Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 4 More Prone to Accidental Damage Than 3GS

It's also important to consider "regular usage" - the iPhone NEEDS a glass screen, because it's constantly being touched by the user. A plastic screen will NOT survive long with this type of usage, because it will just get scratched to hell quickly. After 6 months of having my 3GS naked, the screen had maybe one scratch on it from a drop, but the back was COVERED in tiny scratches, and I wasn't constantly dragging my fingertips around the back. I also had a Blackberry Pearl for a year and a half, and the plastic screen covering got so badly scratched from standard use that I could barely use it towards the end, and it just looked trashy, much like the back of the 3GS after 6 months.

A glass front and back makes for a much more scratch-resistant phone - this is a good thing for increased longevity! Yes, it's also more prone to shattering if dropped, but really, the back comes off with only 2 screws, making it VERY simple to replace, so that's kindof a non-factor, and when you remove the back glass panel from discussion, this puts us back at square 1 - the front screen HAS to be glass, which is why pretty much all touchscreen smartphones have glass screen. Furthermore, I don't think the front glass actually is more likely to break than on the 3GS - if anything, less likely, as it's made from tougher glass. Sure, I do have scratches on my IP4, but far fewer than my 3GS at this point... I've also just recently (less than 5 days ago) put a Skinobi skin on it, and I'm very happy with that so far. We'll see if it lasts.

There is also the matter of statistical noise and the simple fact that it's poor logic to draw conclusions about causation from correlation, as has been mentioned before.
 
Day 31 - phone on lap, got out of car, off flies my new IPhone4G onto the concrete

Well, I am not surprised. I dropped my brand new beautiful phone on the 31st day of ownership. it was just 2.5 feet off the ground. I immediately go to apple.com. I posted "how dare I." But, i knew it was so much heavier - and smaller. Question to my son last week: Please tell me how many (out of 1,000) would drop their phone at least once in a year? he replied: I don't know - But you shouldn't have dropped it Mom.......I reiterated to him, that the sleek, trim glass phone was one of Apple's major selling features - (that's a nono i said to myself). 3g, dropped plenty. still running. Now it's only been 45 days and i'm on my second one. But my fault. My fault.
Mr. Jobs - please just fix it. Make the glass go away!
 
Wth?

I could've determined that without any studies. The phone is made out of glass for christ sake, of course it will break. It didn't need any studies, damn.. They just have to have something to write about.
 
maflynn said:
Assuming apple sold about 3 million iPhones, we're talking about 141,000 (using 4.7% figure reported in the first post)
phones breaking because of glass. No matter how you slice it, having over 141,000 users dealing a broken phone is way too much.

This of course is only a subset since it does not include users who do not have squaretrade.
Click to expand...

And the numbers mean nothing without data from other phones.
 
ivan2002 said:
It's not just that it has more glass. It's also that it's thinner with sharper edges that offer less traction against the skin of your hands, while at the same time being heavier.

When I hold 3G in my hangs, I feel like I have a good grip of it, when I hold 4, it just doesn't feel like it's made to be held tightly, because as I tighten my grip the edges are uncomfortably cutting into my hand. Bumper helps with this, but it's really pathetic to need a piece of prosthetic plastic to fix a flawed design.
Click to expand...

Yep. The poor ergonomic of the iPh4 is the reason I'm still using my 3Gs. Again, this is about industrial design not careless people.
 
damarsh said:
Noones saying its the solution but its not rocket science that if you drop your phone its your own fault.
Click to expand...

Here is what the correct logic is:

If you knew what the phone is made of, and if you had a chance to walk into the store and see how it feels in your hands, and you still decided to buy it, THEN if you drop it and it breaks, it's your fault.

What I think the value in this research here is that what you could figure out and feel for yourself is now supported by real world use data: chances are higher than with the previous design that you will drop it, so factor that into your buying decision.

So, it's not about whom to blame, it's about whether to buy or not.
But, if you do buy now, then yeah... you will only have yourself to blame later.
 
When you look at the percentages, it's really not all that serious. We're talking about a really small percentage of people. Sure it's saying 70% higher, but it's only 70% higher than 2.8%. If you look at the research, they're only talking about people who signed up for a warrentee with Squaretrade.

