iPhone 4 More Prone to Accidental Damage Than 3GS

[sarge]

I said it on day 1 - the previous generation was built for a human hand while the 4th gen is decidedly not.

That said I've dropped my phone twice and I have to say it's built better than the last one. The thing flew up in the air and came smashing down on the sidewalk, landing on the corner. When I heard it hit I thought it was going to be toast but on inspection it was hard to see where it even took the hit. Hard to complain about that.

 

[ciaran00]

I love how dense this thing feels.. you sometimes don't expect something with its shape to be as heavy as it is..

Maybe that's what's tripping people up..

 

[IBradMac]

Think I'll just hold on to my 3GS till next years 5.

Next year the sides will be made out of glass.

 

[GoodWatch]

The 'advice' to not drop the phone is on the same level as the advise to men to "not grow bald". Or the "deal with it" remarks. As useful as square wheels on a bike. Some flaws can perhaps be attributed to the design. Or the inevitable choice of materials to maintain the originality of the design. I can picture Steve's next performance already: "All phones suffer from this, phones aren't perfect". And all's well. Pfah, I'm just jealous because I have to wait two more months to get mine

 

[reybart]

Because I don't put it in my tight pants or at my back pocket and forgot it is there when I take a seat. These are how people break their ip4.

 

[SkippyThorson]

...you mean a pocket watch?

Your feeble attempt at a witty comeback reply has just proved how much you like to date yourself far into the past.

I don't know anyone that still uses a pocket watch, but you come back and tell me how much you love yours, how important it is to you, and the vast exact pinpointed number of how many other people you know with one just like yours.

Either you:
A) Are 96 years old.
B) Live in rural Alabama.
C) Really like retro "tech".
D) Have no idea how to read a digital newfangled wristwatch.
E) All of the above.

Please troll again.

 

[mrdm]

Not conclusive

SquareTrade has reported the accident rates between the 3GS and 4 over the same period of *time*. The data would be more meaningful if the sample size was the same between the two phones in terms of number of *units*. Then the % failed could be accurately compared.

The test data is only from customers who have purchased warranty from SquareTrade. How many warranty contracts did SquareTrade sell between the 3GS and the iPhone 4 over the same period of time? What if there are more iPhone 4 customers with warranty contracts than the 3GS? This could be possible as the iPhone4 has significantly outsold the 3GS over the same period of time.

From the study:

" Synopsis: SquareTrade analyzed iPhone accidents for over 20,000 iPhone 4s covered by SquareTrade Care Plans and found a 82% increase in reported broken screens compared to the iPhone 3gs."

Is the 2.8% accident rate of the 3GS over 20,000 phones as well?

 

[k995]

SquareTrade has reported the accident rates between the 3GS and 4 over the same period of *time*. The data would be more meaningful if the sample size was the same between the two phones in terms of number of *units*. Then the % failed could be accurately compared.

The test data is only from customers who have purchased warranty from SquareTrade. How many warranty contracts did SquareTrade sell between the 3GS and the iPhone 4 over the same period of time? What if there are more iPhone 4 customers with warranty contracts than the 3GS? This could be possible as the iPhone4 has significantly outsold the 3GS over the same period of time.

From the study:

" Synopsis: SquareTrade analyzed iPhone accidents for over 20,000 iPhone 4s covered by SquareTrade Care Plans and found a 82% increase in reported broken screens compared to the iPhone 3gs."

Is the 2.8% accident rate of the 3GS over 20,000 phones as well?

Doesnt really matter if its over 20k 30k or 40k . The volumes are large enough to be able to make some conclusions.

I dont think its a suprise to anyone that more glass on a phone cause it to have more cases in wich that glass breaks.

Form over function .

 

[hakime]

Another stupid attempt to destabilize Apple. Come one, after the dude who tried to spread some fud about iphone cracked with just some dust without the beginning of a proof or data to support its claims, now we get thrown at us some numbers that say quite nothing.

If we believe their numbers (and this is already something to do), 3.9% of iphone users reported a cracked screen within 4 months, as opposed to 2.1% of iPhone 3gs owners. Yes but 3.9% of what, thin air? I can only see that there is a higher number of people reporting that they broke their devise, because to start with, there is probably more people who bought iphones 4 than iphones 3GS during the same period of time. Higher number people buying a devise, higher possible chance that there are more of them breaking it. Higher iphones 4 out there, higher chance that more of them are being dropped. What is surprising here? Nothing is clearly showing that the iphone 4 is more prone to damage.

