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

[aka777]

I can completely believe this is true, just as you say, and that it will keep flexing that would be noticed in the way you indicate.

I also accept most won't see this, won't know and won't worry.
Just like you see people with dings on their iPhone5 and thinking it's still perfect.

Most people keep their iPhone in a case, which naturally strengths the phone further.

 

[Max(IT)]

I don't understand why everyone is celebrating. Out of all of the phones they tested, the iPhone 6/Plus are noticeably weaker than all of them apart from the HTC ONE. How is that a victory for Apple?

1) Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - 150 lbs
2) LG G3 - 130 lbs
3) iPhone 5 - 130 lbs
4) iPhone 6 Plus - 90 lbs
5) iPhone 6 - 70 lbs
6) HTC ONE (M8) - 70lbs

Only six phone tested out of how many on the market?
That ranking is useless: the value of a phone isn't anyhow related with its torque resistance.

 

[fmcarv]

How did I "lie and get caught?" Two out of three of my phones bent, and that's a fact. Just because I was able to bend one back to flat doesn't mean it didn't bend, it actually means it bent twice.



And I never said someday I will show you a picture, I said Monday.

You managed to bend it back to flat??

It's a miracle!!!

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I am really torn on this issue. I challenge all the readers of this post to do one thing (as I have done as an experiment).

1. Find a very flat table
2. Make sure your 6+ is in a flat backed case (yet flexible) that enables it to sit flush on the flat table even with the protruding camera. In other words - the case comes out passed the camera and thus lets the phone sit flush.
3. Touch the corners of your 6+ making sure it is completely flat and not rocking back and forth at all on your flat surface... If it is, your phone is already ever so slightly tweaked as mine was.
4. If it is sitting flush, then gentle pick up your phone and just barely, and I mean barely give your phone I twist by applying very gentle pressure on opposite corners.
5. Now sit the phone back down on your very flat surface and press on each corner until you notice slight rocking.
6. You will will soon discover how very easily this aluminum case is tweaked out of shape. This phone is super malleable.

Now after you have completed this very simple test, feel free to twist your phone back into a completely flat form. This scares me... Once I day I sit my phone down on my flat surface and notice it is yet again slight torqued out of shape (this is after a day of just regular use and not evening having it in a pocket). I am super careful and gentle with my 6+, and yet low and behold and the end of every day it is slight tweaked and not completely flat.

Disclaimer: Your phone must be in a completely flat backed case (as mine is) that lifts it slightly off the table as to compensate for the protruding camera. I am using a Spigen air cushion technology clear case. Also, before anyone says it is my case, it is not. I did this exact test with 2 brand new 6+'s and 2 brand new Spigen cases to eliminate variables. I even switched the same case to one 6+ that I knew was perfectly flat and it did not rock back and forth, then I took the very same case and put it on another 6+ that I knew was slightly tweaked and it did rock back and forth. Then I straightened the phone out by twisting it back into shape - rocking gone... #RockingGate lol?

Why don't you just take the cases off completely and do this:

• Test cases alone.
• Test the phones alone, eliminating the camera variable by putting it over the edge of the table.

Please report the results!

 

[onthat]

Weakness at the volume button inserts.

Everyone needs to look carefully at the pattern that we are overlooking. The bend is consistently at the base of the volume button inserts. Literally holes in the case. Makes sense it would be weaker there. This IS an engineering oversight. Be gentle, I am simply the messenger.

 

[cmaier]

How did I "lie and get caught?" Two out of three of my phones bent, and that's a fact. Just because I was able to bend one back to flat doesn't mean it didn't bend, it actually means it bent twice.

And I never said someday I will show you a picture, I said Monday.

Lies:

1) two of three are bent. One is yours. Proof of lie: only photo you can produce shows it is straight

2) can't take a photo because have no camera. Proof of Lie: you earlier said your wife has iPhone 6. Whole string of lies here - doubt you even own two in your house, but can't prove that.

3) you'd take picture with login id or other proof that it's you. Proof of lie: you didn't.

 

[JDookie]

You managed to bend it back to flat??

It's a miracle!!!

Yep, a miracle indeed. What? You didn't know you were talking to someone that could perform miracles?

 

[Max(IT)]

It's more fragile than an older iPhone. That is an issue. Just because it's not meant to fall or have pressure applied to it, doesn't mean that these things will not happen.

And I don't know about you, but if my newer phone was more fragile than my older one, I'd probably consider either returning to my old one, or looking for a different phone.

Basically almost every new phone is more fragile than the previous, due to bigger screen and thinner profile.
Your point is?

 

[peterdevries]

I don't understand why everyone is celebrating. Out of all of the phones they tested, the iPhone 6/Plus are noticeably weaker than all of them apart from the HTC ONE. How is that a victory for Apple?

1) Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - 150 lbs
2) LG G3 - 130 lbs
3) iPhone 5 - 130 lbs
4) iPhone 6 Plus - 90 lbs
5) iPhone 6 - 70 lbs
6) HTC ONE (M8) - 70lbs

The question here is not why is Apple not on top.. There is no competition to have the most bend-resistant phone. Nor is it Apple's ambition to build the world's strongest phone.

 

[BillyTrimble]

I was referring to a sixty pound loss in rigidity between iPhones.

