Consumer Reports: New iPhones Not As Bendy As Believed 304
An anonymous reader writes: Over the past several days, we've been hearing reports about some amount of users noticing that their brand new iPhone 6 Plus is bending in their pockets. The pictures and videos shown so far have kicked off an investigation, and Consumer Reports has done one of the more scientific tests so far. They found that the iPhone 6 Plus takes 90 pounds of pressure before it permanently deforms. The normal iPhone 6 took even less: 70 lbs. They tested other phones as well: HTC One (M8): 70 lbs, LG G3: 130 lbs, iPhone 5: 130 lbs, Samsung Galaxy Note 3: 150 lbs. The Verge also did a report on how Apple torture-tests its devices before shipping them. Apple's standard is about 55 lbs of pressure, though it does so thousands of times before looking for bends. One analysis suggests that Apple's testing procedure only puts pressure on the middle of the phone, which doesn't sufficiently evaluate the weakened area where holes have been created for volume buttons. Consumer Reports' test presses on the middle of the device as well.
In other words... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other words... (Score:5, Interesting)
Frankly, this is more a sign that they may have reached the point that using a highly malleable metal like Aluminum simply isn't a great choice and will ultimately lead to further structural issues like this in the future in the push for ever thinner, lighter devices that was exacerbated a little earlier than I expected due to the moving of the Power button. Long term though, there are ultimately ways around this through shifting to alloys, polycarbonates or carbon fiber and employing more complex geometry into the design, such as a honeycomb configuration as to allow for force to be dissipated through the surface rather than through a sudden catastrophic failure as they are seeing with the iPhone 6 Plus design due to the structural weak points of the recessed volume and power buttons on opposite sides of the casing that will itself only get worse over time. Should the buttons themselves been raised outwards so that they were not flush with the case or staggered so they were not adjacent with each other, while not being as aesthetically pleasing it would have resulted in a stronger, more durable product and I think that's ultimately the point for something that is intended to be with someone 24/7 for the next 2 years of their life.
End result is that life sure is easier for an armchair engineer to sit back and look in on why something failed than it is to see the forest when you're trying to make every branch on each tree "elegant".
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The general consensus that Consumer Reports seems to be getting at here is that the results that they observed shows that while the iPhones do bend, the amount of force required to do so results in phones from other manufacturers simply breaking under the stresses involved.
If by "phones from other manufacturers" you mean "the HTC One (M8)", then, yes, that is correct.
The real problem is the size. There's a physical principle called a "lever" which multiplies forces. Maybe you can google it...
Re: In other words... (Score:4, Insightful)
Right because.....
1. Jobs wa never known for engineering products for form over function with disastrous results -- i.e. the Apple ///, the Lisa, the Cube, etc.
2. That must be why Apple's profits, stock price, and volume have been down since Cook took over....
Re: In other words... (Score:4, Informative)
Jobs wa never known for engineering products for form over function with disastrous results -- i.e. the Apple ///
Interestingly, the widely-propogated assertion that the Apple III's vent-less, fan-less case (pushed by Jobs) was to blame for its exceptionally-high failure rate has been disputed.
From the Wikipedia "Apple III" article [wikipedia.org]:-
Case designer Jerry Manock denied the design flaw charges, stating that tests proved that the unit adequately dissipated the internal heat. The primary cause, he claimed, was a major logic board design problem. The logic board used "fineline" technology that was not fully mature at the time, with narrow, closely spaced traces. When chips were "stuffed" into the board and wave-soldered, solder bridges would form between traces that were not supposed to be connected. This caused numerous short circuits, which required hours of costly diagnosis and hand rework to fix.
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2. That must be why Apple's profits, stock price, and volume have been down since Cook took over....
That's not true and easily proven false with a quick search. You're not even good at being a fanboy.
Re: In other words... (Score:3)
Whoosh.....
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In other words, iphone6 chose looks over function, a common design problem. Like it was said, looks like Jobs is sorely missed in Cupertino.
Is this the same Steve Jobs that insisted that the NeXT cube be a perfect cube and thereby increasing the cost of an already overpriced machine? The main reason the NeXT did not sell was the price and Jobs' design decisions did not help. Another issue being the insistence on not using fans [wikipedia.org] in some products? Lack of fans lead to lower performance and overheating issues. Jobs chose form over function many times.
