Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Wouldn't having ALL the guts inside make it more stable ?

The frame doesn't bend or flex at all.

If anything, the guts would make it heavier, making acceleration in a free fall quicker, making impact greater and shattering easier.

:)
 
good test.

However like the glass, your test has a flaw too. for starters, it seems like this was a controlled test. you say landing it flat on the ground will smash it, sure i can believe that.

What you should have done are 'real world' tests, as the odds of dropping your phone exactly flat on its front and back surface are probably slim to none. It is more likely to land on a corner or the edge of the surface (although im not sure if that is what you are suggesting?). I would be interested to note the results if you were able to do this, say holding it in your hand then dropping it, or pulling it out your pocket and it slipping out of your hand, or something along those lines that happen in every day life.

Apple are not ones to design a product that doesnt withstand some deal of force.
 
The frame doesn't bend or flex at all.

If anything, the guts would make it heavier, making acceleration in a free fall quicker, making impact greater and shattering easier.

:)

Thanks for doing the research. That Squaretrade insurance plan is looking better and better now. Great work and keep it up!

Two things:

1. What type of floor did you guys drop it in (Concrete, Carpet, Tile, etc.)?
2. If the iPhone did have the internals in it, it wouldn't make if fall faster. The force of it hitting the ground would be greater since it has greater mass. Objects fall and accelerate at the same rate (sans Air Resistance)
 
good test.

However like the glass, your test has a flaw too. for starters, it seems like this was a controlled test. you say landing it flat on the ground will smash it, sure i can believe that.

What you should have done are 'real world' tests, as the odds of dropping your phone exactly flat on its front and back surface are probably slim to none. It is more likely to land on a corner or the edge of the surface (although im not sure if that is what you are suggesting?). I would be interested to note the results if you were able to do this, say holding it in your hand then dropping it, or pulling it out your pocket and it slipping out of your hand, or something along those lines that happen in every day life.

Apple are not ones to design a product that doesnt withstand some deal of force.

We see it every day where it lands flat on the face and shatters. Every day. So i'd consider that a 'real world' test.

We'll do another drop test dropping it on the corner. We appreciate the input and stay tuned for additional results from drop testing...round 2! :-D
 
When doing a test, can you please record it ?
And yes, real world tests would be better imo. Like try to walk and let it slip out of your hand or pocket, or run and let it slip or something like that.
Also on different grounds, like cement or office flooring or something.
Make it fall from a table and stuff.
Or what I'd want to see, walk around with keys and pennies and the iPhone in one pants pocket.
I'm more concerned about the scratching than the breaking.
 
The frame doesn't bend or flex at all.

If anything, the guts would make it heavier, making acceleration in a free fall quicker, making impact greater and shattering easier.

:)

For some reason I'm seeing some flaw in your reasoning...:rolleyes:

edit: someone beat me to it
 
The frame doesn't bend or flex at all.

If anything, the guts would make it heavier, making acceleration in a free fall quicker, making impact greater and shattering easier.

:)

Weight doesnt affect acceleration, and the frame is only the outside so the inside may have flexed?
 
I suspected the fact that the glass extends right to the edges would be a problem the first time I saw it. Very important to have a wraparound silicone case, I think. I have dropped my 2G several times onto the road without any damage because it was protected by the bezel, but the iP4 would have been totalled every time.
 
WOW!!! I'm impressed...Sapphire Crystal, It's like having a jewel phone into your pocket. All of my watches are pretty much scratch less because of sapphire crystal and I have them for years.

I'll bet the new iPhone is going to be slippery because it's made of stainless steel and glass, maybe I'm going to get the bumper - just in case.


Thank you all to your responses.
 
We see it every day where it lands flat on the face and shatters. Every day. So i'd consider that a 'real world' test.

We'll do another drop test dropping it on the corner. We appreciate the input and stay tuned for additional results from drop testing...round 2! :-D

sounds good keep us posted :).

obviously you guys know best as you have it first hand! i was just thinking surely it cant always land on the front? but i understand now because its sitting out of the stainless steel frame, even at an angle it is going to land on part of the glass. it will be interesting to see just how many people break it from dropping it.

it would be good if you guys could record a video of it as well if thats cool?

Weight doesnt affect acceleration, and the frame is only the outside so the inside may have flexed?

yep a = (v-u) / t
 
before you do another drop test, you should rub the phone around on different surfaces to see if it will scratch (even hairline scratched). Try to get it on video too.
 
Sounds like they're using Gorilla Glass by Corning.

Good, I've been begging for it for over a year now. If it is actually Gorilla Glass then I'm not even remotely worried about a crack or scratch.
 
