Apple Warns Vibrations Like Those From High-Power Motorcycle Engines Can Harm iPhone Cameras

[technicalFoozle]

I'm aware of this problem and have been using a Beeline paired with audio navigation in my helmet. It doesn't work as well as a map on my handlebars but my phone camera stays working great and the batter lasts a very long time. I just finished a trip from SF to LA and back on the PCH over 4 days. Battery on the beeline was still well over half full.

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I'm honestly not sure how much I trust Quadlock's dampener. A dampener isn't an eliminator. I have a Ram mount though and I trust it less than the Quadlock for dampening vibrations.

 

[Kuckuckstein]

I have a really vague recollection of one of the iPhone announcements in which Apple was showing off the cameras by taking video in a desert, and I think the cameras were attached to off road vehicles or motorcycles or something like that. Didn't even have one where they attached to a hockey stick? It all blurs together. Anyhow, they always show their products in ads taken to the extreme but then of course AppleCare won't cover it.

Edit:

I found one of them (I think there were more like this). They even show the word "SHOT" shaking back and forth and you can see these vehicles are obviously vibrating:

Well, as it says in one shot: “Do not attempt. Controlled environment”

 

[Kuckuckstein]

Is this the same for all major brand of smart phone or an apple only thing?

I think this is most likely a problem for all. Straight out physics. To correct for shaking, the camera design needs moving parts. And therefore they will be sensitive to oscillating motion. Considering the size and weight of these small elements, it won’t be so much the heavy rocking but more the higher frequency “brrrrrrrrrrr” of the motorcycles that - if transmitted raw - will cause resonances in these parts, shaking them beyond what their suspensions are designed for.
But this should also be a situation that can easily be dampened.

 

[orbital~debris]

How entitled is that tweet?

There will always be things in the world that don’t work perfectly with other things.

Expecting Apple to design something that works in the way it does (and works excellently) but also doesn’t degrade after being exposed to high vibrations is a bit “have your cake and eat it” when you consider physics and mechanics.

Maybe Apple can work around this issue with a new design (which likely will incur costs of one type or another), but it’s worth considering if this problem has affected many users or is an edge case.

 

[EntropyQ3]

I find it bizarre that someone needs to be explicitly told this. The camera optics has elements and parts that need to be aligned with extreme precision while still needing to be mobile for focussing and stabilization. If you mechanically shake that system around for extended time - what would you expect to happen?

 

[nikaru]

Nothing new…I have seen many friends that needed repairing the camera because they used motorcycle mount. I tought that it was widely known fact that vibration could damage the lens.

 

[bobob]

So where do we suppose to use apple devices? Dust free room? Treating an iPhone like a $4m equipment?

"In logic, reductio ad absurdum (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as... the appeal to extremes, is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction."​

 

[nikaru]

So where do we suppose to use apple devices? Dust free room? Treating an iPhone like a $4m equipment?

Just treat your iPhone like 1100$ high end electronic device because it is what it is. For 15 years I havent broke my phone display even once. Then I know people that change it every year and no, they do not have neurologic problems. They just dont care and blame the brand for not making the display durable enough.

 

[Mymychickenpie]

View attachment 1829425
Old news, lol.

That is a wicked photo though!

 

[iBluetooth]

I put my Iphone 11 in my handlebar, a BMW R1200R, every day, for almost an hour. 2 years now. Never had any problem.

It’s sensitive to certain vibration frequency, which can result from some engines. The handlebars can also be designed to reduce the vibrations.

 

[cupcakes2000]

A one minute search of Google quickly shows that cell phone cameras be damaged by motorcycle vibrations. For example, quoting MotoGPS, "Part of the enjoyment of riding a motorcycle is the feeling of the engine vibrating through the handlebars and the whole chassis. However, between a certain frequency band, these vibrations may damage the sensitive optical image stabilisation components of your smartphone rendering the camera inoperative." So Apple publishes an advisory of an already known fact and people get salty.

Yes…. but… but…. must. hate. apple

 

[TehFalcon]

Mount mine to my motorcycle every ride and never had a problem.

