iPhone 6 Plus slightly bent after 2 days

[scrtagntman]

well put, this is first and foremost a luxury device.

I just threw up in my mouth a little. It's a @#$%&ing cell phone. Apple makes great products (generally). So does Toyota (generally).

Maybe this is the source of contention on this site. Many of you think you are buying a lifestyle. It makes sense and something I see a lot with fellow Harley riders (and one of the reasons I switched to Indian). They buy a Harley and they are instant pirate badass, or so they think. Go to a Harley forum and you get the same elitist don't ever talk bad about harley type attitude.

Buy an iPhone =

Buy a Harley =

For normal people it's just a nice phone and just a nice bike. Who I am is defined by things much greater than a few toys and I'd never have "loyalty" to a corporation. Just my respect so long as they earn it.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

That's Apple statistic, so I am a bit skeptical of it. That number is quite low for how big this story has become.



Even if it is a free market, there are things like implied warranties. Apple has obligations which it needs to live up too. If it doesn't, the end user will be angry.

I will believe Apple that they did proper testing when they designed these phones. I have no reason to doubt that they did. I bet the prototypes survived all the tests in real world conditions.

Nevertheless, I also believe that a small set of phones is failing (something around 1-2 percent). The most likely scenario is that there was a small batch of phones which were bending. Mostly likely due to either improper assembly at a single plant, bad materials being used etc.

Apple could have easily made the problem go away by replacing those phones. But Apple did not, as always the many 'Geniuses" at the Apple Store tried to find reasons not to replace the phone. That's the reason people are so angry.

That is a problem generally with Apple. With all their products, there is always a small batch which have manufacturing defects. Rather than recognizing the problem, Apple always goes out of their way to blame the end user or deny there even is a problem. If anything that makes a person less likely to buy Apple products in the future.

Consider this, a small chunk of Honda Civics from 2001-2005 have issues with ignition switches. The failure rate is probably in the 1-2 percent range. My 2002 Civic didn't suffer the issue however, that doesn't mean its not a problem. At the same time, the reason you probably never heard about it is that Honda promptly replaced the broken ignition switches.

http://www.startribune.com/business/100267579.html

If Apple could just adopt proper business edict and stand by their product even when it fails, then Apple would be criticized so often. Instead with Apple, you have a common problem, caused by a manufacturing defect, and Apple goes out of its way to deny there ever was a problem and blames the end user.

We can be skeptical of any stat, even the recycled ones in the media. I've seen the same sources for the bending stories and couldn't say there were more because of this. The guy driving to the wedding and that bending video unbox therapy are the only two I have seen quoted.

I also wasn't aware Apple were not acknowledging the issue. They've said they will replace handsets for a couple of days and the phone has only been out a week.

 

[sober2ndthought]

We can be skeptical of any stat, even the recycled ones in the media. I've seen the same sources for the bending stories and couldn't say there were more because of this. The guy driving to the wedding and that bending video unbox therapy are the only two I have seen quoted.

I also wasn't aware Apple were not acknowledging the issue. They've said they will replace handsets for a couple of days and the phone has only been out a week.

That was a last minute change in direction. A lot of what I have read suggests Apple, initially, did not acknowledge they had a problem. A lot of Apple Geniuses blamed the end user. The comment that your iPhone 6+ should not be kept in your pocket came from an Apple Genius. Apple only responded after it become a P.R. Nightmare.

That's the real problem, why should it take that long for Apple to reply? The response should have been this: oh your phone bent and its a few days old, that's not normal. We clearly have a manufacturing defect. Ok, here is a new phone.

Had Apple done that this story would have quietly disappeared. But it took Apple a long time to reply and that has hurt their reputation.

I'm convinced the problem is that Apple's Geniuses are instructed to minimize Apple's liability, rather than providing good customer service.

 

[skanska]

I think people should stop speculating and close the thread and wasteland it. If it boils up again then it should be done in a professional manner.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

iPhone 6 Plus slightly bent after 2 days

That was a last minute change in direction. A lot of what I have read suggests Apple, initially, did not acknowledge they had a problem. A lot of Apple Geniuses blamed the end user. The comment that your iPhone 6+ should not be kept in your pocket came from an Apple Genius. Apple only responded after it become a P.R. Nightmare.

That's the real problem, why should it take that long for Apple to reply? The response should have been this: oh your phone bent and its a few days old, that's not normal. We clearly have a manufacturing defect. Ok, here is a new phone.