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Re: In other words... (Score:2)
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If people bend their phones (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: If people bend their phones (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: If people bend their phones (Score:5, Funny)
how do you get away from the "I nicked my iPhone dropping it out of my car, let me bend it and get a new one" crowd?
1. Examine old phone carefully for damage
2. Damage the new phone in the same way (minus the bend), before handing it to the customer.
Re: If people bend their phones (Score:2)
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You make a phone that can't be bent by being left in someone's pocket, so that if it is bent, it clearly was damage beyond the scope of the warranty?
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Apple = cash cow for scumbags (Score:4, Insightful)
As is the case a lot (not all) of the time with Apple. They're worth a lot in click-bait, so what you do is try to find something outrageous to say about a popular product, put adverts on the page to generate you cash, and try and profit from the massive public interest in yet another Apple product...
Or maybe I'm getting too cynical in my old age.
Simon
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Too cinical?
Keeping an eye on reality, that's what I'd say.
Not allowing one to be fucked over once was a virtue, now you just draw mindless smirks, raised shoulders and drawls like "what's up?".
Let the masses be deluded. Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
But keep saying your piece.
Thanks man.
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Re:Apple = cash cow for scumbags (Score:5, Interesting)
Hmm, this is for Apple astroturfers downmodding that inconvenient truth. New video posted [youtube.com] by the bendgate dude to rebut the swarm of camp followers claiming the test was somehow faked or exaggerated. If anything, worse results for Apple this time.
OK, spin that Apple.
Android phones bent long before the iPhone 6 (Score:3, Insightful)
Android phones bend too [androidcentral.com].
As anyone could have found with Google before they tried to make this a thing about Apple.
Just be aware and it'll be fine, with any phone.
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70 lbs is easy to bend just moving around in tight pants
Perhaps if you are the Hulk, unlike you I wear a phone AND PANTS all the time and I can verify no such forces are exerted from normal wear (and that includes Jeans which are the Iron Maiden of phone holders).
Executive summary: MONEY GOOD
Summary for everyone else: I have a Plus in my pocket and looking at what should get bent soon, pretty sure it's you,
Have you Instrumented your Ass? (Score:2, Funny)
Have you instrumented your ass, because you have nothing, at all, to back up that assertion.
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This is a defense of iPhone 6? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:This is a defense of iPhone 6? (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it's not made of cheese, as some users seem to have reported, but it will bend under circumstances that the 5 would not.
That seems to be true, but it is also not the question anyone cares about. Given two phones, one is likely to bend under circumstances that the other won't.
The question that needs to be answered is, what circumstances exactly? If I hold it in my hand while pressing on the screen, is that enough to bend it? If I sit on it, will that be enough to bend it? If I drive a car over it, will that be enough to bend it?
Details matter.
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The test appears to be somewhat faulty though due to the location of the
Re:This is a defense of iPhone 6? (Score:4, Insightful)
LG and Samsung have solved it...
Also, when someone breaks their Galaxy Note, it doesn't make CNN and BBC.
I have a Galaxy Note 2 and, from the feel of it, I would fully expect it to break if I put it in my back pocket and sat on it. So I don't. If I'd wanted to do that I'd have bought a smaller phone.
What I don't get is why Apple decided to produce two phablets rather than update the 5 for people who want a phone and just have the 6+ for people who wanted a phablet. I'd consider the 6+ if it weren't quite so eye-wateringly expensive (esp. if you want decent storage), but I really don't see the point of the 6.
Re: This is a defense of iPhone 6? (Score:3)
That is a reason why I am not buying. I would love a iPhone 5s2 with a better CPU and Apple pay but same size and build quality of the 5s
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Aluminum is brittle, while steel deforms.
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Yes, reality is a defense (Score:5, Insightful)
but the 6 bends at nearly HALF the pressure of the 5
Neither figure matters if the pressure actually put on the phone in your pocket is 1/10th of 55 lbs.
