Consumer Reports: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Not as Bendable as Believed

[Sodner]

I trust Consumer Reports on this. In the past they have shown no favoritism for Apple having "not recommended" the iPhone 4 & 4s due to the antenna grip issues.

If they say it does not bend under normal use, its fact.

 

[biocide]

New iPhone? Says whom? Did you ever seen the splash screen of a new iPhone after unboxing it?
In public? Who knows the force applied on the iPhone, if that was an iPhone, and on the Moto X?

It is very credible for a casual user to go outside, buy an iPhone, and then destroy it in public in front of a camera. Especially if you are paid by someone....

I really want to know when Apple fanboyism turned into a cult, with the cult members making up wild conspiracy theories and refusing to accept simple facts. This is getting fairly absurd.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I'm a massive Apple fan and wanted to believe that bend gate was just media hype, however after four days of use my plus was also bent.

No back pockets, no drops, just the same use I subjected all of my iPhones to since the 3G. I think Apple have a big problem here.

Photo of the problem here

I have a genius appointment on Monday, at which point I am expecting Apple to tell me they can't replace this phone as they are low on stock.

Yeah, as pointed out already I think, this guy's MacRumors and Twitter account both created today.

Seems to be a common theme with these adamant "loyal Apple fans" and their bending issues...

 

[gnipgnop]

This. Sigh... There is SO much confirmation bias going on in this thread. When the apple fanboys see something that confirms their "Apple is the best because Apple is the best, mkay" view, they immediately jump on board without any critical reflection whatsoever. It's science! Finally! The other guy is a fraud! --but the jury is still out, since this test didn't really look at the very specific weak spot in the iPhone 6 plus. Grow up, will ya fanboys?

Every single model of phone that Consumer Reports tested deformed at a certain amount of force. However, it's not whether it was going to deform that was the issue, but whether or not the amount of force required to deform was acceptable for a consumer product. They concluded that every phone tested was acceptable and structurally sound for consumer use. THAT is what many people are intentionally ignoring here.

 

[Max(IT)]

EXACTLY. Why? There's a SIXTY POUND difference in rigidity between them and the i6.

Did you hear report of HTC users complaining for bent phones? And it's been on the market for months.
This entire issue is just a well plotted pile of bs....

 

[SHNXX]

Throw a phone onto the wall, while stupid, has nothing to do with its torque resistance.

Yes it was pretty stupid of me but I'm guessing that the thinner and softer iPhone 6 may give into similarly harsh conditions.

 

[H2SO4]

I can't believe members are defending apple on this.
The company has made a lot of terrible decisions recently and this is one of them.
A phone that cost me £619 and another £100 for AppleCare+ and leather case shouldn't need treating with kid gloves. It should be something that I don't have to worry about where I place it or treat it.
Mine will be going back for a refund before the fourteen days end.
Apple made their decision on engineering and design and what they feel is best but I'm making my decision on what I feel is more important on a mobile device and engineering should always be over design.

I have to say, as much as I believe that the phone is definitely weaker than it should be. That isn’t enough to prevent me buying it. I suspect there are a lot of people that feel the same. Not used one or held one yet but as I treat my equipment, (not just iPhones), very well, the strength isn’t top of my buy list for attributes.
Ugliness was. The bands and the camera are terrible.

----------

It's quite amusing now to see that 10 pages since my post people are still going hammer and tongs on this forum.

I wonder how many forum members contributing to this post are engineers with direct experience of forced pressure?

Probably not many as there are fandroid trolls.

Why do I need to be an engineer?

 

[AppleAndroidFan]

The only way I can think of why it took more force to bend the 6+ versus the 6 is that they kept he same spacing for the phones. That's not realistic. The spacing should be as wide as how tall the device is. So the taller the the device the more leverage you have to bend it. Now that would be realistic

I think that's one of the 6 Plus's primary problems. Apple's design, with its large top and bottom bezels, does not work as well for large "phablet" style phones as Samsung's Note design, which is not as tall and narrow.

 

[Thrifty1]

Watch the video from the Re/code blog where they visited a testing center for the 6 and 6 Plus. Apple subjected 15,000 units each of the 6 and 6 Plus to thousands of repetitions of sitting tests, three point tests, torsion tests, etc. If it makes the grade for durability in those, you have nothing to worry about for standard use. The torsion tests alone are an eye-opener...the phones are being twisted in a way that is unlikely to ever happen in real life, and are not damaged by it.

