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

[BvizioN]

Ok Mr. Reading challenged person, I am talking about the Deformation chart prepared by Consumer Reports and displayed at the end of their video. This is what scientific testers call “A Summarization of Related Facts”. In the case of Consumer Reports, as with all professional testing labs, to eliminate subjective interpretation of the results, they summarized their results, in writing, with a Deformation force chart at the end of their video.

I will be happy to lend you some reading classes and a hot cup of tea whilst you read the chart.

I read the chart, thank you very much. Watched the video till the end where it says it takes 100lb's to separate the screen from the iPhone 6, while it takes 90lb force for the HTC. So even though by not much, it's HTC at the bottom followed by iPhone 6.

Thanks for the brew, but not much of a brew drinker. As for reading glasses, my last optical test showed no need for them.

 

[Digital Skunk]

The good part about this is that a lot of folks probably cancelled their iPhone 6 Plus orders because my second one's ship date just got pushed up to this week.

 

[Scrub175]

I was trying to decide on whether to buy a 6 Plus or a 6. After spending a fair amount of time in the Apple store, where I put an Apple Leather Case on the Plus and dropped it in my pocket, I was still concerned about discomfort during day-to-day activities. And despite my earlier assertion that the 6 Plus had a bend rate of 0.00000285714286, I was still slightly concerned about the possibility of it bending.

So, I made myself a very delicate iPhone 6 out of cardboard. That's right, cardboard. I made it 4mm wider and taller to accommodate a typical case, and 2mm thicker (so it was BIGGER than the 6 Plus with no case). I then went around my typical daily tasks, with the 6 in the left front pocket of my Dockers shorts. See attached image.

I sat down multiple times on every chair type in the house (probably 60 times).
I laid on the bed.
I swung on the hammock.
I climbed a ladder.
I laid on the couch.
I sat on the couch hunched forward working on the laptop.
I sat on the floor and played with the kids (crawling around building Legos).
I tried kneeling.
I crossed my legs.
I rode the recumbent exercise bike (for only 5 minutes, but it was an effective test).
I sat in both our cars.
The kids played Daddy Jungle Gym.

After several hours, what happened to my super-delicate, massive cardboard iPhone 6? Not a darn thing. No bending, no wrinkled cardboard, no frayed corners, nothing. Throughout all these exercises the phone was never more than snug in my pocket. You can't even tell the cardboard was in my pocket much less for 3 hours through all those activities. My concerns about the iPhone 6 bending in my pocket are completely alleviated.

Other observations:
1) I did tend to notice the phone in my pocket more. With the case it's basically the same thickness as the 5s in an Apple Leather case.
2) Crossing my legs was the biggest challenge, but was doable. Re-positioning the phone down to the side of my leg worked perfectly fine.
3) The phone approaches the top of the pocket, so while biking I was concerned that it may fall out. The 6 Plus without a case might be slippery enough to do that, but it would never happen with a non-slippery case on.

Referring the Consumer Reports video... put 4 pencils in your pocket and try your hardest to break them. I bet you can't do it.

Yes, this image is of my "iPhone 6 Plus" after 3 hours in my pocket.

Nice flooring... Interesting test methodology and results. thank you

I purchased the leather apple case and found it not offering enough rigid support to prevent any potential bending. I have an incipio two piece case that has some rigidity to it but not quite enough. Next will be the otter box commuter.

 

[User 6502]

why can't just a reputable source such as consumer reports, or any of the tech blog, try to replicate the bending by hand test.
We know the testing machines don't bend it easily, we get that, Apple tested it, Consumer reports tested it....

And then we have a guy that everybody claims to be a fake, easily bending the phone by hand.

Can't we just have a reputable source do that test?

Bending a phone by hand cannot be done in a reputable way because it's a non scientific test. If the phone passed the machine test is fine, there's no way it can make a difference doing it by hand. And it doesn't make any difference either to apply the force where the volume buttons are: to apply the force in the middle is the worst situation for the phone, every other position will give less stress to the material.

 

[teslo]

it's a beautiful saturday.. everyone outside!

 

[goobot]

That's only from the the distributed load test, which has its flaw that the force is DISTRUSTED.

What was not tested is specific weak areas, such around the buttons, which is where we are seeing most of the bending and wrapping happening.

That zone was also where iPhone 6 failed first in there distributed test. How much force will take if the force is focused at that point? The Consumer Report test didn't examine that.

Weakest point of failure determains strength of structure.

Wouldn't it be distributed in your pocket too....

 

[calzon65]

I read the chart, thank you very much. Watched the video till the end where it says it takes 100lb's to separate the screen from the iPhone 6, while it takes 90lb force for the HTC. So even though by not much, it's HTC at the bottom followed by iPhone 6.

Thanks for the brew, but not much of a brew drinker. As for reading glasses, my last optical test showed no need for them.

LOL well you certainly need a retest of those eyes if you are unable to read (maybe comprehend) the test's Deformation chart ... that's DEE - FOR - MA - TION as in "the action or process of changing in shape or distorting, especially through the application of pressure".

The iPhone 6 AND the HTC One (M8) both had a deformation score of 70 pounds which are the two worst performers in the test, related to Deformation.