 

[aperantos]

If you put your $1.000 pocket computer on a (relatively) giant vibrating machine, it may have some issues

Just treat your iPhone like 1100$ high end electronic device because it is what it is.

The problem with using the cost of an iPhone as a sign of its delicacy and how it should be treated is that when attached to a motorcycle it is the cheap part of the combination.

My bike is a low cost model, and even that is still worth several iPhone Pro Maxes.

 

[Xavl]

I use the bar mount of SP Connect wich has a ruber to avoid vibrations and 0 problems on OIS after 5k miles

 

[Shirasaki]

Just treat your iPhone like 1100$ high end electronic device because it is what it is. For 15 years I havent broke my phone display even once. Then I know people that change it every year and no, they do not have neurologic problems. They just dont care and blame the brand for not making the display durable enough.

Or just don't make iPhone that susceptible to vibrations. Blaming the customer can only go so far, or there will be no need for any form of warranty services since “you just use it wrong”.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Well, as it says in one shot: “Do not attempt. Controlled environment”

I think the "do not attempt" is referring to doing air jumps on ATVs in the desert.

And I question how controlled of an environment the desert is.

 

[harrisondavies]

Cue the 3rd party manufacturers designing and shipping mini dampening gimbals.

 

[SBlue1]

Ever heard of GPS? Turn-by-turn directions even?

I use my iPhone on my Vespa scooter when I need directions, but I use a vibration damper. Why cheap out on such a small yet important thing but then attach a $1000 high precision optical device with miniature moving parts directly to the vibrating chassis? Those bike dampers exist for a reason.

 

[SBlue1]

Nothing new…I have seen many friends that needed repairing the camera because they used motorcycle mount. I tought that it was widely known fact that vibration could damage the lens.

It is in the Vespa scooter community. Don't use a new smartphone without a vibration damper. I though it would be even more known in the world of big bikes like Harleys.

 

[SBlue1]

I use the bar mount of SP Connect wich has a ruber to avoid vibrations and 0 problems on OIS after 5k miles

They have a dedicated damper for 25 Euros. A nice side effect is that you can read the map better as the phone is not vibrating that much.

 

[EntropyQ3]

Or just don't make iPhone that susceptible to vibrations. Blaming the customer can only go so far, or there will be no need for any form of warranty services since “you just use it wrong”.

I’m sorry but this is …. (*bannable*).
The iPhone camera focuses down to sensels that is just over one micron in size. You need moving parts to focus. And it provides image stabilisation by either moving the sensor and/or optical elements maintaining the same precision.

This is, for the overwhelming majority of users, a good thing. That some users don’t understand or appreciate what goes into making these systems and proceed to put them into blenders, mount them to motorcycle or mountain bike handle bars et cetera and for some reason expect this to have no consequences whatsoever - well that isn’t really something that should concern either Apple or by extension their customers.
It’s up there with drying your poodle in the microwave, and then blaming the manufacturer.

 

[Shirasaki]

It’s up there with drying your poodle in the microwave, and then blaming the manufacturer.

Heh. At least apple “warns” such usage can kill the camera.

 

[x-evil-x]

I’d never mount a phone to a bike anyway. I always keep it in my inside jacket pocket. Anything strapped to hard surface you can expect a lot of vibration from. if it’s carried on you or a backpack it should be fine.

 

[alexjholland]

I have a really vague recollection of one of the iPhone announcements in which Apple was showing off the cameras by taking video in a desert, and I think the cameras were attached to off road vehicles or motorcycles or something like that. Didn't even have one where they attached to a hockey stick? It all blurs together. Anyhow, they always show their products in ads taken to the extreme but then of course AppleCare won't cover it.

Edit:

I found one of them (I think there were more like this). They even show the word "SHOT" shaking back and forth and you can see these vehicles are obviously vibrating:

Apple Watch gets used by surfers in their adverts.

Mine died from water damage after nine months - and a few showers.

 

[maerz001]

I put my Iphone 11 in my handlebar, a BMW R1200R, every day, for almost an hour. 2 years now. Never had any problem.

It has a boxer motor like Subaru. Probably cos of that less/different vibrations