First, I would prefer the iPhone 6 / 6+ Is proven to have no structural issues. I have a financial stake in Apple as I invest heavily in it via stock and options (make my living doing this).

I watched the video and reports from CNBC reporter John Fortt from the tour at Apple. John Fortt asked whether sustained tests from a phone being under stress for a longer time period such as a couple hours were performed. He did not get a response from Apple (at least not yet). All the tests shown were for short duration, repetitive tests. However some of the reported bent phones were under more prolonged stress - such as in a snug front pocket with bending / twisting pressure applied during a 2 hour car ride.

I had this happen to my iPhone 5. Had it in my front pocket that was too snug. Was sitting for a long time. The phone had a slight bend in it. The phone worked fine, but with my new iPhone 6 being 46% weaker in Consumer Reports testing I am concerned there will be increased incidents of bent iPhones.

Again, no one would be happier for this bending issue to be done and over with. Maybe consumers are more intelligent and will not subject their new iPhones to situations where it could be bent. My confidence on that is just not very high.

 

[nando87]

This whole thing is so artificial and ridiculous that makes one think about how easy is to create a trend from the media and what a piece of crap and idiocracy can be internet

 

[Piggie]

Watch the video from the Re/code blog where they visited a testing center for the 6 and 6 Plus. Apple subjected 15,000 units each of the 6 and 6 Plus to thousands of repetitions of sitting tests, three point tests, torsion tests, etc. If it makes the grade for durability in those, you have nothing to worry about for standard use. The torsion tests alone are an eye-opener...the phones are being twisted in a way that is unlikely to ever happen in real life, and are not damaged by it.

Sorry to break this news to you, but that means NOTHING.

I can make a phone in my garage.
I can make a rig to test my phone.
I can set my rig to a level I think it acceptable.
I can subject my phone to tests on my rig and it will pass my tests I have created.
I can call you in to see my phone not breaking on my rig and passing my tests.

It will mean NOTHING.

Without any standard, or any comparison it's all worthless.

Anyone can make anything that will stand up to their own testing on their own rigs.

I don't expect there is ANY standard set up for phone strength, it's totally down to the maker of the product to decide how strong they want their product to be, and whatever they decide whilst sitting around the table, is what the product will be.

Unlike crash tests in cars, or motorcycle safety helmets or ratings on other electronic goods that inform you the buyer, a phone can be anything.

The ONLY way a consumer can know anything is for either there to be fully independent testing, like we have seen in this video, but which runs more tests, or for there to be an international standard set in place, which a manufacturer can test to, and perhaps get a rating. So you would have say 1 - 5 ratings.

Apple testing their own products in their own way on their own testing rigs to their own level of satisfaction means nothing.

Samsungs phone of the same size is 50% stronger.
So Apple's phone would have been a fail for Samsung on Samsungs testing rig to Samsungs Standards, but a Pass for Apple on Apple's lower standard of acceptance.

You understand now?

 

[Max(IT)]

The YT guy and CR performed two entirely different tests.

The YT guy's test put the pressure on one spot(where his thumbs were) and the CR test spread out the weight(pressure) evenly across the back.

These were two different tests. The iPhone 6 plus failed one test and passed another. Neither test is invalid IMO.

The CR test too apply focus on a single spot, the center of the phone, but in a distributed way.
The point is that CR test is more similar to the real solicitations a phone could take.
There is absolutely nothing in real life similar to a two thumbs pressure on a single point like that ridiculous test.

 

[biocide]

Every single model of phone that Consumer Reports tested deformed at a certain amount of force. However, it's not whether it was going to deform that was the issue, but whether or not the amount of force required to deform was acceptable for a consumer product. They concluded that every phone tested was acceptable and structurally sound for consumer use. THAT is what many people are intentionally ignoring here.

The point is that this "amount of force" was directed at the exact center of the phone. They should have applied the force at the point higher up which is assumed to be the weak spot, where all the known cases have bent. Which means that the iPhone may be less "structurally sound" than what consumer reports say. Cult of Mac have a really good article on this: http://www.cultofmac.com/297938/weakspot-theory-shows-bendgates-quite-dead-yet/

 

[Bilbo63]

Guys as Apple fan I have to admit, Apple ****ed up this time.
Live with it, the iPhone 6 plus bend, period.
Stop defending apple, the real life test show that this phone have weak spot, all the high tech machine in the videos doesn't check this spot.
People ask why should I care, I never bend it, well it seems super weak in this spot and it will bend in this spot after regular use in a year or two.