 

[bearboy]

Jesus, settle down, man. You're all over this thread trying to deny and defend something that is CLEARLY real and happening. Is Apple paying you? Because they should. Can you prove that the video is fake? No, and yet you seem so adamant about it's fraudulence. What is your concrete, irrefutable proof?

LOL! Isn't CR the same magazine that iPhone diehards chastised when they refused to review the iPhone 4 because of the antenna issue?

 

[Trapezoid]

Jesus, settle down, man. You're all over this thread trying to deny and defend something that is CLEARLY real and happening. Is Apple paying you? Because they should. Can you prove that the video is fake? No, and yet you seem so adamant about it's fraudulence. What is your concrete, irrefutable proof?

Yeah Apple's paying me. Samsung paying you?

^These are logical conclusions.

 

[jb007clone]

LOL! Isn't CR the same magazine that iPhone diehards chastised when they refused to review the iPhone 4 because of the antenna issue?

Yes, it is. Now, however, Consumer Reports is "infallible" and "utterly scientific".

 

[Digital Skunk]

Nice flooring... Interesting test methodology and results. thank you

I purchased the leather apple case and found it not offering enough rigid support to prevent any potential bending. I have an incipio two piece case that has some rigidity to it but not quite enough. Next will be the otter box commuter.

Maybe this is a scandal perpetrated by case manufacturers to sell many many more rigid cases?

 

[craznar]

to apply the force in the middle is the worst situation for the phone, every other position will give less stress to the material.

That isn't correct, material is always weaker where there are holes, edges, slits etc. That's the nature of the beast.

That's what I mentioned before - a hole causes a structural weakness, however you still need a few holes to achieve certain design goals.

 

[Trapezoid]

Yes, it is. Now, however, Consumer Reports is "infallible" and "utterly scientific".

Isn't CR the same one that didn't recommend the iPhone4 because of antenna issues?

Now, however Consumer reports is "fallible" and "utterly unscientific"

 

[craznar]

Yes, it is. Now, however, Consumer Reports is "infallible" and "utterly scientific".

They are neither - however they are objective. One needs a number of objective tests to get some sort of answer - currently we have around TWO.

A scientific group found gravity waves via an experiment at the south pole earlier this year... do you think one group of professional scientific people was enough to call it 'truth', no it was just another fact to add to the database in the hunt for the truth.

 

[rsocal]

it's a beautiful saturday.. everyone outside!

It sure is in So. Cal, looking out my window with my feet up and enjoying my 6+!

 

[jb007clone]

It sure is in So. Cal, looking out my window with my feet up and enjoying my 6+!

Careful you don't put anything on top of it.

 

[User 6502]

Put the force adjacent to the volume cutout and I bet the 6 plus will bend easier, as that where the weak spot is. Failed test.

false, the test is not failed, your opinion is.

 

[fmcarv]

A week is still just a few days... What is your point?

My point is:
8 days past
9 cases reported by Apple
2 cases on MR
and a distressed youtubers bending them for the sake of it...

10M sold....

Probably more now the European market also started selling them.

 

[alexgowers]

i could break any phone in my hands, the figures suggest that the point at which the phones breaks apart is similar to other handsets. The iPhone is less likely to bend back though because it uses aluminium.

If you think you're gonna be hard on your phone get a 6. No one has a gun to your head saying pick this one. As with all previous so called iohone issues those who care will buy android or windows and that's great. No one buys the iPhone because they think its the best phone on the market.

I was disappointed when Apple switched from steel to aluminium in the 5 but that didn't stop me buying it. It looks like Apple will have to resort to similar steel cages used in the early MacBooks before the unibody to solve the perceived weakness but I don't see apples business really being impacted by it. People get bored by the same news and the story will disappear like all others.

 

[fmcarv]

Careful you don't put anything on top of it.

Like a 90lb ass...

 

[rsocal]

Careful you don't put anything on top of it.

My kids are going to use it as a teeter-totter now....

I'll let you know how it holds up....

 

[SarcasticJoe]

I doubt this thing is going away any time soon... People in general don't care about facts when it suits their agenda, that's unfortunately just how it is with people.

Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of nazi Germany in case you slept trough your history classes, is claimed to have once said that "If a lie is repeated enough times, people will believe it" and I suppose this, like the whole iBrute thing about a month ago, is just that.

First we had a couple of videos of guys grabbing them and bending them with all their strength at the weak point and people reposted those on pretty much every site on the internet that would have them. Now when the "truth" has been established, no amount of scientifically conduced tests will be able to change the minds of the people who had those videos put up all over the internet.

To return to Nazi Germany, for decades after the war there were plenty of Germans who still believed that Jews were "subhuman" and the ones responsible for the hard times they had experienced before Hitler came to power.

 

[craznar]

Godwin

Goodnight.

 

[rGiskard]

It's even more pointless since until now NOBODY bought phones on the basis of their bending-resistance.

If people start to see a lot of bent 6 pluses in the wild, that may change.

 

[jb007clone]

My kids are going to use it as a teeter-totter now....

I'll let you know how it holds up....

Or doesn't. I'll schedule you a genius appointment.