Also, i did some research into Squaretrade and the research that they take part in and i had trouble finding anything on any other phone other than the iPhone. Why is it they're only doing research on the iPhone? How can we compare the quality of the iPhone to other phones, if the only thing they're reporting on is the iPhone? Squaretrade's study is bias because they're in it to make money. The more people think the iPhone can be easily broken the more warrentees they'll buy from Squaretrade to protect them.
 
damarsh said:
Noones saying its the solution but its not rocket science that if you drop your phone its your own fault. I dropped both my iphones with no damage, I dropped my plastic nokia and cracked the thing to death. Does that make Nokia using plastic a problem?

Id really love to cry for the 141000 customers but quite literally I dont have the patience.
what would you make it out of? steel? iron? ffs
Click to expand...

See there is the problem, you are concerned about blame. I am not.

I have also dropped one of my BB's down 3 flights of stairs , all it did was pop the battery [c]over and battery out. That doesn't make me a BB fan BTW. I'd like to know I could accidentally drop a device and it not be complete toast. That's all.
 
chrono1081 said:
Thats like saying its a drinking glass companies fault because people at home are dropping their glasses on the floor and the glasses break.
Click to expand...
We're not talking about a 2 dollar drinking glass but a phone that goes for around 600 dollars (unsubsidized). It behooves apple to apply a design that not only looks good but doesn't exactly shatter to pieces so easily. Remember the MR story of the backs of the IP4 cracking because the use of certain cases.

Apple screwed up, and yet the apple fanboys are coming out of the woodwork to defend apple. Antenna issue, there's no antenna issue, proximity sensor, nothing wrong there, glass scratching/cracking because of a case, no that's not a problem Keep drinking the kool-aid
 
spazzcat said:
And the numbers mean nothing without data from other phones.
Click to expand...

Other then a lot of iPhone users are dealing with a broken phone. In a sense it doesn't matter about other phones, apple keeps telling us they're not following other makers, they're going their own way. We're talking about a population that numbers in the hundred of thousands that are dealing with this problem. That's too many.

General Motors back in the day probably used the same argument. 4% failure rate that's not bad at all, its not our fault, look where they are now.
 
I'm not sure about accidental damage!

maybe damage after being thrown at a wall, or out of a window. Because the antenna design is fundamentally flawed, even with a bumper the software has been set to flag up 'poor reception' (to divert attention) such as the user is inundated with 'lost reception messages' that try to lay blame at the network. The the camera freezes constantly too!

damage, yes! Accidental? iPhone 4 give iPhone a bad name!:mad:
 
I am actually amazed at how sturdy the iPhone 4G is. A few weeks ago, while brushing my horse, he grabbed it in his teeth and wouldn't let go. It is in an inexpensive rubbery case and is attached to my belt in a leather pouch. So it is protected ... but not like being in an otterbox case. He grabbed the pouch so hard that there is a scar on the leather. We played tug-of-war for a minute or two before he finally let go. He had it gripped but good and even did a side-to-side with his teeth to further aggravate me. Put your phone in a vise grip and squeeze with all your might and it would not be as tight as he had it. I guarantee the plastic back on my 3G would have cracked.
 
my iphone 4 screen cracked so the store gave me a new one. never had a crack with any of the prior iphones. who knows. i have a bumper on mine that covers the entire back and sides.
 
lvt said:
I am actually amazed at how sturdy the iPhone 4G is. A few weeks ago, while brushing my horse, he grabbed it in his teeth and wouldn't let go. It is in an inexpensive rubbery case and is attached to my belt in a leather pouch. So it is protected ... but not like being in an otterbox case. He grabbed the pouch so hard that there is a scar on the leather. We played tug-of-war for a minute or two before he finally let go. He had it gripped but good and even did a side-to-side with his teeth to further aggravate me. Put your phone in a vise grip and squeeze with all your might and it would not be as tight as he had it. I guarantee the plastic back on my 3G would have cracked.
Click to expand...

iPhone 4 is now officially horse proof :D
Horse_Chef.gif
 
Why are people getting all excited over this "proof" that the iPhone4 is flawed? The difference in damage reports between the 3GS and the 4 is 1.9%. That's a measly difference, and it wouldn't surprise me if it could be explained away by a) increased reporting; people are aware that there is some concern over the fragility of the iPhone so they will use this to their benefit when they claim for insurance ("it was only a short fall, I swear"), and b) margin of error.