Had Apple done that this story would have quietly disappeared. But it took Apple a long time to reply and that has hurt their reputation.

I'm convinced the problem is that Apple's Geniuses are instructed to minimize Apple's liability, rather than providing good customer service.

The phone has been out a week today. They can't just immediately start replacing handsets until a fault has been confirmed as they would lose immense amounts of money. Some manufacturers take months to reply so I think 7 days is more than reasonable in this situation. It's been a week, not a long period and Apple geniuses need confirmation before issuing any form of replacement of a manufacturing error has taken place. A week.

 

[mjdart]

Still no responses from after market protective case manufacturers or new testing on iPhones with cases installed to see if the propensity to bending has been reduced?

Would like to see some testing before I purchase one. This could be a windfall for the manufacturers whose cases perform well. You testers could get a video that goes viral very quickly.

Apple Stock is rebounding nicely today, must be the market feels soothed by the reality of the bending situation and IOS glitches being under control and not as disastrous as first thought.

 

[heartlegs]

I think this is going to be how it is for a lot of iphone owners. Not the complete collapse as per the other videos but a gradual (and worsening) warp.

It may bother some or not


Its defiantly a real phenomenon though

I agree. Im defiantly going to wait a few months, see if any more reports come in. But I probably won't bet getting the +.

 

[sober2ndthought]

The phone has been out a week today. They can't just immediately start replacing handsets until a fault has been confirmed as they would lose immense amounts of money. Some manufacturers take months to reply so I think 7 days is more than reasonable in this situation.

Its a moving standard. Had this emerged 6/7 months into the device being out and Apple responded in a few days that would be a good outcome.

The key difference is that we are talking about a device which is a few days old.

An issue which emerges a few days into into the device's launch, the company should replace it no questions asked. The general rule is the first 14 days, is a cooling off period and if there is any issue, the company should return the device.

Apple didn't instead waited 5 days to finally instructed their staff to accept returns. I wouldn't be surprised if people still have issues.

To illustrate by example. I once bought a Samsung Laptop from BestBuy. I had for 5 weeks and all of a sudden the screen stopped working. I walked into BestBuy and they declared it DOA and allowed me to exchange it for the same model, or a different model or even a different brand (minus the difference). That's how I got my current MacBook.

That's how Apple's Genius should have replied to the issue. Looked at the age of the device, noticed there was a problem, exchanged the phone.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

A guy reported on Wednesday he was getting a replacement and that was they day he went to the Apple Store. If so little have been returned, what do you expect them to do?

 

[sober2ndthought]

A guy reported on Wednesday he was getting a replacement and that was they day he went to the Apple Store. If so little have been returned, what do you expect them to do?

Exactly what you said. Just because this one person got their phone replaced does not mean everyone got their phone replaced. A number of Apple Geniuses refused to do the exchange. It was mostly hit and miss.

If you were one of the people who had their iPhones bent, and the Genius refused to do an exchange, because you put the phone in your pocket, you would be angry. Secondly, it would have angered you further, if you found out another Genius, at a different Apple Store was able to have his/her iPhone exchanged for the same problem.

This is actually a very common issue with Apple. They release a device, it has a manufacturing defect, Apple drags its feet on the issue.

 

[Derpert]

Also an engineer here. In my opinion, it's very likely that the engineers knew exactly where the weak points were prior to release, exactly why they are weak, and exactly how to improve the design.

Also, it's very likely that the engineers are not 100% happy with what had to be released (are they ever?? LOL). Due to schedule limitations (most likely), budget limitations, target cost limitations, promises/requirements to/from shareholders, marketing, management, etc with regards to design, thinness, cost, etc, they likely had to move forward with the best iteration that they had by the hard deadline.

This is not to say that they are not happy at all with what they produced. I'm sure they are -- it's beautiful in design and thinness, and I'm getting the impression that though the design appears to be weaker than other phones, it's overall weakness is being overblown.

Anyway, I would be willing to bet that they knew the phone is weaker than previous designs, wished they could improve it further, but due to limitations mentioned above, made the concsious and calculated decision that they believed it would stand up to real world usage to the point that it would not cause a major problem.

I'm not trying to say whether they were right or wrong in their assessment. I still believe we do not have enough information or data points to know for sure. It's clear that Apple tests the phones thoroughly (did anyone really think they didn't?), but the tests are only meant to replicate a repeatable version of "normal usage" and we were not provided with the data which led them to the test sets for what they call "normal".

