What a crazy past 24 hours it has been for the new iPhone 6 Plus!
Yesterday, Apple created a storm once again and not because they’re announcing more products or building another spaceship, but because people are now reporting all over about the newly launched iPhone 6 Plus bending in strange ways.
Oh shibby!
Considering the fact that they’ve just sold over 10 million new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones within only 3 days of the launch, breaking all previous sales records.
The problem, dubbed “#bendgate” on Twitter, has been identified by some users who left their new Apple 6.22-inch by 3.06-inch phablet-like smartphones in their pockets for extended periods of time. As we speak, the hashtag and the issue has already gone completely out of control. Needless to say,it’s a tech, marketing, and PR disaster.
don’t put your iphone 6 in your pocket y’all http://t.co/pp8UsWwd9k pic.twitter.com/PLXYagARMq
— ⊀treenz (@katrinalome) September 23, 2014
Now that the reports of the bending iPhone 6 Plus have “trended” all over the world and picked up by every single major media outlet you can think of, it still begs the question, “Why does it bend?”.
You’d think that these new owners must have been careless enough or could have probably used brute force and hence resulting in the unfortunate #bendgate issue. What if these owners were just not careful enough with the iPhone 6 Plus? Maybe their Apple smartphones bent because they kept it in their back pockets and sat on it? Or worse, maybe he/she did something drastic to it and then it bent but just passed it off as an iPhone 6 Plus flaw? The atrocity!
One user told the MacRumors forum:
I received my iPhone 6 Plus 64GB spacegray at about 3pm on Friday and set it up, but haven’t worn it out that day, so it wasn’t in my pocket.
Yesterday, I left at 10am with the iPhone in my left FRONT pocket of my suit pants. I drove 4 hours to a wedding, which also involved a lot of sitting during dinner etc but also 2-3 hours of dancing. I left at 2am and went to bed, driving home 4 hours back.
So in total, the 6 Plus was about 18 hours in my pocket while sitting mostly.
To further test the theory about the iPhone 6 Plus bending, Toronto-based tech blogger Unbox Therapy demonstrated just how much force it takes to bend the smartphone. By using his own iPhone 6 Plus “for the sake of science” and with bare hands, may we add.
Watch:
The above video has gone absolutely viral, garnering over 11 million views (as at time of writing) in just 24 hours. As seen in the video, he showed how the device could bend, just like that, in his hands, when put under some amount of pressure. Also, the iPhone 6 Plus seems to be the weakest around its 2 volume control buttons, where the aluminium chasis is at its thinnest.
So, because of the thin aluminium and the 7.1-mm-thick-and-5.5-inch phablet-like smartphone’s footprint (read: surface area), it becomes just a little too fragile and therefore prone to bending aka malleable.
Solution?
If you already own the iPhone 6 Plus or if you’ve ordered it and it’s on its way to you, you might just want to invest in a case to further protect it. And it’s not rocket science but for the love of your smartphone, don’t put it in your back pocket and don’t sit on it. Don’t even attempt to bend it to show it off to your friends because why would you do that?!
Oh, and..
Sorry hipsters but it looks like your skinny jeans are going to have to go if you want your iPhone 6 Plus to “stay in shape”.
Because malleable.
UPDATE:
Tech giant Apple reportedly told CNBC that only 9 customers have actually complained about bending iPhones. They’ve also released a statement regarding the issue, touching especially on the usage of anodised aluminium:
Our iPhones are designed, engineered and manufactured to be both beautiful and sturdy. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature a precision engineered unibody enclosure constructed from machining a custom grade of 6000 series anodized aluminum, which is tempered for extra strength. They also feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry. We chose these high-quality materials and construction very carefully for their strength and durability. We also perform rigorous tests throughout the entire development cycle including 3-point bending, pressure point cycling, sit, torsion, and user studies. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus meet or exceed all of our high quality standards to endure everyday, real life use.
With normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus. As with any Apple product, if you have questions please contact Apple.
Well, you heard them. If you have any questions, contact them!