To phrase it differently since you seem to have a personality tailor-made for being "misled by statistics", if the only force a device undergoes is 10-20lbs, why does it matter if a device can sustain a million pounds of force, or 30,
Remember that in realty Apple's has reports of just six actual phones being bent.
I have a 6plus and have been using it in my pocket. After sitting or leaning over or whatever, there is zero bend or even flex to the thing. To actually bend it would take enough force I'd be concerned about my own structural integrity.
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Last I heard they were admitting to nine reports of bending, but the reality is we don't have a true figure at this time. It was the same with the antenna problems. They denied many people had them but eventually fixed it anyway with a free bumper.
I imagine somewhere in Apple's labs they are testing strengthened cases
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Libertarian Loonery, sure. Shilling, no.
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My old candy bar Audiovox phone which I got in 1998 didn't bend at all (except for the retractable antenna). Removable battery, took voice commands, battery life that lasted days.
However it broke because it was so thick that when I wacked my leg on a piller it took all the force and broke.
I still don't get this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Who thinks it's okay to sit on their phone? Why do people think they ought to be able to? It literally makes no sense. It's an electronic device with a glass screen. If I handed someone a sheet of glass and said, "put this in your back pocket and sit on it!" they'd refuse.
But a phone? Oh, absolutely! Shit, wait, no! It broke?!?!
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I'm pretty much with you on this; I wouldn't ever carry a bare phone or one with just a silicone bumper in a front pocket let alone a back pants pocket. But I also feel to some extent that this is a "mobile" device and it should be designed with a certain ruggedness in mind, especially considering the retail replacement cost.
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The retail replacement cost is why it's insane to put it in your pants pockets.
"I just dropped a grand on this. I know, I'll subject it to huge forces and see what happens!"
Why would you do that?
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The retail replacement cost is why it's insane to put it in your pants pockets.
"I just dropped a grand on this. I know, I'll subject it to huge forces and see what happens!"
Why would you do that?
Steve Jobs thought that enough people would put iPhones in their pockets that he made the original iPhone design team scramble to completely redesign the screen to use a new material starting less than six weeks before launch.
So "why would you do that?" -- because Steve Jobs told you that putting an iPhone in your pocket is a reasonable action.
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Practically everybody puts their phone in a case. Which makes wonder: why is phone thinness such a huge issue?
Apple especially acts like the thinness of the phone is one of, if not *the* most important feature. But once you put the phone in a case, then shaving 2mm off the thickness means nothing.
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So it's thinner once the case is on, obviously. Compare a regular iPad (1/2/3/4) with an iPad Air, with cases on, and see if you don't notice the difference.
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That's how Steve Jobs always presented new iPhones. Faster, thinner, longer battery life, one or two major new features. The major new features no one else has part seem to have gone, and while faster the 6 is in most common operations about the same as a Nexus 5. Battery life is about the same. So they cling to being slightly thinner.
I had a funny thought. The only other product I can think of that is obsessed with getting thinner is condoms.
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Looks like about 75% of people uses cases (http://www.tomsguide.com/us/smartphone-owners-spurn-cases,news-18024.html), and considerably skewed toward iPhones having cases. That's higher than I thought, but still much less than "practically everybody".
Your argument only makes sense if you're going to replace the case with a thicker phone. I suspect most people with cases will chuck a case on just about any phone.
Front pocket is fine (Score:3)
I wouldn't ever carry a bare phone or one with just a silicone bumper in a front pocket
I have for years without issue.
And that includes the iPhone plus.
Theres simply not enough force to even come close to flexing the phone, much less bending...
Back pockets are I think more worrisome but even there - the Plus (as the tests show) is pretty damn rigid.
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Strawman. At least some of the reports of bending were from people claiming they put the phones in their front pockets.
No Way (Score:2)
Strawman. At least some of the reports of bending were from people claiming they put the phones in their front pockets.
Well hello, Counter Strawman.
In reality the 6 plus works fine in front pockets - I know. I've been using it for days and there's not even a hint of bending from having the phone in your pockets.
Furthermore that was the point of the tests consumer reviews did, under normal packet use these things are not going to bend - especially in front pockets.
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I sit on my Nokia all the time.
