iPhone 15 Pro Max Titanium seems more prone to drop damage

[Ryan P]

Just a couple drop test out so far, but looks like Apple prioritized weight savings over strength. You had a very strong stainless steel frame, and now you have a thin titanium frame with an aluminum internal support. It is not surprising that this can make the glass easier to break.

The 14 Pro the real stand out, really impressive!

 

[ScubaCinci]

I always thought titanium was stronger than steel?

*edit* found this on the web - It (titanium) has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, providing the same amount of strength as steel at 40% its weight.
That said, it sounds like titanium is more elastic and more prone to warping/deformation.

 

[Ryan P]

I always thought titanium was stronger than steel?

*edit* found this on the web - It (titanium) has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, providing the same amount of strength as steel at 40% its weight

Stronger, but Apple had the choice of to make a stronger iPhone or a lighter iPhone. They went with lighter. I think the titanium performed really well in the short drop tests, but on the higher ones, likely it isn’t thick enough to keep pressure off the glass.

 

[ctbaz]

Honestly have applecare+ and/or use a case. You are covered.

 

[Cryates]

I mean, the guy in the second video was at one point utterly shocked the glass was still intact. Lol.

It turns out though that, in the end, glass is still glass.

 

[IphoneX9753]

Just a couple drop test out so far, but looks like Apple prioritized weight savings over strength. You had a very strong stainless steel frame, and now you have a thin titanium frame with an aluminum internal support. It is not surprising that this can make the glass easier to break.

The 14 Pro the real stand out, really impressive!

It’s not just the titanium it’s also the glass being rounded instead of flat. It appears the glass no longer sits flush below the rails.

 

[JPack]

It's not like Apple didn't evaluate this 15 years ago when they made the first iPhones.

Ti is a softer material and easier to scratch. In most cases, people don't need a stronger material. Nobody is complaining about their phones being bent like a taco. But having weight savings is nice.

 

[Ryan P]

Not in English, but scratch test.

 

[Apple_Robert]

More meaningless, clickbait video.

 

[LacrosseChic]

I love how the second guy has a new message notification on his phone. Like he actually took the time to set up the phone with a Sim just to smash it 😂

 

[^_^]

I started watching the first video and stopped right away. It could be fun to watch just because it's the first Titanium experience, but his comparison is meaningless, as he's dropping the phones manually. The damage depends on the point of impact, so unless they are both dropped from the exact same spot, onto the exact same surface and with the same angle, then it doesn't really say much. Machine drop tests are much more accurate when comparing drop damage, but idk if they even exist in various forms (not just a flat surface, etc), as I never cared enough to check...

EDIT: Yeah, look at this, and he calls this a "face drop" 🤡

tl;dr, take this joke of a video with a grain bucket of salt.

 

[Ryan P]

I started watching the first video and stopped right away. It could be fun to watch just because it's the first Titanium experience, but his comparison is meaningless, as he's dropping the phones manually. The damage depends on the point of impact, so unless they are both dropped from the exact same spot, onto the exact same surface and with the same angle, then it doesn't really say much. Machine drop tests are much more accurate when comparing drop damage, but idk if they even exist in various forms (not just a flat surface, etc), as I never cared enough to check...

I think you should watch it all lol. The differences between the two are not subtle. The end result is a demolished 15 Pro vs a still functional 14 Pro.

 

[C. Robert]

It's the amount of exposed glass with the smaller more curved metal ring that is the issue.

 

[Ryan P]

It's the amount of exposed glass with the smaller more curved metal ring that is the issue.

To an extent I think that is the case, but the end result of the iPhone 15 is total collapse. I think the internal aluminum starts to bend.

 

[Zest28]

So when you were thinking about going naked due to "carbon-neutral" ESG cases, you might want to rethink that choice.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Maybe don’t base anything on YouTube *******s who publish stuff like this for views and advertising revenue? There couldn’t possibly be a reason why they may alter their behavior in a way that makes the title more controversial. Surely nobody who buys a phone to damage it for clickbait wouldn’t ever consider doing something untoward.

 

[Supermallet]

I think you should watch it all lol. The differences between the two are not subtle. The end result is a demolished 15 Pro vs a still functional 14 Pro.

That doesn’t actually tell us anything about the durability of the 15 Pro series versus the 14 Pro series in aggregate, it just tells us that this individual 15 Pro was more damaged than this individual 14 Pro. A video like that isn’t controlling for any factors…at all. It’s spectacle, like those will it blend videos.

 

[Ryan P]

That doesn’t actually tell us anything about the durability of the 15 Pro series versus the 14 Pro series in aggregate, it just tells us that this individual 15 Pro was more damaged than this individual 14 Pro. A video like that isn’t controlling for any factors…at all. It’s spectacle, like those will it blend videos.

I’m sure will be many more videos. You have a sample size of 1 unit, but a sample of ~14 drops, where on every drop above a certain height, the 15 Pro faired worse. The odds of that happening if the Titanium is stronger, are quite low as long as you make the assumption that the drops are independent of each other.