Now if the difference had been around the 10%, then I would have taken notice. But until someone proves that the difference is statistically significant then I'm going to go ahead and look at getting an iPhone4 when I move back to Europe.
 
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

First off, we are looking at data on breakage from a company selling you an insurance plan for breakage. A minor conflict of interest. It doesn't discount the data, but it means we may not see the big picture.

Others have pointed out it does not cover adoption rate, how available/advertised was this plan in months 1 to 3 with the 3G and 3GS, total number of policies sold, etc. There is a lot missing. I am sure what is presented is real, but it leaves out a lot.

As to why the iPhone 4 is breaking, lets discuss materials. Glass is hard. In fact it is harder than any plastic. On the Mohr scale Gorilla Glass is about a 7.7 with diamond being 10 and talc (very soft) being 1. On the Brinnel Scale, plastics range from 10 to 50 with steel at 7000, and glass at 7000 and diamond at 10,000. Bottom line is glass is hard.

Please remember the uproar when the first gen metal back got micro scratches. The world was ending. Then the second version (3G, 3GS) had a tough plastic back that scratched in different ways. Now the dual glass.

Plastic has its advantages. It has more flex, eslasticity and plasticity than glass, and glass is more prone to fracture. The iPhone 4 is well engineered to take torque stress well around the metal frame. So there are trade offs.

I do njot think Johnny Ive's and Steve Jobs did form over function. I think many hours went into these decisions. Again, recall, people complained when the back was stainless steel. It scratched and had to have the plastic band for antenna reception. The plastic 3G could crack and also scratch. Now you have other scracthes and breaks.

Due to mass, limited torque, and fracture stress, I bet the iPhone 4 is more prone to cracks from jarring oblique and angled drops. However I am certain it is less prone to scratches.

In general it is a very durable device. Plastic LCDs break often in cell phones as do plastic cases, latches and hinges. Is it impervious? No. No substance meets all needs at all times.I bet the glass with liquid alloy frame of a possible next gen will be even better allowing more flex and torsion resistence.

On a personal note, I keep my iPhone (all models when I had them) caseless in my front pocket with my car keys. I have dropped my phone on numerous surfaces and my ist gen has fine scratches on the metal, the 3G the case looks liek crap but the glass was pristine and iPhone 4 is flawless.

I saw an iPhone 4 shatter while falling off a counter and hitting tile at an oblique angle on the corner. A Motorola radio also fell off. The iPhone cracked its back glass while the ABS/Polycarb plastic radio shattered.

Back to the article. This article is valid although limited in the conslusions one can draw from it.
 
maflynn said:
Other then a lot of iPhone users are dealing with a broken phone. In a sense it doesn't matter about other phones, apple keeps telling us they're not following other makers, they're going their own way. We're talking about a population that numbers in the hundred of thousands that are dealing with this problem. That's too many.

General Motors back in the day probably used the same argument. 4% failure rate that's not bad at all, its not our fault, look where they are now.
Click to expand...

It's not a failure rate that is being reported, it is the rate of damage - it would be as if you were to report crashing your car to the manufacturer. The difference being that due to a choice of materials or manufacturing process, the extent of the damages resulting from a minor "fender bender" are greater than what is usually expected.

Apple isn't causing so many people to drop and crush their phones, they just made a phone that may be more vulnerable to damage.
 
I owned the original iPhone, carried it naked for over a year and never dropped it. I still own a 3G, carry it naked, never dropped it either. That said, I saw this coming a mile away, and no amount of spin-doctoring is going to save the Apple loyalists from the simple laws of mathematics.

People aren't any more or less careful with their phones just because Apple introduced a new product. It has nothing to do with demographics or perception. This phone has a higher failure rate per incident than its predecessors. Period. It's a stone-cold mathematical fact -the kind that manufacturers and carriers document and trend meticulously.

I love Apple just as much as any diehard fanboy, but part of maintaining your sanity while loving a brand is being objective enough to admit when they float a brain fart.
 
Would the higher percentage of accidents for the iPhone 4 over the 3GS have anything to do with the greater number of sales the iPhone 4 has over the 3GS?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back