I didn't realize all those plastic phones out there were so durable.

My point being, there is no magic phone that'll withstand a hard drop onto concrete. I've seen so many broken phones because of that drop from Android phones to Razr phones to iPhones.

The best thing you can do is either get a case or don't drop the phone. And if you do drop the phone, as it falls to the ground in slow motion, pray to whatever deity you believe in.
 
WOW!!! I'm impressed...Sapphire Crystal, It's like having a jewel phone into your pocket. All of my watches are pretty much scratch less because of sapphire crystal and I have them for years.

I'll bet the new iPhone is going to be slippery because it's made of stainless steel and glass, maybe I'm going to get the bumper - just in case.


Thank you all to your responses.

It's not actual sapphire crystal. Just so you know. It's not made of diamonds, gold and unicorn feces. It's a glass (very cheap, literally laying everywhere in some parts of the world) that's specially treated to give it similar properties.
 
Do you guys have a bumper yet? I'd be interested in the same test, but with a bumper attached.
 
Thanks for doing the research. That Squaretrade insurance plan is looking better and better now. Great work and keep it up!

Two things:

1. What type of floor did you guys drop it in (Concrete, Carpet, Tile, etc.)?
2. If the iPhone did have the internals in it, it wouldn't make if fall faster. The force of it hitting the ground would be greater since it has greater mass. Objects fall and accelerate at the same rate (sans Air Resistance)

1. First test was conducted on office carpet, which it held up fine. Concrete is what broke it.
2. Weight should not effect the acceleration...all objects accelerate to the ground at 9.8 m/s^2....however as since we live on earth, denser objects will fall to the earth faster than lighter objects because they can overcome air resistance....like if u go to the moon and drop a feather and a bowling ball, they will both land at the same time (because there is no air resistance). However here on earth, heavier objects will fall faster than the lighter ones because they overcome drag better than lighter objects (they are denser and have less spaces between particles).

Okay...so now that we have that cleared up...we have results of round 2...

So here's what we did this time.

First and foremost: The scratch test. Wow is all i can say. We went at it with keys, screwdrivers, razors, and not a mark. Good job apple! Very scratch resistant.

Second: The drop test.

Rather than dropping it flat, we dropped it a few different ways. We dropped on hard carpet, no problems, no cracking, held up well. Then we moved out to the concrete. We dropped it while walking out of our pocket, standing still and fumbling it, on the corner, spinning, etc. It did hold up quite well, much better than a 3G or 3Gs, but after drop #7 it hit the sweet spot(on the corner, top left) and shattered.

Our conclusion...it did take quite the beating, more than the predecessors, 2G/3G/3Gs, but it is still breakable.

No pictures yet....still have to upload them...coming soon :-D
 
The way the glass shatters is exactly how I would expect tempered glass to behave. Since Steve said that it was made out of the stuff that helicopters use, it's probably similar to car windshields as well as they are tempered as well. Though blunt force, it takes quite a bit to break though tempered glass, but if you hit it with the right instrument at the right spot, shatters into a million pieces. It's kinda neat.
 
Does anyone have any idea, does this new screen smudge more than 3GS with oleophobic coating?
 
It's not actual sapphire crystal. Just so you know. It's not made of diamonds, gold and unicorn feces. It's a glass (very cheap, literally laying everywhere in some parts of the world) that's specially treated to give it similar properties.

Good thing. Then it would float away...

But if it is Gorilla Glass-like, it probably will perform much like sapphire crystal. Can't kill that stuff with a fire axe.
 
What about the back side glasses, isn't that the same material as the front glasses?

Also how's the ?stainless steel/ aluminum? frame held up? Scratch, dent, etc....

Thanks for the testing.
 
Do you guys have the bumpers ? Try to drop it with those.
Also if you can turn on the iPhones and use the video camera for recording you could kill 2 birds with 1 stone :D

Anyways great to see someone testing it.

PS: yay for super scratch resistance <3
 
As per your recommendation, I'm going with this case...

http://www.meritline.com/newsearch.aspx?SearchTerm=iphone+4

It's cheap and should hold up fine till a case that I actually love comes along.

First and foremost: The scratch test. Wow is all i can say. We went at it with keys, screwdrivers, razors, and not a mark. Good job apple! Very scratch resistant.

That's AWESOME. THANK YOU. :D

It survived 6 drops before giving in huh? That's great to know. I only plan to drop it once or twice in it's life span.

I really wish Apple went with Gorilla Glass like the Dell Streak. I bet that wouldn't crack.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.