Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over iPhone 4 Glass Breakage

[Journojulz]

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Indeed, and you can't expect a glass screen to survive if you drop it from 3 foot.

So we agree a fragile nature is inherent in the design and an unavoidable risk.



But - as we have agreed we can't expect the front screen to survive if dropped it from 3 foot - then the point is moot.

You could still not expect to drop the phone from 3 foot and expect either glass panel to survive.

Out of interest - is this case about the breaking of the rear casing?



Even if the back was a piece of plastic - the front would still be fragile - it is inherent in the design and an unavoidable risk. You could still not expect to drop it from 3 foot and survive. This Nimrod would still make this dumb claim.

No?

You yourself agreed that adding glass to the back doubled the chances of it breaking. Did you not? (I'm too lazy to verify it was you honestly)

Yes - I dis say it made the phone twice as likely to break.

Every iPhone has a huge glass screen - that is why they are not to be dropped.

If you accept the risk of a front facing screen - what the back of is irrelevant.

 

[Journojulz]

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Takao: "actually withstanding a 3 feet/1meter drop is more or less an industry standard test for testing phones since it's mroe or less the height of pockets of your pants
in some countries it could void certain quality criteria"

That would be an interesting development if it were true.

Is there any link to verify such a standard?

Is there any evidence that the original iphone or 3G is designed to reliably withstand such a drop?

If this standard was a legal requirement - might it have actually stopped the iPhone before it was ever launched?

 

[cb911]

Oh my goodness!! I cannot believe that someone has gone and done this.

It's broken after you dropped it? Well, duh! You can't even compare it with previous iPhones because an accident is just that, you never know how it's going to land or what might happen.

Yep, only in America...

And also - I will add that I hope Apple manages to get the case thrown out or just keeps fighting until that dumbass runs out of money. What a douche.

 

[abhibeckert]

I guess some people have been unlucky, but I've dropped my iPhone 4 from standing distance onto concrete at least three times, and it has also survived several motorbike crashes, even one where I was unable to walk for a week (I use it as a GPS on my dirt bike —*it's mounted to the handlebars using a home-brew case that does not offer good protection).

It's by far the strongest iPhone I've ever owned, my 3G was in pretty bad shape by now, the iPhone 4 has a few barely noticeable scratches on the back and one tiny one on the front.

 

[gnasher729]

It's expected that a phone be able to be dropped without being destroyed. I've dropped my Treo 650 many times and it was fine. I even dropped my Palm Pre multiple times and it was fine too. The iPhone 4 should be no different.

Whether a phone breaks or not depends on the exact height (more height = more energy aquired during the fall), the surface that it falls on (I'd think concrete or ceramic tiles is worse than tarmac which is worse than wooden floor which is worse than carpet), and the exact point of contact. A rough concrete surface is probably worst.

So if you have two phones of exactly equal durability, it is quite possible that one will survive ten drops and the other is damaged the first time. With far more than 10 million iPhones sold, there will be thousands of people who are just unlucky.

 

[CplBadboy]

Does he think Apple has engineering some sort of magical glass that won't shatter? Apple says their glass is strong and scratch resistant, but some on, does he expect any phone's glass to not smash when dropped?

He's dropped his 3G more than once (similar heights, not similar height), his daughter's dropped her phone.

Maybe they should work on holding the phone so they don't drop it, or buy a case, because they seem pretty clumsy to me.

No Your not getting it. Apple says that the glass used is 30x more durable than plastic and blah blahblah. So heres a quick test for you. get a 25c plastic cup, like one made for kids and drop it a 100, 1000, 1 000 000 times from any height and your pretty much guaranteed that it wont smash or break. You can maybe get away with dropping an iphone once or twice. Therefore Apple are buttering up the phone and are guilty of false advertising, much n the same way they touted their evolutionary antennae design and we all know thats became the biggest cover up since the assassination of JFK and the apparent WMD that were meant to be in Iraq.

Plastic is inherently shock absorbing and durable so Apple are wrong to compare the glass to it. Cough up I say.

 

[takao]

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Takao: "actually withstanding a 3 feet/1meter drop is more or less an industry standard test for testing phones since it's mroe or less the height of pockets of your pants
in some countries it could void certain quality criteria"

That would be an interesting development if it were true.
Is there any link to verify such a standard?
Is there any evidence that the original iphone or 3G is designed to reliably withstand such a drop?
If this standard was a legal requirement - might it have actually stopped the iPhone before it was ever launched?

it's not a legal requirement but it's an industry standard test ... at least the german TÜV afaik does it and also all german customer protection services, Nokia and many other phone manufacturers do it in their development

the german "Stiftung Warentest" for example included a 2.5 feet drop procedure in their past (haven't read them in a while)... and with procedure it meant 50 repeated drops after which the phone still had to work
many phones got a bad repuation for failing such tests in the past, it's just that for apple it's a first

just look up the internet for "drop test" etc. it's even done with keyboards,mice and notebooks

in the case of apple it's perhaps amplified with all their typical "so much better" BS talk in their advertising...