The report points this out clearly. This issue needs to be reported. People need to know that their device is almost 50% more fragile than before.

Apple always gets a lot of press. So people will pay attention when stuff like this is exposed.

There is no conspiracy here. The device is softer. By a lot. And people need to know so they don't band it around like they did their previous iPhone (should that be the case).

I use to use my iPhone 5 to bang nails into the wall. Are you saying I should do this with the iPhone 6? How 'bout the 6 Plus? Can I do the nail thing with that phone?

 

[fmcarv]

The question here is not why is Apple not on top.. There is no competition to have the most bend-resistant phone. Nor is it Apple's ambition to build the world's strongest phone.

Never heard that bend-resistance was a requirement for phone buyers

 

[craznar]

IPhone 6 plus got a design bug as the iPhone 4 antena, live with it. There is no need to defend apple no matter what.

The problem is that Antenna gate was a myth, the science, the engineering all showed what was happening - however people like watching videos of people playing tricks. The same situation exactly is happening here - videos of people in uncontrolled situations.

So - I'm not defending Apple no matter what, however I am asking for actual evidence, nothing more nothing less.

Is that really to much too ask for ?

 

[fmcarv]

I use to use my iPhone 5 to bang nails into the wall. Are you saying I should do this with the iPhone 6? How 'bout the 6 Plus? Can I do the nail thing with that phone?

You Sir are an idiot if you bang nails with an iPhone

 

[Max(IT)]

My gosh this is insane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3Ds6uf0Yg&feature=youtu.be

iPhone 6+ will bend in pocket with every day use.

Except that video is fake.... And the brand new iPhone, sealed like he said, is already initialized so it's not brand new (and maybe it isn't even an iPhone).

Btw that video says nothing about every day usage, unless you are a completely idiot who try to bend a phone intentionally (in this case you have worse problems than a bent phone).

 

[RDStrong]

Do you really consider as NORMAL to sit on something that basically is a 7 mm piece of glass and aluminum/plastic?
Well, the problem is you, not Apple or HTC......

It is perfectly feasible to sit on a "7 mm piece of glass and aluminum/plastic" especially if it gets pressed into the soft fabric of a chair - in that case you won't instantly break it but stressing the metal over a period of time to the point where it warps slightly is a likely outcome.

 

[AlabamaSlammer]

Let me first state that I have no idea who made this picture. Saw it in a few other spots and REALLY wanted to post it here for a few reasons..

This is going to be fun.......

 

[fmcarv]

It is perfectly feasible to sit on a "7 mm piece of glass and aluminum/plastic" especially if it gets pressed into the soft fabric of a chair. I wear glasses and have done that exact thing plenty of times.



Also, stop projecting. Your paranoia makes you sound like a lunatic.

So do you blame glass designers and manufactures for not designing glasses that don't break when u sit on them?

 

[craznar]

Except that video is fake....

Saying it is fake, is just as bad as saying it is not.

The correct statement is - why have NO IDEA if it is fake or not. We glean nothing but a little entertainment (or annoyance) from the video.

 

[5232152]

Still pretty embarrassing for them. Lg and htc should have left the childish crap to Samsung.

Crazy that in this day and age, companies are still trying to create iPhone killers.

There is nothing to "kill", there is just comeptition. Some prefer one over the other. That they are making a joke out of bended phones (Some people DID in fact have bended phones) is good fun. I see no reason to go from being over defensive to overly attacking.

We all benefit from strong competition - using humor is a fair weapon of choice for that.

 

[AlabamaSlammer]

Basically almost every new phone is more fragile than the previous, due to bigger screen and thinner profile.
Your point is?

I'm just going out on a limb and maybe we have reached the point where a electronic device can be to thin.

 

[fmcarv]

Let me first state that I have no idea who made this picture. Saw it in a few other spots and REALLY wanted to post it here for a few reasons..



This is going to be fun.......

Yeah but where in real life do you have the phone simply supported on two end points and the force precisely applied on that"weak spot"?

Care to explain....?

 

[Kissaragi]

Everyone needs to look carefully at the pattern that we are overlooking. The bend is consistently at the base of the volume button inserts. Literally holes in the case. Makes sense it would be weaker there. This IS an engineering oversight. Be gentle, I am simply the messenger.

There is meant to be a reinforcement plate in that area to compensate. Maybe it should have been more substantial but the testing seems to indicate its 'good enough'. However from apple you do expect better than good enough.

I suspect its some manufacturing defects causing the bent phones and the vast majority will never have a problem unless they sit on it or drop it.

 

[Max(IT)]

Through all of this has anyone seen video of a phone bending in a pocket?

Or has anyone seen video of someone applying 90lbs of force to a phone in a pocket?

Oh that's what I thought.

That video doesn't exist.

 

[RDStrong]

So do you blame glass designers and manufactures for not designing glasses that don't break when u sit on them?

They do design those glasses, at least the metal frames anyway.

 

[craznar]

Let me first state that I have no idea who made this picture. Saw it in a few other spots and REALLY wanted to post it here for a few reasons.

So - we need to then spend time finding the week points in all phones, and ensuring they are tested as such. I know my Note II had weak points.

I suggest we put the phones all glass up on the test device - I'm sure that's where the weak point might be