Countries are rebuilding cobblestone roads using Nokia's instead of rocks to get an increase in durability. Me, I'm wondering how many of the 9 reported bent phones were bent by people who wanted to try to see how strong they were, only to discover exactly how much force it needed to bend.
Re:I still don't get this. (Score:4, Interesting)
I found a nokia at a tram stop once. It was just the internal structure and battery, but a bit of hunting around in the gutter revealed the case. It had been dropped on the road and repeatedly run over. I snapped the lot together and found the most frequently dialed numbers (parents in Malaysia, not calling there to say I had found their daughters phone smashed on a road in Melbourne). Called her boyfriend and he arranged for me to drop off the phone. Very strong bits of gear, Nokias.
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So Consumer Reports didn't test the actual issue? (Score:4, Informative)
One analysis? Every documented case of the issue shows that the bending occurs at a specific weakpoint that is not in the middle of the device. What fucking idiot would test for this weakness by only bending the device in the middle?
Consumer Reports' test presses on the middle of the device as well. Oh joy, a whole team of professional fucking idiots.
Nice round numbers (Score:2)
Obviously, the consumer reports testing was completely scientific, after all, they are known to be on the side of the consumer, right? It is nothing less than astonishing that the HTC One happened to tie the iPhone 6 exactly. And of course, this video must have been faked. [youtube.com]
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Watch the vid, there is a legit reason for round numbers.
You mean, there is an "excuse" for the the round numbers, not a legitimate reason. Consider that upping the force in 1 pound increments would have scarcely increased the cost of the experiment while dramatically improving the quality of the result.
Now, finding that the 6+ is significantly stiffer than the smaller and only slightly thinner 6 is really surprising isn't it? So surprising that you wonder about the repeatability of the result. Notice in the video that the right hand side of the 6+ is positioned
Video of how easy the new iPhone 6 Plus bends: (Score:5, Informative)
MOD PARENT UP! (Score:2)
This video is a real public service.
Apple's claims about this only happening to nine phones, out of 10 million, are extremely dubious.
This is the second time this guy has done this with a new iPhone.
I wish it hasn't always been true... (Score:2)
but /. articles initiate a lot of static in the information band.
Unboxy Therapy Bent 2nd iPhone 6+ w/Witnesses (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... [youtube.com]
The guy from Unbox Therapy, angry at the accusations that his original video was somehow staged, just posted a new video yesterday. In the new video, he unwraps a brand new iPhone 6+ on the street in Toronto with a handful of random witnesses watching, and again - by placing his thumbs on the back of the phone and applying moderate pressure- IMMEDIATELY produces a 25-30 degree bend in the unit, with the crease forming again at the bottom of the volume control cutouts.
In the new video, the iPhone deformed so badly the screen separated from the body.
He then attempted to bend a Moto X (2014 model) with visibly considerable force applied to it, and couldn't.
Is this really important? You decide. A lot of people - men, particularly - have carried their smartphones in the pockets of their jeans. If you're a big guy, and you have a tiny iPhone 5S in your back pocket and sit down in your car on a 3 hour road trip, the iPhone 5S won't deform because it's thicker, and much shorter in length, therefore providing a much shorter lever for your rump to apply force to. The iPhone 6+ however, being both thinner and significantly taller, provides a much longer lever for your 200+ pounds of man ass to press against the back of the car seat, making it quite conceivable that the iPhone 6+ WOULD have a bending problem in actual consumer use.
This issue has gotten enough viral traction and major media attention that it isn't going to go away. Worse yet for Apple is that unlike Antennagate, this problem won't be solved with a rubber bumper case costing Apple 20 cents manufacturing cost - NO, bent iPhone 6+ units still within their return period or covered by AppleCare are going to cost the company $200+ per unit, according to recent teardown parts costing estimates.
When, as educated tech consumers, are people going to stop confusing "smaller and thinner" as being "more advanced" ? All we are doing here, people, is sacrificing durability and battery life.
Get a real phone. (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple needs to get their ruggedness act together. Meanwhile, here's a real phone, the Caterpillar B15.