 

[Glideslope]

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Yes - I dis say it made the phone twice as likely to break.

Every iPhone has a huge glass screen - that is why they are not to be dropped.

If you accept the risk of a front facing screen - what the back of is irrelevant.

Except in the iPhone 4. The vast majority of complaints are of rear glass failure not front. Precisely why there are cases manufactured for all phones. Primarily for people who either through their own inabilities, family members inabilities, or work environment conditions expose their phones to consistent events of unfavorable outcomes.

Topic Change:
If you are a male of child bearing age do not carry any Smart Phone in a front pant pocket close to your reproductive organs. RF emissions are becoming a problem, and it is going to be the next "Hot Button" issue IMO.

 

[unlinked]

Yeah but that apple didn't break..

Come on, yeah it might be stronger but it's also more exposed to impacts. It's not a design flaw because they are not designed to be dropped. To the people saying that it shouldn't have glass, it's a phone. Desks shouldn't be made of glass either but yet I have one. I avoid dropping anything on it the same way I've avoided dropping any of my phone that have glass.

Phones should be designed to survive drops because that will happen to them. Not surviving a reasonable drop most of the time is a design flaw. It may or not be something he can win a case about. If he cared he probably should have listened to the people who mentioned it at launch time.

 

[moderately]

I hate it when advertizers say something that reminds me of something else and that something else is not true! Why do they do that!

 

[kdarling]

Except in the iPhone 4. The vast majority of complaints are of rear glass failure not front.

Some rumors say the rear glass isn't made of the stronger formula. Has Apple ever said it is or not?

I wonder if the lawsuit will end up with Apple having to put a sticker on the front and rear, warning each new user that the pieces are not made of magical glass, and that they're really only stronger if you take them out and put them in a bending press instead of dropping them inside a finished product.

 

[revelated]

Does he think Apple has engineering some sort of magical glass that won't shatter? Apple says their glass is strong and scratch resistant, but some on, does he expect any phone's glass to not smash when dropped?

He's dropped his 3G more than once (similar heights, not similar height), his daughter's dropped her phone.

Maybe they should work on holding the phone so they don't drop it, or buy a case, because they seem pretty clumsy to me.

Meh. If I were him I would simply contact Jobs and inquire as to the logic of using standard glass - which is prone to breakage - instead of Gorilla Glass, which is quite resistant to it. IMO if you're going to glass it up, at least use a durable glass.

 

[Journojulz]

No Your not getting it. Apple says that the glass used is 30x more durable than plastic and blah blahblah. herefore Apple are buttering up the phone and are guilty of false advertising, much n the same way they touted their evolutionary antennae design and we all know thats became the biggest cover up ...

They said it was stiffer - not more durable.

Their claims are specific and easily scientifically testable, they didn't use words like rugged or show such shock resistant behaviour - so it isn't false advertising

the german "Stiftung Warentest" for example included a 2.5 feet drop procedure in their past (haven't read them in a while)... and with procedure it meant 50 repeated drops after which the phone still had to work

Are there any published results for glass fronted smartphones?

I can't see any iPhone / palm / android withstanding 50 drops.

I think the sticker advice is good.

Agreat big sticker saying "GLASS BREAKS WHEN YOU DROP IT - SO GET A CASE, BUY INSURANCE OR DON'T DROP IT."

 

[SwissMac2]

Stiffer means it won't bend. But it will crack more easily. Harder does not mean more durable. It means more likely to snap (compare an old and a new elastic band: the old one is stiffer, but pull it and it snaps, whereas the newer one is not stiff and is much less likely to snap).

Glass breaks. Glass cracks. Having twice as much of it is a no brainer for being twice as breakable.

Apple's advertising, by leaving out any reference to what the stiffness and hardness meant in real use leaves them open to a claim of misleading advertising because not everyone is a materials scientist. Just look at the number of people on this thread who are replacing "stiffness and toughness" with the words "more durable": it's clear most ordinary people read Apple's advertising as saying the harder, stiffer glass makes it less likely to break.

This is more a crime of omission rather than of saying something untrue, but if you let buyer euphoria overcome you then you only have yourself to blame for buying something the warranty reports are showing breaks twice as much as the previous model.

As for those saying the phone isn't designed to be dropped, that means it's a bad design because all phones are dropped at some point in their lives: it's a consequence of its use. Landline phones and mobile phones alike. If they have a one in seven chance of breaking in the first year (based on a 15% warranty claim rate) then doubling the are and location of the weakest element is not good business.

