iPhone 7 Undergoes Extreme Durability Test in New Video [Updated]

[zacheryjensen]

These guys don't know what they're talking about. They are not scratching the sapphire glass. They are scratching the anti-reflective coating that's applied to it. Of course, one can talk about how the use of a scratchable coating defeats the point of the sapphire glass, but, still. One should not take random Youtubers very seriously.

 

[Hodar1]

What's the "defined lifespan" then? If he doesn't know what it is, then he doesn't have a point to make. What if the "defined lifespan" is 20 years of plugging/unplugging?

Ports lifespan are measured in "Mating Cycles". Typical consumer mating cycles, say for your USB port is ~500. That's why it's not unusual for your laptop's USB port to "die" on older laptops. A CHEAP USB port is $0.25 where a "High End" USB port runs a whopping $1.10 and may last 20,000 cycles. Now, a common sense approach would be to pay the $0.85 and have one last well beyond the useful life of the product. But, when you manufacture millions, that $0.85 is Millions of lost profits on something that will likely fail AFTER the warranty period, right? Same thing with the Lightning port. It will fail AFTER the 1 year AppleCare is up, but possibly long before the useful life of the iPhone. Hence, his statement. How many times do you plug and charge your phone? Now, how many times do you plug and unplug headphones into your phone? I charge my phone 1-3x a day; but I plug my headset into it 3-5x a day. So the lighting jack went from 1-3 (average 2 a day) mating's a day, to 4-8x a day, or (4x365) ~1,500-3,000 mating's a year (and that's about DOUBLE).

If the Lighting jack was designed for 10,000 mating's for normal life, that means the jack will be "worn out" in about 3 years, versus 6.5 years

 

[Kid Red]

.... "an extremely bad move",

For those that use headphones....gotcha.

 

[calzon65]

These guys don't know what they're talking about. They are not scratching the sapphire glass. They are scratching the anti-reflective coating that's applied to it. Of course, one can talk about how the use of a scratchable coating defeats the point of the sapphire glass, but, still. One should not take random Youtubers very seriously.

This is an interesting hypothesis. When I read about the lens scratching, I didn't consider if there was a coating being scratched versus the actual lens. Thanks for raising this possibility.

 

[Peace]

Don't you people know the difference between the Lens cover and the home button ?

Wow.

 

[Jack Burton]

Guess I'll have to go android this time around, this doesn't meet my day to day use requirements. I routinely attack my phone with a level 6 hardness pick and then sit on it. You dropped the ball, Apple.

 

[srazz]

So I can't get my new iPhone for another 2 to 3 weeks and this dude does and destroys it.

 

[pirata]

Bold: This is complete nonsense, reason, not one single person uses this port the same, some won't ever use the headphone while others will use them more than charging the phone, so it could be from zero extra wear on the port until more than double, even triple or quadruple.

Not nonsense, it stands to reason that if you use something twice as much it wears out twice as fast. Like he said in the video no one knows what that number is is. It could be 10k, 100k, 1m and your right not everyone will use it the same he just making the case the the potential of wearing quicker is there due to apple combining both ports.

 

[bobob]

Macrumors you have it wrong.

Apple doesn't say the home button is made of Sapphire. It says the camera lens cover is.

Notice that MacRumors has added the 'Bendgate' tag to this thread - - they must be hurting for pageviews.

 

[Macinva]

I'm getting the same color phone and cringed seeing those shavings coming off the back from the razor blade. Obviously I wouldn't do that, but seeing all that damage to a new phone is still cringe-worthy.

 

[macduke]

With the camera being bigger and bulgier than ever, it would really suck if they stopped using sapphire. Scratches on the display are one thing. Scratches on the camera lens and TouchID can render them practically useless. I mean, isn't that why they've used sapphire on the camera the past few generations? And I think TouchID has always been sapphire. It's also one thing if Apple cheaps out, and another if they lie about the materials they use. If this is the case, this is definitely going class-action. I've seen far less serious offenses go to court. This case would actually have some legs due to false advertising, if true.

 

[newyorkone]

What world do you live in where false advertising is a "non-issue"?

A kind of world where I don't jump to unfounded conclusions until they are fully verified. Do you think the idiots who make these videos have any incentive to NOT find something wrong. Of course they are going to "find" something and then create a sensationalized video and headline that is as extreme as possible in order to bait people to click. THEY GET PAID FOR THE VIEWS. It's unscientific rubbish. I'll stick with innocent until proven guilty...

 

[Peace]

With the camera being bigger and bulgier than ever, it would really suck if they stopped using sapphire. Scratches on the display are one thing. Scratches on the camera lens and TouchID can render them practically useless. I mean, isn't that why they've used sapphire on the camera the past few generations? And I think TouchID has always been sapphire. It's also one thing if Apple cheaps out, and another if they lie about the materials they use. If this is the case, this is definitely going class-action. I've seen far less serious offenses go to court. This case would actually have some legs due to false advertising, if true.

Nowhere does Apple say the home button is made of Sapphire.

Reading is fundamental.

 

[CyBeRino]

All this and he doesn't test for waterproofness?

 

[macduke]

Nowhere does Apple say the home button is made of Sapphire.

Reading is fundamental.

http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/ Sapphire crystal lens cover, which this seems to NOT be.

As for TouchID, see this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204587

The technology within Touch ID is some of the most advanced hardware and software we've put in any device. The button is made from sapphire crystal—one of the clearest, hardest materials available. This protects the sensor and acts as a lens to precisely focus it on your finger.
​

That's their page talking about the core of what the technology is based on. Don't you try to lecture me about the fundamentals of reading, Peace. You've been around here long enough to know I'm no idiot and know what the hell I'm talking about. They even talked about it in the keynote where they launched TouchID. All the iPhones have used sapphire home buttons since then.