Cat B15 tested by users. [youtube.com] Dragged behind car. Used to play basketball. (As the ball, not as a computer game.) Dropped off bridge. Run through cement mixer. Frozen in bucket of ice. Run over by car. No problem.
Cat B15 tested by Caterpillar. [youtube.com] Dropped into pool of water. Scooped out with heavy equipment. Run over by front end loader. (One of Cat's smaller front end loaders.) No problem.
It's an Android phone. The B15 runs Android 4.2; the new B15Q runs Android 4.4. Price around $300. Available in the US at Home Depot. Unlocked; pick any GSM carrier. T-Mobile works. No annoying carrier-provided apps. Caterpillar preloads apps for ordering Caterpillar heavy equipment parts and renting heavy equipment.
If you have one of these in a pocket, you will break before it will. I carry one of these horseback riding.
Steve Jobs ... (Score:4, Insightful)
how mush pressure does it take accounting (Score:3, Interesting)
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"The trash you buy for stainless silverware now a days is an iron mix and will rust"
No, the trash most people buy today that they think is stainless is usually chrome-plated crap.
Good stainless steel (that includes surgical-grade stainless, which is highly magnetic) will not rust.
"Anything that has a iron mixture will rust over time."
Except Austentite has iron in it, so that directly contradicts your claim - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A... [wikipedia.org]
Austentite sucks because it is too ductile, until you drop in other
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the very best stainless never rusts and is non magnetic and expensive.
Of course it never rusts. Rust is the formation of Iron Oxide. That last word is key, "oxide". Quality stainless steel (as with aluminium and titanium) do not rust, but they most definitely do oxidise, they are just more resistant to it than iron.
See the key part of stainless is that the alloys form a protective coating on it which prevents oxidation. When scratched the coating slowly reforms. However there are many cases where this coating can be continuously damaged and oxidation will occur. It doesn't lo
To summarize: (Score:4, Informative)
.
While the iPhone 5, the LG G3, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are much better in this regard (all >= 130 pounds), with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at the top of the tests with 150 pounds.
So it's a hype? (Score:2)
So it's a hype?
Who would have thought that!
Scientific? (Score:3)
I don't really understand why Consumer Report doesn't know the difference between force and mass. You measure force in Newtons (N) and mass in kilograms (kg) or, even less scientific because it's not a SI unit, pounds (lb).
bend or blend? (Score:2)
Came looking for this: http://www.willitblend.com/ [willitblend.com]
Left feeling disappointed.
Money talks (Score:2)
I wonder how much it cost them to get the results they wanted, and have them published.
If you think CR is still impartial, you are in the wrong century..
its real (Score:2)
I haven't seen one bent to the point of damage, but I've held the regular iPhone 6 and I can flex it with one hand. It VASTLY more flexible than my nexus5.
Stop sitting on your phone! (Score:2)
Stop sitting on your phone, fatass! :P
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I doubt it. More likely they rigidly support the ends of the device and apply the spec'd force to the center.
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They have a video. That's exactly what they do: they place the phone on two blocks of wood, and then have a machine apply a set amount of pounds of force to a bar placed across the middle of the phone.
About all their test tells you is that you shouldn't take Consumer Reports tests seriously if this is the kind of testing they're going to do. Especially because the people bending the phones weren't bending them straight in the middle, they were bending them right below the volume buttons. Which is also where
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The actual number of people who reported a problem to Apple? 9.
The actual number of people who reported a problem to the place where they had purchased the phone? Unknown. Most people go back to the point of purchase with problems not the manufacturer.
The probability that Apple is under reporting the issue? High.
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When there are plenty of competing devices on the market that are more bendy (as they discovered), it seems entirely reasonable to place your product in the middle of the accepted, reasonable range.
I mean, HTC are advertising their phone as not bending when you sit down, and explicitly comparing it to the iPhone, while these tests demonstrate that it's in fact more bendable.
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Re:30-46% less force is required to deform?! (Score:5, Informative)
Wait, wait, wait...
iPhone 5: 130lbs. force to deform
iPhone 6+: 90 lbs. force to deform -> 30% less force
iPhone 6: 70 lbs. force to deform -> 46% less force
A reduction in resistance to deformation of nearly one third to one half over previous models and they are supposedly "not as bendy as believed"? WTF? That's a recall class problem in my book.