The nature of the caused damaged being, allegedly, "real world usage", and therefore, being different for each individual, with some level of randomness in how often any given individual experiences a peak in the forces applied to the phone during their own normal usage, I feel that some users may happen to experience a slight bend very soon into ownership, while others might experience it after several weeks or months, if at all. It's a matter of waiting for the moment when the individual might experience a peak in the force applied that they still consider to be "normal", and whether or not that peak causes any damage (bending) to the phone. Time will tell if more bent phones surface as more people subject their phones to their own peak forces experienced by living their daily lives.

Not that any of you care, but if you want my opinion, I think we'll see more bent phones surface, probably more total bent phones than any other single phone model to date from any manufacturer, but the total number will still not be cause for alarm or any stir beyond the initial overblown assessment and comments/articles we've seen so far. Apple will quietly replace bent phones for users who have them, and this will go down in history as not as bad as antenna gate. People will learn to be even more careful with their phone than they thought they had to be, and the 6S+ will improve the rigidity.

This is (one of the few in this thread) an excellent post

 

[mjdart]

Finally came across an iPhone 6 Plus put into a Spigen Case and then torture tested. Not really scientific, but some reality to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUqyu2ZNo5o

I have no interest in promoting these guys and their video other than they did it and I was looking for one like it.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Exactly what you said. Just because this one person got their phone replaced does not mean everyone got their phone replaced. A number of Apple Geniuses refused to do the exchange. It was mostly hit and miss.

If you were one of the people who had their iPhones bent, and the Genius refused to do an exchange, because you put the phone in your pocket, you would be angry. Secondly, it would have angered you further, if you found out another Genius, at a different Apple Store was able to have his/her iPhone exchanged for the same problem.

If I felt I wasn't at fault I would be making a complaint at the highest level. I doubt I would be fobbed off easily but it's easy to say because I am not in the situation. Until we know the true extent of the issues, it's all speculation.

 

[sober2ndthought]

A guy reported on Wednesday he was getting a replacement and that was they day he went to the Apple Store. If so little have been returned, what do you expect them to do?

I posted this a while back but it gets my thoughts across much better than the few short posts I have been writing.


I don't own an iPhone 6, but I do own a MacBook Pro and have had several Macbooks going all the way back to 2004. I’ve owned iPhones in the past and I have also owned iPods.

I have noticed the same issue with common problems on any Apple product. You take it to Apple to get it fixed, even if you have AppleCare, you often find the company blames the end user and refuses to fix it. Usually you have done nothing out of the ordinary.

Then you turn to the Apple Community. Rather than finding support in the Apple community, there tends to be a vocal group which criticizes people who are having problems and makes ridiculous suggestions. If you discuss them, you get chastised by the Apple Community for bringing it up.

The reaction of the Apple Community to this problem is the main reason why many people will never buy Apple products. It’s one of the reasons I get frustrated with the Apple products that I own.

I’ve also owned PCs in the same period. I have noticed a very different response from the PC community to common problems.

Take Vista, the community collectively expressed its frustration with the operating system. Microsoft was forced to respond with Windows 7. The community was actually pleased with that update as it addressed many of the problems people found with Vista.

Look at Windows 8, the community expressed even more frustration with that operating system. Microsoft was forced to reply with Windows 8.1. The community hasn’t accepted that completely either. Microsoft's CEO was forced to resign and Windows 9 is expected to address the most common complaint (the lack of a proper start menu).

I have also noticed in the past 10 years, Apple quality has suffered. The quality of Apple products in the past was much better than it is now. Look at the iBooks and the iPods from early 2000-2004. The devices lasted longer. They generally worked very well. Despite updates or any other major changes to the device, the devices remained functional. My friend still uses his iBook from 2004 for some things, although he has upgraded to a new Macbook for his daily needs.

Bendgate is just the latest example of common defects in Apple products. If the community doesn’t hold Apple accountable for poor products, Apple is allowed to release more and more poor products.

In the long run only harms Apple. If someone had a bad experience with an Apple product, that person discovers it a common problem with that very same product, and finds very little support in the community for the issues he/she had, it’s unlikely that person will ever purchase another Apple product.

The opposite is true as well. My first Apple product was an iPod, it lasted me 4 years before the hard drive died. Sure the hard drive died and it was disappointing but that’s to be expected after 4 years. The longevity of the product was one of the reason I decided to purchase a Macbook over a competitor’s device.