And I doubt that 20,000 iphones 4 is a large enough sample to be considered trustable as the iphone 4 sold by millions in the same period of time. Also considering the data from a warranty contracts is biased by definitions since people with an insurance will care less for their devise than someone else without one. They will naturally be more prone to drop their devise since they will be less careful knowing that they got an insurance for any damage. So, their numbers are just basically showing us that people with insurance break more phones than people without one. What a scoop.....

Then they claim,

"While our data doesn't identify which broken screens resulted from dirt trapped behind a slide case, at least a quarter of the broken glass claims involved the back screen. With 82% more cracked screens reported, the evidence suggests that the iPhone 4 is more vulnerable to physical damage than its predecessor."

Translation: We know that people are mostly dropping them, but we want to make a story of that and can't help ourself but to throw BS.

 

[OutSpoken]

Jeez, I can't believe some of the comments...

No matter how careful you are, accidents CAN happen. I very much doubt people purposely throw their expensive phones on the floor

I absolutely LOVE the design of the iP4, but I also find myself acting more cautiously with it because I know how fragile it is...So yes, a product can be beautiful but also not very practical at the same time. Which ultimately is how I see the iP4. I have never needed to be so guarded with any of my previous phones before, but with the iP4 it's different.

Plus when you hear so many scare stories of shattered and cracked screens, it doesn't help matters..

 

[kalsta]

I can't believe some of the comments either. Comparing mobile phones to bottles of wine?! What the…?

Interpreting this data isn't rocket science people. Here's where the writer spells it out for you:

Multiplying the accident rate with the cracked screen distribution, we find that 3.9% of iPhone 4 owners reported a cracked screen within 4 months, as opposed to just 2.1% of iPhone 3gs owners.
​

This was the second reason (after the antenna issue) I kept my 3G. I assumed that the back side being glass would very much increase the chances of a broken phone should I accidentally drop it. Now there is real data confirming that. Two sheets of glass instead of one, and almost twice the rate of glass breakage.

iPhone 4 owners, keep your pants on. I'm not saying it ain't a nice device in other respects. But it has some real design flaws, and they're deal-breakers for me.

 

[dammyonline]

"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 noticed a 'scratch type glass slash' on the back of my iphone for the first time a couple of days ago when I took it out of the case to clean as I normally do. I use the incase snap smoke as opposed to a slider. I've never dropped my iphone, I keep it in my pocket when I'm on the go, away from keys, coins and everything else. I do not have any other scratches on the device (even more weirdly no scratches on the front which is exposed as I do not use a screen protector). It's no big deal anyway but thought I'd respond

 

[*LTD*]

Looks pretty even. A few percentage points loss on one end, a few points gain on the other.

What's the problem? More antenna-gate-like baloney?

The solution is pretty simple: take care of your stuff.

 

[Stella]

Ives didn't intend on people being so careless with such a gorgeous item. Usually, you'd imagine people would be more careful with something if it's nicer. Seems to be the opposite with iPhone 4, it's almost like people are trying to break the things. They just have no care when handling it.

Step out of the RDF and into the real world... Its a phone, people drop phones!

Apple , as nice as the products look, do go overboard with aesthetics - but iPhone 4 isn't the first product - remember the Cube, lots of issues due to its design. White iPhone 4 - where is that - it's complete vapourware - I wouldn't be surprised if white iphone remains just that - vapour. Design over practicality.

 

[villagehiker]

Sorry to just pick this out, but maybe only 4.7 percent filed a claim and the rest do actually understand they dropped it not Apple....
So, what I am saying is the 'report' is not even valid for reporting damages that DO occur. Only those reported and a claim was attempted.

This report is from a group of users who carry insurance offered by SquareTrade. These numbers are likely very accurate. Why? Because all of the people in the group have their phones insured. They buy insurance to get the iPhone fixed or replaced. More than likely, nearly 100% of people with insurance report the damage.

 

[villagehiker]

Here is some perspective. If Apple sold, say, 30 million iPhone 4th, that means almost 1.5 million people had their phone broken. That's a lot of unhappy people. Also, increase from 2.8 to 4.7 percent of total phones means 68% increase in breakage ratio. Obvious indication of design flaw.