Uhm, what real-life tests are you referring to?

CR isn't exactly real-life. We all are not going to put our phone is vices and such but i'll trust them before the video guy.

That bozo in the video's tests aren't real-life either. Who does that to their phone? really? If you do you're an idiot. There is no way to determine how much strength you need to do what he did. There is no way to determine if he applied the same strength on the other phones. It's neither scientific nor real-world. The only thing we know for sure is he's making a crap-load of money.

Real-world tests are everyday use. IF these phones cannot withstand everyday use, then Apple is in trouble. I wouldn't even consider putting ANY device this thin in a back pocket though. I cannot see how front pockets could do possibly hurt these phones. The front pockets of my slim fit jeans have not damaged my phone one bit so at this point I remain skeptical.

I believe it was the CNN Money host that tried to bend the phone with his hands but couldn't. Another news show handed the phone to random people on the street who were unable to bend it with their hands as well. Not scientific nor real-world, but there you go. No more conclusive than random video dude.

As I said, IF the iPhone has a structural flaw that makes it not withstand day to day use, then Apple has a problem. Some random dude filming himself proves nothing conclusively.

 

[mcapanelli]

I adore your logic

Premium means a more delicate device, like a delicate flower that must be treated with care.

And yet, we all know, without shadow of ANY doubt whatsoever, that if, after this test the Apple was the strongest in this test, and not 50% weaker than Samsung you would be SHOUTING.

Apple is premium, look how much higher quality it is that that cheap Samsung junk that broke 50% quicker.



Amazing, I love the logic that's twisted around in any directions desperately trying to show Apple is best, regardless of where it comes in a test.

If Apple was in a race and they came last, I guess you would say, it's not about who came 1st, Apple may of come in as one of the last in the race, but they ran the race in a more quality way.

And I adore your straw man arguments.

 

[Kissaragi]

Sorry to break this news to you, but that means NOTHING.

I can make a phone in my garage.
I can make a rig to test my phone.
I can set my rig to a level I think it acceptable.
I can subject my phone to tests on my rig and it will pass my tests I have created.
I can call you in to see my phone not breaking on my rig and passing my tests.

It will mean NOTHING.

Without any standard, or any comparison it's all worthless.

Anyone can make anything that will stand up to their own testing on their own rigs.

I don't expect there is ANY standard set up for phone strength, it's totally down to the maker of the product to decide how strong they want their product to be, and whatever they decide whilst sitting around the table, is what the product will be.

Unlike crash tests in cars, or motorcycle safety helmets or ratings on other electronic goods that inform you the buyer, a phone can be anything.

The ONLY way a consumer can know anything is for either there to be fully independent testing, like we have seen in this video, but which runs more tests, or for there to be an international standard set in place, which a manufacturer can test to, and perhaps get a rating. So you would have say 1 - 5 ratings.

Apple testing their own products in their own way on their own testing rigs to their own level of satisfaction means nothing.

Samsungs phone of the same size is 50% stronger.
So Apple's phone would have been a fail for Samsung on Samsungs testing rig to Samsungs Standards, but a Pass for Apple on Apple's lower standard of acceptance.

You understand now?

There could almost be a standard like weight or something? You know like the amount of weight it takes to bend each phone and then we would have a standard to compare everything against everything else?

Oh wait a minute.....

 

[DemNoir]

This is all very sad for the "bendies" they were hoping to keep the party going all weekend. What will they do now?

Perhaps they can have sad meetups were they look hard for "yellow tints" and " purple fringing " .

 

[MyopicPaideia]

This is the ultimate bendgate video: uncut, new iphone, in public, with witnesses.

I wonder what Apple's reaction to this will be.

#BendGate is here to stay

Sure...CNN and Consumer reports can't get the phone to bend, but this guy bends it like butter...super credible!!!

In the original cut and edited video that has 40 million views, he "seems" to be trying his very very hardest to bend the phone, even going out of his way to claim that several times, whilst in this one, he bends it immediately almost in half without even attempting to pretend he was trying hard.