Is it? So if I design a phone that can withstand 1 ton, then I am not allowed to ship any phone that withstand less than that or it's a recall? Man, come on. If the thing is too weak for regular use, it's case for a recall. If not, it's not a case for a recall. Nothing to do with "is it weaker than the latest model".
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No, but customers who have bought previous versions will have an expectation that the new one will survive being used (and abused) in the same manner as their old phone.
If I'm used to putting my phone into the same pocket as my wallet (which is rounded with change)*, then it's *somewhat* reasonable to expect to be able to do as before.
* I've never that done because I've never wanted to risk damaging my phone. However I did damage an old resistive touchscreen WinMobile phone in my [non-skinny] jeans pocket
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So if you're use to sitting on the hood of a 70s (or older) truck and then buy a new one and sit on the hood and you find your butt caused a dent in the new truck's hood then all trucks should be recalled?
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The problem seems to be twofold. Firstly it's weaker than average for a high end phone, and people probably associate metal with being stronger than plastic so expect more from it. It's also a big change from the pervious model.
Secondly phones made of other materials return to their original shape much more easily. Of you look at most of the images of iPhones that were bent in people's pockets the bend is slight. Other phones recover from that, the iPhone 6 remains bent.
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Who in their right mind puts 70 lbs of force on their $700 device?
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If you're an American consumer, then your iPhone 6+ isn't a "$700 device", because only T-Mobile and small pay-as-you-go providers actually offer phone (service) plans that don't include phone (device) subsidies. When you shop for an iPhone 6 or 6+, you see anywhere from $199 to $499 as the price, because you're locked into a $350+ Early Termination Fee two-year contract. This is a huge reason why we, as a society, consider our phones to be two-year disposable devices - because we're getting even more robbe
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So according to them it takes more force to deform the 6+ than the 6 ...
But I guess it's hard to do science when Apple's PR is waving a check at you.
Re:70 lbs of pressure (Score:5, Interesting)
Also true for if a 250lb man puts it in his back pocket... unless he also happens to put a ball bearing in his back pocket and then applies all his weight to that one precise spot.
Really... a person's weight != the force placed on a specific spot on an object a person has in their pocket. The entire reason we sit down is to distribute the force along our hips and thighs.
You might have a point if people were standing on their iPhones while they were suspended between two bricks.
Of course, what worried me (and this is where you can get a legit comparison) is that a six year old kid or a medium size dog CAN generate 150lb of force pretty easily.
Here's one data point for you: I've carried an un-protected iPod Touch 4g in my back pocket since around 2010 -- no scratches, no bends. The thing is about the same thickness as the iPhone 6 (0.26 in thick vs iPhone 0.27 in), and only a slightly smaller form factor. I've only come close to putting 50lbs of force on a single point a few times (landing on a pointy rock) -- result was that it got some stuck pixels for a few days that eventually returned to normal.
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Applying a point of pressure in the middle tests general structural integrity. It won't test any specific cutout areas that well (like the volume buttons), but as a general stress test, it does quite well, especially as the testers do continual repeated tests, not just one test in the center. They're testing for materials fatigue and deformation due to torque, as well as impact. Good general test.
But I agree; they should also be testing potential weak points to see how they perform. I'd expect them to d
The Poiint (Score:2)
If they only test the phone on the middle, what's the point?
A) Most people with phones in the back pocket would have strain excerpted roughly from the middle, not some offset point.
B) With the 6 Plus the distance from the center to the volume buttons is so small I doubt there would be any change in the results. Forces distributed across the device find the weakest point even if it is offset.
Re:Useless (Score:5, Interesting)
Torque is what matters.
If you test bending in the middle, you put 70 pounds force (approximately 300 newtons) in the middle, and support the ends firmly. That means that if the weakest point is in the middle, the torque on that point is (2 x 150 newtons x 80 mm), as the length of the lever arm to the support at the edge is about 80 mm. We'll ignore the fact that the test support is really a little bit inside that, and assume that the subject is supported right at the edge. Note also that the force is 150 newtons, which is half of the 70 pounds force used to break the phone, because the force is opposed evenly by two supports. Their equal force is then summed, which is why our total torque has that "2" scalar, giving us a total of 24 newton-meters of torque.