I accept your apology in advance.

 

[69Mustang]

$$$

Unbox Therapy's fake iPhone 6+ bend test video had 69 million views.

This video is primarily positive about the iPhone. How is one of the "tests" performed going to hold so much more sway that any of the others? The guy in the video didn't go out of his way to highlight the scratch resistance of the camera lens and home button.

 

[Peace]

http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/ Sapphire crystal lens cover, which this seems to NOT be.

As for TouchID, see this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204587

The technology within Touch ID is some of the most advanced hardware and software we've put in any device. The button is made from sapphire crystal—one of the clearest, hardest materials available. This protects the sensor and acts as a lens to precisely focus it on your finger.
​

That's their page talking about the core of what the technology is based on. Don't you try to lecture me about the fundamentals of reading, Peace. You've been around here long enough to know I'm no idiot and know what the hell I'm talking about. They even talked about it in the keynote where they launched TouchID. All the iPhones have used sapphire home buttons since then.

I accept your apology in advance.

As I do yours.

That article is from Nov. 2015.

Last I looked it's Sept. 2016. and the "Home button" is no more. It's not a single clickable button. It uses haptic feedback.

Note the spec page says "Home/Touch ID sensor" not button.

It was changed to ensure better water-proofing.

 

[Mudodonbond]

I thought the camera glass and TouchID were sapphire since the 6? Why would they change that?

I remember the 5 having sapphire as the camera glass and then since the 5s the home and camera have been sapphire.

 

[macduke]

As I do yours.

That article is from Nov. 2015.

Last I looked it's Sept. 2016. and the "Home button" is no more. It's not a single clickable button. It uses haptic feedback.

Note the spec page says "Home/Touch ID sensor" not button.

I also noted that date. You know what it tells me as a consumer? Nothing has changed from one model to the next. That page explains the foundations of how TouchID works and how it's necessary to have a sapphire crystal to protect it. The iPhone 7 has Touch ID. If you can't understand that, then this discussion is over.

Arguing the semantics of what is and isn't a button is the worst Apple apologist tactic I've ever seen on this site. Wow, I just can't even right now. Apple's quality is slipping. They say for three generations of devices that sapphire is needed and now they stop and that's just ok? We're just going to accept that either 1, they lied to us about the need for sapphire; or 2, their product quality is slipping. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, this is not a good development.

Not to mention you're still skating around the fact that they claim the rear camera lens is sapphire and it does not seem to be sapphire. Still grounds for a class action. But let's just ignore that completely and praise the mighty Apple!

 

[Peace]

I also noted that date. You know what it tells me as a consumer? Nothing has changed from one model to the next. That page explains the foundations of how TouchID works and how it's necessary to have a sapphire crystal to protect it. The iPhone 7 has Touch ID. If you can't understand that, then this discussion is over.

Arguing the semantics of what is and isn't a button is the worst Apple apologist tactic I've ever seen on this site. Wow, I just can't even right now. Apple's quality is slipping. They say for three generations of devices that sapphire is needed and now they stop and that's just ok? We're just going to accept that either 1, they lied to us about the need for sapphire; or 2, their product quality is slipping. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, this is not a good development.

Not to mention you're still skating around the fact that they claim the rear camera lens is sapphire and it does not seem to be sapphire. Still grounds for a class action. But let's just ignore that completely and praise the mighty Apple!

There's no more button..Ok ? It's not a single piece.

 

[LuckyBubba]

Personally, I appreciate learning about the limitations of any product - I just hate being to careful and not using a product to it's maximum potential.
My apple sport watch resisted scratches until it rubbed up against the stone on my house when changing out the house. Sure, I was a bit disappointed when it scratched - most of the test videos used things found in your pocket for a scratch test; guess what, my watch doesn't sit in my pocket and had someone tried scratching the face with stone (perhaps they have and I missed that video) then I might have been more careful.

 

[dwsolberg]

-- deleted because not helpful

 

[Stratus Fear]

Apple's quality is slipping. They say for three generations of devices that sapphire is needed and now they stop and that's just ok? We're just going to accept that either 1, they lied to us about the need for sapphire; or 2, their product quality is slipping. Maybe a bit of both. Either way, this is not a good development.

Not to mention you're still skating around the fact that they claim the rear camera lens is sapphire and it does not seem to be sapphire. Still grounds for a class action. But let's just ignore that completely and praise the mighty Apple!

You don't know that it isn't sapphire and just simply has a coating on it. Stainless steel Apple Watches have an anti-reflective coating over sapphire that can scratch. iPhone screens have an oleophobic coating that helps to prevent fingerprints staying on the screen and that can also scratch (the screens aren't sapphire but the coating will scratch long before the screen does). It stands to reason that since it's so easy to test the authenticity of sapphire (anyone can buy a mineral hardness testing kit on Amazon for less than $20) that it's more likely that there is some coating on the home button/sensor and camera cover than it is Apple falsely advertising them as sapphire. It's not at all a stretch for this to be the case. On the home button, said coating would increase the accuracy of each fingerprint read since the surface would be less likely to retain oil from the skin with each press. Likewise, pictures would be clearer with each photo shot due to less need to wipe off the lens.

People around here need to stop taking the first YouTube video they see as gospel. It's not Apple apologia to not to so.

 

[dwsolberg]

But.. wouldn't that have started at pick hardness 1 rather than 6?

Each pick is made of a different material (or else it would be the same hardness). The material at 6 might be more amenable to adhering to the sapphire than the material used for the other picks.

 

[brianlbaker]

Does anyone have concerns after seeing this?

No.