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iphone 4 didn't survive fall from bathroom counter

urbanj said:
Wow, with all these threads popping up I'm disgusted and disappointed.

I think having the front and back glass with such a strong outer frame it isn't allowing any part of the phone to dissipate the engery and it cracks the glass. Clearly Gorilla glass is the weakest link and with all that marketing showing how flexible it is it does not show how it actually performs in real life. Slow constant pressure is much different than shock loading from different angles.

Probably going to skip the iP4 :(
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Whatever dude, you were never going to get one anyways. Even the HTC Evo breaks and shatters and it has a gorilla glass front. All phones will break if you drop them on a hard surface. That is why you get a case.
 
Mine fortunately survived a fall from my laptop to the tiling without a scratch.
I'm sorry for what happened to yours though.
 
I'm a woman, and I certainly don't "love to destroy stuff". I keep my laptop pristine, and I got a case for my iPhone 4 just as soon as I could (same with my 3G), and I'm always careful with my phone. Generalizations based on gender (or race, or anything else) really suck.

Anyway... I do worry that this phone seems more prone to breaking. I've seen my bf drop his 3G onto the pavement a few times, and it was always fine. This phone? I think it would probably break. What I worry about too is that he doesn't want a case, he likes how it looks plain... I mean I do too, but not enough to take the risk of it breaking. I feel safer with mine in a case, but I still worry.

To the OP - sorry about your wife's phone. Accidents do happen though. I hope you can somehow get it replaced.
 
sucks your wife accidentally demolished her phone.

be glad it wasn't a baby.

other things to be sad about though.

perspective.
 
tigress666 said:
It was really a bad design decision to only put the stronger glass on the front but leave easier to break glass on the back.
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We don't know this and ifixit can't directly confirm it's Gorilla glass on the front. This also makes no sense as there have been more photos of shattered fronts than backs, at least so far on this forum.
 
lionqueen said:
I'm a woman, and I certainly don't "love to destroy stuff". I keep my laptop pristine, and I got a case for my iPhone 4 just as soon as I could (same with my 3G), and I'm always careful with my phone. Generalizations based on gender (or race, or anything else) really suck.
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That comment didn't bug me as much as the many jokes about her being in the kitchen. I swear, guys, you do realize that women read this board as well? There are plenty of gal geeks out there.

This phone? I think it would probably break. What I worry about too is that he doesn't want a case, he likes how it looks plain... I mean I do too, but not enough to take the risk of it breaking. I feel safer with mine in a case, but I still worry.
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I'm with you there. I'd love to have it caseless but after reading all sorts of stories of it shattering (and only one story of it surviving that was questionable if it was true), I'm not willing to take the risk.
 
g8orballboy said:
quick question...why all the negativity? Don't mean to single out just your post as this is meant as a broad statement to the board... Why does everyone feel the need to be so harsh to people in distress
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In this case, it may stem from this: "btw, she dropped her 3g a half dozen times over the years". That right there should have been an indication to the OP that dropping expensive gadgets was commonplace for his wife and he should have picked up a case for both the 3G and the iP4. Regardless of how easily iP4s break (or not), if someone is prone to dropping stuff, it'd be prudent to pick up a case.
 
tigress666 said:
You know, one of the things I admired about my 3G was that it could handle drops. I give Apple kudos for finally making a cellphone that still has a largish screen (as compared to the screen on your regular cellphone) that could take a few drops.

I don't care how careful you say you are. It is a device that you are taking out, holding, putting down a lot. Which means there is a lot more chances something will happen. Especially once you start taking hte device for granted or are in a hurry. I'm not saying a cellphone should be designed to take all falls. But certainly I think a cellphone should take into account how it is going to be used and be designed to take a few small to moderate falls.

It was really a bad design decision to only put the stronger glass on the front but leave easier to break glass on the back. They might as well not have bothered imho. And while it looks cool, they should have just made the back of plastic. It may scratch easy but at least it would *probably* take a fall or two before falling apart.
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Well, it does. There are plenty of videos showing a few falls from 4 feet and over before it actually breaks, straight onto concrete. Not to mention the guy on here who's wife dropped it down a sewer tunnel, and it was a far drop.

It's all about pressure points I imagine, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. Goes for all things. Buyer beware I guess. If you want the beauty of an Iphone 4, do not drop it and assume that if you do, you've just increased your chances by 50% over a 3GS that glass will break.
 
Whoah, glass breaks when dropped on the floor?!

This glass is what, 2mm thick at best? No matter how tough the glass is, it WILL break if it's dropped on the floor. The videos of the glass bending on the iPhone 4 intro was very impressive, but that was a slowly acting force. I guarantee if that machine was sped up about 20x, that glass would shatter like toffee.

It's not a design flaw. The thing looks ace, a miniature obelisk of tech. Windscreen/helicopter glass will do the same thing if it's dropped. Ever seen a car crash? Windscreens get pretty screwed up. A frame that's tens of times smaller will have a similar reaction to a much smaller force.

Something to dissipate the force around the edge is needed. Whether that's a case, bumper or other solution is up to the owner. Personally, I'm waiting for Tech21's iBand to go up for preorder... Until that day comes, I'm treating mine like a newborn.

(btw, this isn't having a go at the OP, it sucks that it's happened to your wife, but all of the people going "OMGZ GORILLA GLASS SUXORZ" aren't thinking properly...)
 
Awesome.

Another thread about people who have "accidents" and feel the need to post about it.

Next time, put in it one of the other two dozen existing threads.
 
I guess she should of been more careful. Maybe next time you'll make sure she puts it in a case.
 
Yikes. This makes me not want to ever take my phone out the case. I would never use it without a case outside around concrete. One drop, and it's gone.
 
orly-mini.jpg


If you dropped a glass phone it shattered? Wow I thought Apple phones are unbreakable?

unbreakable.jpg
 
The problem with strong glass is that if you hit it on the side it will shatter very easily. If you dropped it so the front or back hit the ground it probably wouldn't shatter but drop it so the side of the glass hits the ground it is almost guaranteed to shatter.
 
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