If we bend off-center, such as half-way towards one of the ends, the forces on the test supports are no longer equal. Our lever arms are now 120 and 40 mm, and the force would be unevenly distributed as well. The force is distributed inversely to the length of the lever arms, so the short arm, being 25% of the length, now supports 75% of the load, which is 225 newtons. The long arm supports 25%, which is 75 newtons. This gives us a total torque of (225 newtons * 40mm + 75 newtons * 120mm), for a total of only 18 newton-meters of torque.
Since testing off-center actually applies less torque to the test subject, the question then becomes one of whether the weak point is really 25% weaker than the rest of the beam.
However, we can also compute the torque on the supposed weak point during the center test. In that case, the lever arms can be computed as though they behave as a typical lever, scaling the force. they apply. The longer lever would be a class 3 lever, which would reduce the effective force of the test to 100 newtons. On the other hand, the shorter arm would behave as a class 2 lever, increasing the force to 300 newtons. The total torque on the weak point during a center test, then, is (100 newtons * 120mm + 300 newtons * 40mm), which is again 24 newton-meters.
If the weak point were really weaker than anywhere else in the phone, it would break during the center-loaded test. Looking at the pictures from Consumer Reports, though, that's exactly what happened. On both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the most significant damage is at the edge of the volume buttons closest to the center.
However, it's worth noting that the Consumer Reports test was conducted until the screen detached, even if that happened after the phone itself was permanently deformed. Looking at other pictures of bent phones, their screens have not separated from the cases, so they likely used less force to deform. Bending to separation, though, provides a consistent point of comparison to other phones, which may have internal damage even if their cases return to normal.
Disclaimer: I am not a physicist, and not a test engineer. If my math or methodology is incorrect, please feel free to tell me why.
Re:Useless (Score:5, Insightful)
What the test shows is that most phones will resist a reasonable amount of bending when the load is applied uniformly at the centre. They all do pretty well. That's great.
The issue with the iPhone 6 Plus is that it has a weak corner, if you watch the 'bendgate' video you can clearly see that the bend line is not straight across the phone, but at an angle near to the weak spot.
A properly designed test would have clamped each phone flat with a corner sticking out unsupported and force applied until it suffered plastic deformation (stays bent). Each phone could have all four corners tested and the weakest result is the 'winner'. In such a test the iPhone 6 Plus would clearly fail at its weak point much more readily than any of the others.
Bad science.
Re: (Score:2)
A better test might be to place the phone on thick foam, then roll a soft bar over it, applying a constant force. Then rotate the phone one degree, and repeat. Continue repeating until you reach 180 degrees.
But a phone is also likely going to experience bending in both directions, which can lead to metal fatigue, as well as twisting and bending at the same time.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly, reality says "not an issue" (Score:5, Insightful)
So, if the phones are bending in real world situations, they are by definition defective
Except they aren't.
Apple sold 10 *million* phones over the weekend. Of those, Apple says they have six complaints. And we haven't seen that many pictures from real owners.
So the reality is that the iPhone 6 is not defective, a few have undergone more extreme forces than is reasonable. In the end a large flat object can be broken, that's just physics and no amount of design will change that.
If you plan to put ANY phone through more extreme forces than normal, get an Otterbox and call it a day.
Re: (Score:2)
The HTC One M8 does bend a bit, but does not break, where as an iPhone 6+ breaks and warps under less pressure.
Here's the iPhone 6+ bending under little pressure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
" This is confirmation, not as bendable as believed!"
Correct, it's even more bendable. The iPhone 5 could take nearly double the force.
Which means the phone got weaker structurally with the upgrade.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it isn't. To properly calculate 'bendability' you have to calculate force moments around the points where it actually bends. If you take a look at the bendgate photos, you'll see that it bends and breaks at the lower end of the volume buttons. This point is about one third down, and the phone is 157mm long, so you have the bending force acting on a lever about 105mm long. Since the torque is proportional to the square of the lever, a much smaller force would be necessary to bend it there than in the mid