iPhone 4 More Prone to Accidental Damage Than 3GS

[flopticalcube]

Actually mine dropped yesterday for the first time outside onto concrete.

It survived, no scratches.

Case: Belkin Grip vue!

The number of times I've seen people drop unprotected phones onto concrete only for them to shatter into a hundred pieces, you would think people would learn by now, especially given how expensive the iPhone is.

 

[TheSlush]

Front cracked iPhone 4 screen since week two... You still wont pry this iPhone 4 out of my hands.

Exactly. The potentially slightly higher risk for physical damage is approximately .00001% of most people's overall iPhone experience.

Thats like saying its a drinking glass companies fault because people at home are dropping their glasses on the floor and the glasses break.

Great point.

 

[nagromme]

"with some customers reporting that dirt trapped between the glass and slide-on cases has caused scratching and shattering of the glass back”

Have there been any actual confirmed cases of this? Daring Fireball and Macalope seem unable to find anything except what seems to be a fabricated scandal used as link bait by gdgt.

It’s hard to imagine the physics of that happening to Gorilla Glass, unless you trapped a serious stone chunk and then sat on it. In which case.... yes, things break.

 

[CFreymarc]

I'd love to read the full list of "other" in this pie chart. I'm sure "Dog chewed on it.," "Threw it after arguing call with girlfriend." and "Kids dropped it down garbage disposal." are in the list.

 

[Rat-Boy]

Actually mine dropped yesterday for the first time outside onto concrete.

It survived, no scratches.

Case: Belkin Grip vue!

I am 6' 2" tall.

I had my phone, with NO CASE, in a hip pouch with no latch. (Yea, I know, I am a moron.) It was only to get from the car to the house as I had recently taken off my iFrogz case and was going to go caseless.

I then bent over to put something in my fridge and the phone fell out and landed screen down on tile floor.

Not a single scratch even with no case on it at all. I stood there staring at it for like 30 seconds too afraid to pick it up. I consider my self REAL lucky and now have a bumper on it. Of course, the phone is still and always will be vulnerable if it lands just right.

Personally, I think the inflated #'s for IP4 are due to folks thinking that the IP4 is tougher, and/or better looking, and thus going with no case on their phones.

Oh, that, and it's made of flipping GLASS!!! DUH!!!

 

[CFreymarc]

I'm sorry but this whole thing is complete crap.

Don't drop your phone! Its not Apples fault someone dropped their phone and it broke.

Thats like saying its a drinking glass companies fault because people at home are dropping their glasses on the floor and the glasses break.

Or car companies are at fault putting in glass windshields instead of shatterproof plastic. Since the breakage is under 5% it is still under the socially awkward doffus category and not much of a concern.

I'm sure MSFT will hype this. In fact the timing of this with the Windows Mobile 7 launch is uncanny.

 

[roadbloc]

Hmmm I've been debating over the 4 and the 3GS for a while...
I'm still lost for a conclusion. They will have released 5 by the time I decide.

 

[theITGuy]

Hmmm I've been debating over the 4 and the 3GS for a while...
I'm still lost for a conclusion. They will have released 5 by the time I decide.

Unless you want the front-facing cam stick with the 3Gs...I kinda miss mine...

-J.-

 

[baryon]

What's really important is not just that the back is made of glass, but also that the edges of the glass on both the front and the back are exposed. So if it falls, it will always land on one of its glass surfaces, and no matter how Gorilla it is, concrete will make the edge crack. With the previous iPhones, the edge was enveloped by plastic or metal, protecting it.

I think this problem can be solved without a major redesign, all Apple has to do is make the steel edges of the phone protrude over the glass and maybe a bit beyond it, a bit like the current MacBook Pro's screen. That way, if the phone falls anywhere except flat on the front or back, it will be protected by the steel.

However, the Bumpers do just this, so I'd say people should use those instead of other cases. I think Bumpers should be bundled with the phone when you buy it, it's a very important thing especially with such a fragile device.

 

[netdog]

It's reports like the one that kicked of this thread that make it clear that people are paying way too much attention to Apple.

More prone to damage! LOL. It's got glass on the back. Duh!

So don't drop the friggin' thing.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Funny how people can read numbers any way they want.

I see that and it convinced me how TOUGH the iPhone is. I see how people abuse their phones. I would have thought the numbers would be higher. The fact that it's near 1% per month shows me that both iPhones are even tougher than I thought.

But, hey, feel free to draw the exact opposite conclusion. Apparently I'm in the minority here.

You are. Those numbers have to be considered relative to other phones. 3GS I did not consider exactly a very strong phone and the 4G is even worse than the 3GS.

I'm sorry but this whole thing is complete crap.

Don't drop your phone! Its not Apples fault someone dropped their phone and it broke.

Thats like saying its a drinking glass companies fault because people at home are dropping their glasses on the floor and the glasses break.

It is not complete crap.
It is Apple fault for designing something that can not with stand ear and their. It has to be assumed a phone will be dropped or fall to the ground at some point. Anything that is in your hands that much has a high chance of being dropped. Apple put something that is brittle on the phone. Bad choose.

having front and back glass bad choose. Apple choose to look extra pretty over being functional.
That and they can count on blind fanboys coming up with lame defenses for them.

 

[darthvedder81]

Who are all these imbeciles who drop their phones all the time? Take care of your technology people.

I keep my iPhone is one of these:
http://www.sfbags.com/products/iphone-cases/smartcase-iphone.php
(it fits all models). My original iPhone doesn't have a scratch on it after 2+ years.
I'm confident my iPhone 4 will stay well protected.