Regular consumers can't even get their hands on a 6+ currently, nobody has stock, they're all on back order, yet this guy has now bent, what, 3-4 brand new ones??? Where is he getting them? We all know the likely answer to that question, don't we?

Another thing that has been bothering me. You can't get past the initial setup on an iPhone without having a SIM card in it, I tried restoring one of the company's old 4S's as new to use as an audio streamer for the office and it wouldn't let me go further without inserting a SIM card. Anyone else confirm this? He specifically states that there is no SIM card in the phone "for obvious reasons" which would be what? Damage to the sim card?? Very cavalier in that case just destroying an appparently authentic $700+ dollar electronic device, but not so hot on damaging a SIM card that costs a paultry $20 or so to replace from the carrier?

Young man is playing with fire here...

 

[Max(IT)]

IMO, it's a bit premature for all of this hoopla over the phone bending. Obviously if you try hard enough, you can bend or break the phone. If you carry any phone in this size range in your back pocket and sit on it, I think you are asking for problems, if not bending, then screen breaking. On the other hand, I think that you should be able to carry a phone in your front pocket- as long as it actually fits without using a hammer and a crowbar and walk around without issues. If it digs into your body when you sit, kneel etc, then it is too big, your pants are too tight, your pockets aren't big enough, etc and you should take it out before you sit.

I wear Levis 501's and I tried the 6+ in my front pockets at the Apple store and the phone fits and has room to move around. I squatted as much as possible with the anti theft device attached and I had no issues. I wouldn't sit with it in my pocket if it was digging into me and making me uncomfortable. I wouldn't carry it in the same pocket with a wallet, front or back.

I think that if you try to flex both phones, the 6+ definitely has more give to it, but that's what I would expect. It is not as stiff as the 6, but I sure wouldn't call it flimsy. But I think the 5S feels more solid than either of them.

You nailed the point.
You can carry out in your pockets, if you don't sit on it. And if you sat on your phone, well you are looking for problems.
You can take it in the front pocket of your Levi's, but when you are seated with a 5.5" slate in your front pocket, are you comfortable at all?

I think this issue in purposely overblown and verging ridiculous...

 

[NCWildcat]

Wonderig how much did Consumer Report gets from Apple. The timing seems too odd, almost like Apple and Consumer Report made a deal that Consumer Report to backing Apple up.

Congratulations, consumer report, you just get your ticket to next Apple's iPhone event.

What a clueless statement. CR routinely rates Android phones and PCs above Apple products. I'd say they have a history of not showing them special treatment.

 

[wikiverse]

Bendgate is FAR from closed, oh my God that was too easy to bend. I had hope when I saw this article but dang, nope, after this video I lost that hope. Sigh..

No one is watching this video, no one is discussing it, you guys are all just as bad as android fans. Blind consumerism.

It bent like cardboard. There is no way I would buy a 6+ If it is that flimsy. Apple should take note, people wanted bigger not thinner.

I can't ever remember anyone saying that the 5s was too thick... Ever. I do remember lots of people asking for a bigger screen and better battery life though.

 

[bobob]

I can make a phone in my garage.

When's your launch day?

 

[gnipgnop]

I watched the video and reports from CNBC reporter John Fortt from the tour at Apple. John Fortt asked whether sustained tests from a phone being under stress for a longer time period such as a couple hours were performed. He did not get a response from Apple (at least not yet). All the tests shown were for short duration, repetitive tests. However some of the reported bent phones were under more prolonged stress - such as in a snug front pocket with bending / twisting pressure applied during a 2 hour car ride.

Your front pocket is never going to generate anywhere near the forces that exist in a three point test. Your leg is underneath the bottom of the phone and the forces pressing down from the pocket are evenly distributed across the top. Seriously, how much force do you believe the fabric from even a tight pair of pants can generate? It's obviously not going to be 90 lbs of force, or your legs would be crushed just by putting the pants on.

 

[sanke1]

If Apple was in a race and they came last, I guess you would say, it's not about who came 1st, Apple may of come in as one of the last in the race, but they ran the race in a more quality way.

That made me chuckle. And I am an iTard with 2 iPhones and 2 iPads in house.

 

[Max(IT)]

Did you agree with CR when they took the iPhone 4 off of their recommended list because of the antenna issue?

The antenna issue was overblown as well, especially because was, and partially still is, affecting several devices. But it had a real basis.
This bending issue is purely fantasy.