 

[sk8er1]

Wow

"OH NO!!!! I dropped my glass front and back iPhone on to concrete and it shattered. I had no idea that glass can shatter. This is all Apples fault for putting glass on it. I had no idea that glass shatters easier than plastic. This makes me so mad I'm going to sue because my careless self dropped it." It's because of people like this that we have to read small print stuff and listen to people talk fast at the end of commercials. He dropped his phone and it broke. How is that Apples fault. This is ridiculous.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

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Yes - I dis say it made the phone twice as likely to break.

Every iPhone has a huge glass screen - that is why they are not to be dropped.

If you accept the risk of a front facing screen - what the back of is irrelevant.

You missed something. Most phones with a glass front if you look at them closely you will noticed that the edge around the phone is slightly raised above the edge of the glass. This protect the weakest part of the glass from taking a direct hit so greatly decreases the chances of breaking.
The iPhone4 back has the edge of the glass completely exposed. Apple could of easily prevented a lot of problems by having the metal band go completely around the glass edges but classic Apple they choose form over function and do not care that they greatly increase the chances of things breaking.

 

[dejo]

Post here as a News discussion a while ago. iPhone 4 was having a much higher breakage rate compared to other phones and previous iPhone.

It was a few months ago but it was posted by one of the insurance providers.

So, now one insurance company counts as "multiple sources"?

 

[Aatos.1]

Phones get dropped. It's part of life for a phone; it's a small object that you carry with you at all times and frequently take out of your pocket to use.

It's expected that a phone be able to be dropped without being destroyed. I've dropped my Treo 650 many times and it was fine. I even dropped my Palm Pre multiple times and it was fine too. The iPhone 4 should be no different.

I have mine in an inCase for extra protection, but it shouldn't need this. I think they are right in bringing the lawsuit if the iPhone 4 easily shatters when dropped. We're talking a device that WILL be dropped during its lifetime, unless you are hermit who never goes out into the real world.

You are 100% correct.

Let's all stop for a moment and think about the fact that we all do our best to avoid dropping our phones.

If we do happen to drop ours, it's a true accident we had no intention of causing.

 

[Journojulz]

You missed something. Most phones with a glass front if you look at them closely you will noticed that the edge around the phone is slightly raised above the edge of the glass.

It isn't on the iphone 3g or 3gs. It makes glass screens harder to clean round the edges.

Even if thee was a rim, it wouldn't have topped my 3g screen chipping when i dropped it.
Most ground surfaces are not mirror flat and even a small piece of gravel could bridge a 2mm rim and cause a pressure point to damage any glass.

So i keep mine in a case.

If i didn't and it broke when i dropped it - i would be a man about it and whistle "nobody's fault but mine".

 

[Rodimus Prime]

It isn't on the iphone 3g or 3gs. It makes glass screens harder to clean round the edges.

Even if thee was a rim, it wouldn't have topped my 3g screen chipping when i dropped it.
Most ground surfaces are not mirror flat and even a small piece of gravel could bridge a 2mm rim and cause a pressure point to damage any glass.

So i keep mine in a case.

If i didn't and it broke when i dropped it - i would be a man about it and whistle "nobody's fault but mine".

I think we should give up on you. You clearly do not understand and just have gone with the Apple can do not wrong argument.


Also you complete missed the point I was trying to make.
The point of the rim is not to protect against from it hitting like face down but instead to protect make sure the part of the phone that hits first when it is drop on its side is the Rim of the phone and not the weaken glass edges that have micro fractures from the cutting.

 

[Journojulz]

I think we should give up on you. You clearly do not understand and just have gone with the Apple can do not wrong argument.

I understand that a glass phone will probably not stand 50 drops from a metre.

So I got a case.

Suing apple for your own stupid mistake just seems greedy and slows down the very evolution you seem to think it will improve.

 

[takao]

"just don't drop your phone" as advice is comparable in wisdom to "just don't crash your car"

if a phone can't reliable survive a single drop then IMHO that is a design flaw

 

[Mal]

"just don't drop your phone" as advice is comparable in wisdom to "just don't crash your car"

if a phone can't reliable survive a single drop then IMHO that is a design flaw

Right, because you can sue the car manufacturer when the windows break in your car in an accident.

Sounds like a very appropriate analogy, doesn't it?

jW

 

[torbjoern]

if a phone can't reliable survive a single drop then IMHO that is a design flaw

I guess that applies to champagne glasses and coffee cups too then.

 

[2IS]

They said it was stiffer - not more durable.

Their claims are specific and easily scientifically testable, they didn't use words like rugged or show such shock resistant behaviour - so it isn't false advertising

Misleading claims are just as illegal. You can claim it isn't false, you cannot claim it isn't misleading. The sheer number of people who have been misled is proof enough of that. When I first got my iPhone4, I can't tell you how many people I spoke with that thought the glass was nearly unbreakable because of Apple's MISLEADING adverts. Apple bears some responsibility regardless of what you want to call it.