 

[Djentleman]

Gotta admit the Bendgate FUD has caused me to have a skewed perception. And the continuous uproar is probably provoking the same in others. I had to get 5 separate opinions about my Plus after eventually booking a Genius Bar appointment due to what I thought looked like a bend, only to have the others reiterate the fact is was a pitch perfect handset.

Make sure you're a hundred-and-fifty percent sure it is what it is, before marching in that store like a tit. I bet they're already calling bets on how many they get each day. Sigh.

 

[itsjustmeee]

So maybe there is an actual design flaw ...

http://www.cultofmac.com/297938/weakspot-theory-shows-bendgates-quite-dead-yet/

And Consumer Reports is doing their own tests on this. I'm guessing this will all shake out within a week. It makes me glad mine won't be delivered until the middle to end of next month.

 

[fornowagain]

So maybe there is an actual design flaw ...

http://www.cultofmac.com/297938/weakspot-theory-shows-bendgates-quite-dead-yet/

And Consumer Reports is doing their own tests on this. I'm guessing this will all shake out within a week. It makes me glad mine won't be delivered until the middle to end of next month.

Interesting, I had been looking at the same teardown images and had come to the same conclusion. I'm a Mechanical Engineer so it looks obvious to me, the reinforcing bar actually creates a localized turning moment and intensifies the deformation. Easy fix, just extend the reinforcing bar to the next screw pillar or further and it would remove the rotation and the weak spot. A point load in the middle of the phone wouldn't necessarily show the weak spot, but put a thumb next to the reinforcing bar pivot point and push. It will turn with a lot of leverage and put the thin section at the cutout in a lot of tension and so it fails.

 

[michael31986]

So maybe there is an actual design flaw ...

http://www.cultofmac.com/297938/weakspot-theory-shows-bendgates-quite-dead-yet/

And Consumer Reports is doing their own tests on this. I'm guessing this will all shake out within a week. It makes me glad mine won't be delivered until the middle to end of next month.

Was it already proven that the guy video is fake.

----------

Does iphone 6 have a weak spot?

 

[Derpert]

Interesting, I had been looking at the same teardown images and had come to the same conclusion. I'm a Mechanical Engineer so it looks obvious to me, the reinforcing bar actually creates a localized turning moment and intensifies the deformation. Easy fix, just extend the reinforcing bar to the next screw pillar or further and it would remove the rotation and the weak spot. A point load in the middle of the phone wouldn't necessarily show the weak spot, but put a thumb next to the reinforcing bar pivot point and push. It will turn with a lot of leverage and put the thin section at the cutout in a lot of tension and so it fails.

Here's the crunch.

Apple fix it now or wait till the I6S?


Jobs would fix it now.

Cook the bean counter? Hmm....

 

[jpeg42]

Here's the crunch.

Apple fix it now or wait till the I6S?


Jobs would fix it now.

Cook the bean counter? Hmm....

Just like Jobs fixed antennagate? He had a small presentation showing the testing center and gave everyone a bumper. It was actually fixed in the 4S.
Edit: Oh and Jobs also showed all phones do the same thing. If this bendgate continues I expect Cook to do the same thing.

 

[s.hasan546]

maybe some people just have some tight ass pants....

 

[eneisch]

Take Vista, the community collectively expressed its frustration with the operating system. Microsoft was forced to respond with Windows 7. The community was actually pleased with that update as it addressed many of the problems people found with Vista.

While this is true, it took Microsoft 2-1/2 years to respond with Windows 7 while the world was suffering with using Vista. During that period I made the switch to OS X. I use Windows 7 at work and it is generally OK, but it still doesn't have the stability of OS X in my opinion. My MacBook never freezes and always wakes from sleep, unlike my Lenovo work laptop.

 

[mjdart]

Just watched Inside Edition on FOX they are considering the "video" a hoax!
http://www.insideedition.com/headli...le-fights-back-against-iphone-bending-reports

 

[jpeg42]

Just watched Inside Edition on FOX they are considering the "video" a hoax!
http://www.insideedition.com/headli...le-fights-back-against-iphone-bending-reports

Well then....case closed. Was that before or after the story about baby ducks wearing little sailor hats?

 

[Hoppimike]

Clearly the design is a little too ambitious in terms of thickness. Maybe they should have made it thicker so the camera doesn't protrude and used the extra space to toughen up the frame and maybe even up the specs a tad. I doubt anyone would have complained about that little difference in thickness.

But yeah I rarely sit with my phone in my pocket either. Shame this device is particularly fragile.