 

[Supermallet]

I’m sure will be many more videos. You have a sample size of 1 unit, but a sample of ~14 drops.

None of which were controlled in any way. And I’d honestly be more interested in 14 identical drops with new phones each time, because once a phone gets damaged it’s going to be more easily damaged going forward.

I’m not saying that actually that 15 Pro in that video fared better than the 14 Pro in that video, it clearly didn’t. I’m just saying we can’t extrapolate anything from the results of that video. An unlucky drop could have easily made the 14 Pro the more damaged one by the end.

 

[Ryan P]

None of which were controlled in any way. And I’d honestly be more interested in 14 identical drops with new phones each time, because once a phone gets damaged it’s going to be more easily damaged going forward.

I’m not saying that actually that 15 Pro in that video fared better than the 14 Pro in that video, it clearly didn’t. I’m just saying we can’t extrapolate anything from the results of that video. An unlucky drop could have easily made the 14 Pro the more damaged one by the end.

Yes you have to make the assumption that the drops are independent. If you do, you can calculate it like this:

Simplified scenario of 10 drops where on the 3 drops both phones had the same amount of damage.

The binomial probability formula is:

P(X=k)=(nk)⋅pk⋅(1−p)n−kP(X=k)=(kn)⋅pk⋅(1−p)n−k

Where:

• nn is the number of trials (in this case, 10 drops)
• kk is the number of successes (in this case, 7 drops where phone B had more damage)
• pp is the probability of success on any given trial
• (nk)(kn) is "n choose k," a binomial coefficient that can be calculated as n!k!⋅(n−k)!k!⋅(n−k)!n!

For the odds of this occurring by chance, we would assume that there is an equal probability that either phone could have more damage on any given drop, meaning p=0.5p=0.5.

Let's plug in the values and calculate the probability:

• n=10n=10 drops
• k=7k=7 drops where phone B had more damage
• p=0.5p=0.5

P(X=7)=(107)⋅(0.5)7⋅(0.5)3P(X=7)=(710)⋅(0.5)7⋅(0.5)3

P(X=7)=10!7!⋅3!⋅0.510P(X=7)=7!⋅3!10!⋅0.510

P(X=7)=10⋅9⋅83⋅2⋅1⋅0.510P(X=7)=3⋅2⋅110⋅9⋅8⋅0.510 P(X=7)=1206⋅0.510P(X=7)=6120⋅0.510 P(X=7)=20⋅0.0009765625P(X=7)=20⋅0.0009765625 P(X=7)≈0.01953125P(X=7)≈0.01953125

However, to find the probability that phone B has more damage in 7 or more drops (i.e. 7, 8, 9, or 10 drops), we need to find the probability for each of these cases and then sum them up.

So, we also need to calculate:

P(X=8)=(108)⋅(0.5)8⋅(0.5)2P(X=8)=(810)⋅(0.5)8⋅(0.5)2 P(X=9)=(109)⋅(0.5)9⋅(0.5)1P(X=9)=(910)⋅(0.5)9⋅(0.5)1 P(X=10)=(1010)⋅(0.5)10⋅(0.5)0P(X=10)=(1010)⋅(0.5)10⋅(0.5)0

Let's calculate each of these and then sum them all up:

P(X≥7)=P(X=7)+P(X=8)+P(X=9)+P(X=10)P(X≥7)=P(X=7)+P(X=8)+P(X=9)+P(X=10)

P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+(108)⋅0.510+(109)⋅0.510+(1010)⋅0.510P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+(810)⋅0.510+(910)⋅0.510+(1010)⋅0.510

Let's calculate the individual terms:

• P(X=8)≈451024≈0.0439453125P(X=8)≈102445≈0.0439453125
• P(X=9)≈101024≈0.009765625P(X=9)≈102410≈0.009765625
• P(X=10)≈11024≈0.0009765625P(X=10)≈10241≈0.0009765625

P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+0.0439453125+0.009765625+0.0009765625P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+0.0439453125+0.009765625+0.0009765625 P(X≥7)≈0.07421875P(X≥7)≈0.07421875

So, the probability that phone B has more damage in 7 or more drops by chance is approximately 0.07420.0742 or 7.42%7.42%.

Odds are another way of expressing probability and are usually given as a ratio of favorable to unfavorable outcomes. The odds of phone B having more damage in 7 or more drops by chance are:

Odds(X≥7)=P(X≥7)1−P(X≥7)Odds(X≥7)=1−P(X≥7)P(X≥7) Odds(X≥7)≈0.074218751−0.07421875Odds(X≥7)≈1−0.074218750.07421875 Odds(X≥7)≈0.074218750.92578125Odds(X≥7)≈0.925781250.07421875 Odds(X≥7)≈0.0801Odds(X≥7)≈0.0801

This means the odds are approximately 0.0801:1 or about 1:12.5 against this happening by chance.

 

[Supermallet]

Yes you have to make the assumption that the drops are independent. If you do, you can calculate it like this:

Simplified scenario of 10 drops where on the 3 drops both phones had the same amount of damage.

