, with the possibility that hard Otterbox esque cases might be causing issues when the phone is charged.....

Click to expand...

Glad you had a good outcome although no doubt someone is going to ask you to post a pic (suitably edited) of your phone exchange.

What does concern me (I am about to purchase a new phone and currently use an iphone 4) is whether placing my phone in my jeans or suit front pants pocket (neither are tight) may lead, over time - say in a few weeks or months - to my phone developing a bend. I don't believe for a moment in the "spontaneous" bending but I can believe that with continual sitting down the repeated stress forces may result in this if there indeed is less than ideal strength/rigidity with the phone.

This bending issue is a fail for me. I understand if one sits on the phone, but having it in the front pocket and bending it...
On the other hand I just checked my pockets and don't quite get where should one put the phone to bend it. I have a pack of cigarettes in my pocket and they don't bend ever even though it's made of paper.

My iPhone is bent right out of the box.

I had seen reports of bending iphone 5s but never really took a good look at my phone until today. I'm not sure if it just happened or not but my iphone looks very much like the OPs images. Mine was a little less obvious with a slight bend to the back just under the volume rockers. Really just the one side. I was out snowboarding a couple days ago so I'm guessing I landed on it on one of my bails. I basically just used a easy consistent pressure right on the screen where the bend was. Came right back and looks as good as new. This is a strange issue. I was going to pick up a otter box for snowboard days but now I see that wont solve the problem. Thanks for the post.