 

[LagunaSol]

I think a big factor is the sheer slipperiness of the new design. I always give the phone a death grip before pulling it out of my pocket. And if you set it on anything at the slightest angle it will slide off like a bar of wet soap.

I love the look of the glass back but don't care much for the functionality. I was hoping to see the rumored ceramic back. I didn't like the plastic back of the 3G or 3GS though. I'd love to see a return to aluminum. Or at least give the back glass some texture for grip and surface tension.

 

[Avatar74]

It's important to note that correlation doesn't imply causation.

Also, greater accidents doesn't imply greater design flaws. The data here is only concerning accidental damage. However, it doesn't and cannot isolate the causes of accidental damage. In other words, we can't tell from this data if the design is contributing to increased incidence of accidental damage, or if greater carelessness is contributing, or if it's just statistical creep in the fact that as the iPhone audience becomes even broader, people who previously never owned a smartphone and didn't think to take care of one are experiencing accidental damage at a higher frequency due to greater likelihood of carelessness.

These are all separate metrics that need to be isolated out, and weighed against actual field tests assessing the likelihood of damage in identical conditions.

To wit: I have damaged four iPhones prior to the iPhone 4. I have not damaged the iPhone 4 once. After damaging four phones, I'm much more careful with this one. Even so, I've definitely dropped it a few times and not seen the screen shatter yet.

 

[AAPLaday]

Phones are always going to be dropped no matter who makes them. If your the kind of person who drops them a lot then get a case or live in a tent on the beach. Just today i saw a woman drop her blackberry onto the ground because she was trying to juggle three shopping bags and her handbag. Think before you reach for anything expensive out of your pockets!

 

[bassjunky]

For those who criticize people for dropping their phones, ya' know what? **** happens.

 

[LagunaSol]

I'm sure MSFT will hype this. In fact the timing of this with the Windows Mobile 7 launch is uncanny.

WP7 phones with glass screens can also break if dropped. Of course there won't be a million YouTube videos and blog posts about WP7 phones with cracked screens like there are with iPhones. Not much press coverage of Android phones with broken glass screens either (though glass screens on Android phones can also shatter).

As always, Apple gets all the scrutiny.

 

[crackbookpro]

The outside of the iPhone 4 is made up of 85% Glass. Front & Back is Glass!!! The dumbest thing for a mobile hardware design, but one of the smartest ideas for increasing sales nonetheless.

Apple has a cult now! Why would you buy a phone that has Glass all around the outside hardware? You are either a tech freak, a child, rich enough to not care, or just plain stupid.

The iPhone 4 was the dumbest design I have ever seen on such a big market smartphone! Apple has it's reasons, and the true reason is the business stance they take on making as much cash as possible with any device in their lineup these days.

Good for Apple... Bad for the Consumer.

I could go on & on...

 

[zac4mac]

I carried my original iPhone with me every day until I got a new iP4 a few months ago.

The original -
It never had a case, dropped it twice, once from about 4' to concrete.
It has a little dent in one corner of the metal case.

It went thru the washing machine... TWICE!!
Still works perfect, it's in the garage for music and internet access.

This iP4 seems more fragile to me, but still no case.
I had to upgrade, the iP4 is a BIG jump from the old RevA.

Thanks Steve and crew, coolest thing I have ever put in my pocket.

Zack

 

[Laird Knox]

A bottle of wine fell out of my fridge last night and shattered on the linoleum floor. I can't believe they would package wine in such a poor container. Its back to boxed wine for me!

"with some customers reporting that dirt trapped between the glass and slide-on cases has caused scratching and shattering of the glass back”

Have there been any actual confirmed cases of this? Daring Fireball and Macalope seem unable to find anything except what seems to be a fabricated scandal used as link bait by gdgt.

It’s hard to imagine the physics of that happening to Gorilla Glass, unless you trapped a serious stone chunk and then sat on it. In which case.... yes, things break.

I don't know about breaking the glass but on the original iPhone I had a rubber case. Grit collected between the phone and cover. There were scratches and gouges all over the back of the phone and even a couple of good dings from a piece of sand. I was shocked at how much damage was done to the aluminum case.

I guess the bottom lines is that if you use a case on any mobile device then you need to periodically take it off and clean it out.

 

[Cynicalone]

The back does scratch easily. I noticed this early on, I haven't used a case since the original iPhone. I carried my 3G and 3GS without a case and they never scratched like the 4. Tiny little scratches all over the back even when carried exactly like it's predecessors.

 

[Bregalad]

The simple rule, don't drop your iPhone. Period.

As if anyone intentionally drops their electronic device.

 

[Dr McKay]

I despise the almost 'crunching' sound you get when placing the iPhone on certain surfaces. Also the completely flat design on both sides... I dropped mine off the table once, and it landed completely flat down, with a loud slap and these carpets are about 3mm of fabric over concrete.

 

[Laird Knox]

I think a big factor is the sheer slipperiness of the new design. I always give the phone a death grip before pulling it out of my pocket. And if you set it on anything at the slightest angle it will slide off like a bar of wet soap.

That is the only reason I put a bumper on mine. I got tired of it sliding off the arm of the couch all the time. At least the bumper has some grip on the fabric.

 

[AAPLaday]

Is the back of the iPhone 4 slippy? I've never used one myself but if it is then i would definitely take extra care with it. My 3GS was fine to hold but of course that had a plastic back