The binomial probability formula is:

P(X=k)=(nk)⋅pk⋅(1−p)n−kP(X=k)=(kn)⋅pk⋅(1−p)n−k

Where:

• nn is the number of trials (in this case, 10 drops)
• kk is the number of successes (in this case, 7 drops where phone B had more damage)
• pp is the probability of success on any given trial
• (nk)(kn) is "n choose k," a binomial coefficient that can be calculated as n!k!⋅(n−k)!k!⋅(n−k)!n!

For the odds of this occurring by chance, we would assume that there is an equal probability that either phone could have more damage on any given drop, meaning p=0.5p=0.5.

Let's plug in the values and calculate the probability:

• n=10n=10 drops
• k=7k=7 drops where phone B had more damage
• p=0.5p=0.5

P(X=7)=(107)⋅(0.5)7⋅(0.5)3P(X=7)=(710)⋅(0.5)7⋅(0.5)3

P(X=7)=10!7!⋅3!⋅0.510P(X=7)=7!⋅3!10!⋅0.510

P(X=7)=10⋅9⋅83⋅2⋅1⋅0.510P(X=7)=3⋅2⋅110⋅9⋅8⋅0.510 P(X=7)=1206⋅0.510P(X=7)=6120⋅0.510 P(X=7)=20⋅0.0009765625P(X=7)=20⋅0.0009765625 P(X=7)≈0.01953125P(X=7)≈0.01953125

However, to find the probability that phone B has more damage in 7 or more drops (i.e. 7, 8, 9, or 10 drops), we need to find the probability for each of these cases and then sum them up.

So, we also need to calculate:

P(X=8)=(108)⋅(0.5)8⋅(0.5)2P(X=8)=(810)⋅(0.5)8⋅(0.5)2 P(X=9)=(109)⋅(0.5)9⋅(0.5)1P(X=9)=(910)⋅(0.5)9⋅(0.5)1 P(X=10)=(1010)⋅(0.5)10⋅(0.5)0P(X=10)=(1010)⋅(0.5)10⋅(0.5)0

Let's calculate each of these and then sum them all up:

P(X≥7)=P(X=7)+P(X=8)+P(X=9)+P(X=10)P(X≥7)=P(X=7)+P(X=8)+P(X=9)+P(X=10)

P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+(108)⋅0.510+(109)⋅0.510+(1010)⋅0.510P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+(810)⋅0.510+(910)⋅0.510+(1010)⋅0.510

Let's calculate the individual terms:

• P(X=8)≈451024≈0.0439453125P(X=8)≈102445≈0.0439453125
• P(X=9)≈101024≈0.009765625P(X=9)≈102410≈0.009765625
• P(X=10)≈11024≈0.0009765625P(X=10)≈10241≈0.0009765625

P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+0.0439453125+0.009765625+0.0009765625P(X≥7)≈0.01953125+0.0439453125+0.009765625+0.0009765625 P(X≥7)≈0.07421875P(X≥7)≈0.07421875

So, the probability that phone B has more damage in 7 or more drops by chance is approximately 0.07420.0742 or 7.42%7.42%.

Odds are another way of expressing probability and are usually given as a ratio of favorable to unfavorable outcomes. The odds of phone B having more damage in 7 or more drops by chance are:

Odds(X≥7)=P(X≥7)1−P(X≥7)Odds(X≥7)=1−P(X≥7)P(X≥7) Odds(X≥7)≈0.074218751−0.07421875Odds(X≥7)≈1−0.074218750.07421875 Odds(X≥7)≈0.074218750.92578125Odds(X≥7)≈0.925781250.07421875 Odds(X≥7)≈0.0801Odds(X≥7)≈0.0801

This means the odds are approximately 0.0801:1 or about 1:12.5 against this happening by chance.

Very thorough, thank you! So what sample size would be large enough to be statistically significant?

 

[Fat_Guy]

This guy is a known YouTuber. The results speak for themselves. The 14 Pro is almost literally indestructible while the 15 Pro broke to pieces with the camera array exposed. I was surprised but nobody can deny the 14 Pro is the more durable phone.

 

[Ryan P]

Very thorough, thank you! So what sample size would be large enough to be statistically significant?

For most fields you are looking at 95%, or 1 in 20 odds. Would take another drop or two from fictional example. But as you pointed out having a separate test also coming out the same would help to rule out a bad early drop influencing later damage.

 

[Fat_Guy]

This guy is a known YouTuber. The results speak for themselves. The 14 Pro is almost literally indestructible while the 15 Pro broke to pieces with the camera array exposed. I was surprised but nobody can deny the 14 Pro is the more durable phone.

Is it the businessman in me or is the reason he kept dropping the iPhone 14 Pro higher and higher - was to destroy it so he didn’t have to write off another phone over years as opposed to a one and done business expense? 🤣


And…. He couldn’t destroy it…. 😛👍

 

[Carlsberg69]

It’s not just the titanium it’s also the glass being rounded instead of flat. It appears the glass no longer sits flush below the rails.

Exactly.