Glass on the iPhone is part of Apple's attempt to make their products more green. Apparently, 95.3% of the people who insure phones with SquareTrade know how to handle this. That some users aren't getting the message and failing to do their part to live with a sustainable-technology is not a design flaw from Apple.

 

[villagehiker]

No it does not. It means that percent age of people did not report damage. No damage and a lack of reporting damage are not the same thing.

In this case, because the entire group analyzed is insured, there is probably very little lack of reporting.

 

[Brinkman]

As much as I love my incase case, I miss the naked phone.

 

[hellodon]

My girlfriend dropped hers yesterday, sitting in a chair with it at her knees, what is that, a little over 2 feet from the ground?

It landed directly on its back, face up. It had a plastic incase on it. Somehow the impact cracked the front screen pretty good around the ear piece. You could tell that side didnt hit the ground anywhere.

Thankfully she's pretty, they replaced the phone last night at no cost. Not even just the glass, the whole phone swapped out.

 

[kalsta]

Looks pretty even. A few percentage points loss on one end, a few points gain on the other.

The charts you copied give no indication of the overall increase in cracked screens from one model to the next. For that, you need to combine this data with that of the previous graph, and here's what you get:

Multiplying the accident rate with the cracked screen distribution, we find that 3.9% of iPhone 4 owners reported a cracked screen within 4 months, as opposed to just 2.1% of iPhone 3gs owners.​

That's almost twice as many!

 

[Thunderhawks]

Front cracked iPhone 4 screen since week two. Bought a replacement screen only to find out the LCD is bonded to it. I now have a broken screen and a spare white useless piece of glass. You still wont pry this iPhone 4 out of my hands.

Jake

My daughter has dropped her iphones many times and never wanted a case.
(Of course it was always somebody elses fault, getting bumped, cat jumped on it and bumped it of the couch etc.etc.)

After reading up on fixing it for her, I decided it was easier to have it fixed, even though I am technically talented enough.
There are plenty of services that will do it and do it well for around 85 dollars.

You can also sell your broken iphone close to your contract end to some services.

In any case, when I heard G4 has a glass back I knew immediately it needs a case.
I am using a cheap 7 dollar cage like aluminum enclosure from HD accessories and have dropped the phone several times with no incident.

For sure G5 will give up the glass back, IMO an admission by Apple that it was not a good idea.

Maybe it is even possible to make the G5 with a cage like enclosure to begin with?

 

[jcshas]

The truth behind these numbers

http://mashable.com/2010/10/13/iphone-4-glass/

 

[vanzantapple]

The mashable report says don't drop your phone. OK. Good thing I read that.

 

[rans0m00]

Everyone drops their phone at some point its a fact of life. How some people are breaking their iPhone so easy I have no clue I have dropped mine about 3 times in the last week from table height to knee height on accident and have not even received a scratch. So rock on some people are having worse luck than me but am I going to pay 100 for the off chance I might break this thing when chances are really good I am just going to buy the new one next year anyways? And if I do drop it and break the screen I can replace the screen or back for not much more than the warranty... Then not to mention the deductible... Heck I might end up paying more for Square Trade to fix my phone than it would cost for me just to do it.

 

[Mal]

Everyone drops their phone at some point its a fact of life. How some people are breaking their iPhone so easy I have no clue I have dropped mine about 3 times in the last week from table height to knee height on accident and have not even received a scratch. So rock on some people are having worse luck than me but am I going to pay 100 for the off chance I might break this thing when chances are really good I am just going to buy the new one next year anyways? And if I do drop it and break the screen I can replace the screen or back for not much more than the warranty... Then not to mention the deductible... Heck I might end up paying more for Square Trade to fix my phone than it would cost for me just to do it.

I have dropped my phone exactly once, and it was a weird random thing, plus it's a boring phone that I don't really care about, and had it been in a case (like an iPhone would be if I had one), I wouldn't have even gotten the tiny scratch on the screen that I did. My iPod, however, has never been dropped, because I care about it and I'm careful with it.

That said, I know some people are going to drop their phone, but quite frankly, the glass on the front and back has good justification for being there, and is harder to break than plastic in general, though of course when it does break it seems worse. I say put a case on the phone if you're likely to drop it, and if you don't, then deal with it if you make a mistake and drop the phone. No one should be complaining about a phone not standing up to a drop. Either get a phone that holds up better or put a good case on the thing. I'm not too worried about the ramifications of this on Apple's sales, and I'm sure they aren't either.

jW