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iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
As recently as two days ago, I was commenting on the thread regarding the next gen iPhone being reinforced in the weak spots and saying that for the most part, if you don't intentionally bend your phone, you won't have any issue. Man, was I WRONG!!!!

I noticed today that my own iPhone 6 is bent. I don't know how long it's been that way or how it happened. I don't wear skinny jeans, I NEVER put it in my back pocket, and it's always been in a case since I got it in September.

Took it to Apple today. The genius wasn't even phased by it, the phone was replaced immediately. It definitely wasn't his first time seeing this issue. Just glad I noticed it before my warranty expires next month.

So yeah, I was wrong. The iPhone 6 can absolutely bend under normal usage, not to mention the 6 Plus. I take back everything I said to the contrary.
 

iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
So where and how was yours bent?
No idea, the phone was 11 months old. It must have just happened over time. It wasn't a very severe bend but the phone definitely wobbled significantly when you put it flat on its face.

I'd like to also take a moment to acknowledge Apple's customer service. I noticed it while I was at work this morning, made a genius appointment for the evening, and walked out of Apple at 5:30 with non-bent phone in my hand.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
So was it noticeable on any particular part of the phone (let's say around the volume buttons, or something else was visible like some crack somewhere, etc.)?
 

decksnap

macrumors 68040
Apr 11, 2003
3,075
84
I was once like you. Thought this was blown out of proportion. The bend happened to me in the first two weeks of babying the phone. Thousands of people are in for a rude awakening when they pull their phones out of their cases to sell them on eBay.

For what it's worth, the Apple guy was very aware of the issue and swapped it no questions asked.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,625
28,395
I don't use cases. I don't sit on my phone. I put it in pockets that are large enough to fit a 7.5" tablet and the phone sits in one of three business card holders all day and night depending on where I am at and in a flat compartment in the car in between.

If my phone ever bends it won't be because of any of that. I'm not saying it won't ever, but my iPhone 5 is still straight after more than two years with the same way of doing things.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
I don't use cases. I don't sit on my phone. I put it in pockets that are large enough to fit a 7.5" tablet and the phone sits in one of three business card holders all day and night depending on where I am at and in a flat compartment in the car in between.

If my phone ever bends it won't be because of any of that. I'm not saying it won't ever, but my iPhone 5 is still straight after more than two years with the same way of doing things.
5 and 6/6+ are somewhat different in that respect though.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,625
28,395
5 and 6/6+ are somewhat different in that respect though.
That's very true.

But I suspect that a majority of bends may be fallout from getting tight fitting cases on and off the phone - over time.
 

iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
Good catch. I just checked mine. Still pancake-flat :)
Checked my dad's too. His is fine. And he got his in the same month I did.

I have a theory that if the phone is doing something processor intensive and heating up and you put it in a pocket while it's doing that and stay seated for a long period of time it might bend.
 
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braddick

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2009
3,929
1,035
Encinitas, CA
I have a theory that if the phone is doing something processor intensive and heating up and you put it in a pocket while it's doing that and stay seated for a long period of time it might bend.

I totally agree. Couple those factors with sitting on it while wearing tight fitting jeans, and you've discovered the formula to all these bent iPhones.
 

melendezest

Suspended
Jan 28, 2010
1,693
1,579
No idea, the phone was 11 months old. It must have just happened over time. It wasn't a very severe bend but the phone definitely wobbled significantly when you put it flat on its face.

I'd like to also take a moment to acknowledge Apple's customer service. I noticed it while I was at work this morning, made a genius appointment for the evening, and walked out of Apple at 5:30 with non-bent phone in my hand.

Apple's customer service is second to NO ONE.

Although YMMV depending on Apple Store, assigned Genius, etc., but even my bad experiences were RESOLVED.

Huge plus.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,189
9,034
Checked my dad's too. His is fine. And he got his in the same month I did.

I have a theory that if the phone is doing something processor intensive and heating up and you put it in a pocket while it's doing that and stay seated for a long period of time it might bend.

It seems unlikely that your phone can get warm enough to soften aluminum unless something is seriously wrong.

Anyway, I'm sorry that your phone got bent, but I'm personally still not convinced that an iP6 will bend under normal usage.
 

ZEEN0j

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2014
1,569
721
I also never thought I was going to bend my 6. It was a very very small bend at the volume buttons not really visible but it did slightly wobble. I think it might of happened on the many occasions when my phone slips out of my pocket when laying/sitting on the couch and me then accidentally sitting on it. I'm surprised you got it replaced. They denied replacement for me when going in for something else as my phone was bent (didn't even know it was bent). It's like the first thing they check no matter what issue you have.

On a warm day with my phone in my jeans pocket the phone can get very hot. I'm no metal expert but I don't think you have to reach the melting threshold for a metal to bend. If it's very warm to touch it's going to bend more easily then when it's cold.
 

Gryfter

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2011
368
78
Brooklyn, NY
Away. Which makes sense because when I put my phone in my pocket I always put it screen facing outward. This strengthens my warm iPhone+pocket theory.

I asked this because what a lot people dont realize, people with hard to remove cases, when you're prying the case off, its bending away from the screen since the case is almost always installed from the back...
 
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maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
No comment on the OP, but it seems mostly human nature to disavow an issue as being relevant if it hasn't occurred to you. I think the design of the 6+ is such that there is a propensity for it to bend, its simple physics. We have a soft metal being used, an extremely thin design that has a large surface area. Sitting down with the phone in the pocket is a great example of putting stresses on the phone that can cause it to bend.

I've been very careful and so far (knocks on wood), its not bent.
 

iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
I asked this because what a lot people dont realize, people with hard to remove cases, when you're prying the case off, its bending away from the screen since the case is almost always installed from the back...
I never had a hard to remove case. I've always used a clear softish plastic case and rarely ever took it off.

If a phone gets bent while taking a case off, then I don't even know what to say. That's a design flaw. Makes sense that Apple is fixing it in the 6S.
 
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iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
Glad they helped you out after you bent your phone.
I'm glad they "helped me out" after designing a thin aluminum phone with a large surface area and failing to reinforce the weak points. They didn't help me out, they did their job by replacing a device with a design flaw when that design flaw finally manifested itself while the device was still under warranty. But it seems like they learned their lesson and designed the 6S to be stronger around the weak points.

They didn't do me any favors though. They just righted their own wrong.
 
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