Published in Mobiles

Apple shows a secret bend-testing lab

by on26 September 2014



Blames users for the iPhone 6 Plus bend

Apple’s new phones are prone to bending and now the whole world is buzzing about it. The problem for apple PR is that the mainstream media took a lot of interest in the story.

Apple has now gone into damage control mode. The company chose a few journalists show them their lab where engineers test the latest iPhones. Obviously, one of the tests involves bending.

iPhone 6 Plus really bends

Apple chose a few tests that were relevant to #Bendgate and the Unbox Therapy videos what went viral. The video proved that the iPhone 6 Plus will bend when applied some pressure from your hands. Practically all big phones will do the same, but Apple’s first phablet seems to be a bit more susceptible to bending.

This didn't stop there as Unbox Therapy tried to bend the iPhone 6, Note 3, HTC One M8, new Moto X and Nokia Lumia. The HTC One M8, Galaxy Note 3, Nokia Lumia and Moto X did well.

Silver lining?

The good news is that the regular iPhone 6 doesn’t bend and Galaxy Note 3 and Moto X did really well on this test.

They didn’t bend at all, but when you apply some pressure you can put a small dent on the iPhone 6. They don’t do nearly as bad as the iPhone 6 Plus. HTC One M8 got its screen popped out, but it didn’t do nearly as bad as the iPhone 6 Plus.

Now the Apple PR machine has granted access to a secret lab where it tests a real world use simulation by industrial pressure machines that are used for simulations. The pressure – press machines (not PR pressure, the one that measures in Newtons ed.) calculate the force by multiplying pressure and the area.

Apple has showed a simulation of a person sitting on a phone on a soft or hard surface as well as three point or a pressure point test. The most brutal is the torsion test where apple tries to twist from both ends of the phone at various angles. Apple tests iPhone 6, an iPhone 6 Plus and a MacBook Pro and probably even iPads.

Phones larger than 4.5 inches tend to be bent easily. In some cases the screen can easily be bent to the point that it leaves permanent bright marks on the panel. It happened to us with HTC One X+, front pocket jeans while riding a bicycle but the phone didn’t twist, bend, just the screen was brighter than it was supposed to be at the pressure point.

Despite Apples "transparency" we wonder what happens to users who do twist the phone. Although Apple says it will replace some units, if the problem is too widespread this simply won’t be an option and many users with minor damage will not get a replacement phone. Besides, even if they do they will get the same phone that already bent in their pocket.

We are quite sure that this is not the end of #Bendgate.

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