> "Even the most recent smartphones are not designed to be put in pockets where they are going to be under the most chassis strain. And this just illustrates the fact that the public's desire for manufacturers to strive for ever thinner and lighter devices means that we are getting ever more fragile devices.<p>> "Just casually sticking a £700 smartphone in your pocket is an increasingly reckless thing to do."<p>Wait, this guy really thinks that users should be expected to know that it's reckless to keep their _phone_ in their pocket, and that they weren't designed for this?<p>That seems not right. I am confident that most people, unless educated otherwise, will assume that phones are designed to go in pockets. If manufacturers really aren't designing phones to go in pockets, they are going to have to educate users on this. The pocket has been the place non-purse-carrying people have kept their phone since the first mobile phone that was small enough to fit in a pocket.
I love Apple (I've got an iPhone 5, an iPad 3, a Macbook and an iMac) but it always dismays me how Apple fans often respond to any issue with an Apple product with "it's your fault".<p>A guy on MacRumors posted up about his experience with a bent phone and received some supportive comments, but also gems like, "It's aluminum, it's a noticeably longer device and as such it is likely to be bent more easily than previous iPhones. You should expect that it would be easier to bend and act accordingly."<p>How is this reasonable? We should know better than to put the phone in our pockets?<p>I sincerely hope Apple does the right thing here and takes responsibility if in fact this turns out to be a legitimate and widespread problem.
I've owned every generation of iPhone since the 3GS, and definitely think this is being blown out of proportion. I have a 6 (4.7"), and don't have (and doint think I ever will have) any issues with this.<p>However, I will say that the Galaxy Note bend video [1] in (response to the iPhone 6 Plus bend test [2]) was impressive, and shows that while metal material is more stylish, plastic seems to be much more durable. Of course, I know these are far from scientific tests, but it still seems to show some sense of durability between the two.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwM4ypi3at0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwM4ypi3at0</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znK652H6yQM" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znK652H6yQM</a>
So at least for me, if I can't stick a phone in my pocket it is useless. If I can't carry my phone with me everywhere, I might as well not have it. I can understand not sitting on it, but not putting it in my front pocket seems incredibly limiting, because that is pretty much the only place I would have to put it when out and about.<p>I expect most people will have a case for the phone. I personally have a 5 right now and have it in a BookBook wallet/case, which is not really very rigid. I'll want something similar when it comes time to upgrade to a 6, but if I can't actually stick it in my pocket I'll need to find an alternative. Or maybe pay for a battery replacement on the 5.
They said the same thing about the iPhone 5 (<a href="http://www.cultofmac.com/248603/iphone-5ses-are-bending-in-peoples-pockets);" rel="nofollow">http://www.cultofmac.com/248603/iphone-5ses-are-bending-in-p...</a> Xperia Z1 (<a href="http://www.phonearena.com/news/Xperia-Z1-frame-bending-for-no-reason-claim-users_id51383);" rel="nofollow">http://www.phonearena.com/news/Xperia-Z1-frame-bending-for-n...</a> Nexus 5 (<a href="http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-5/387390-nexus-5-wobbly-bent.html" rel="nofollow">http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-5/387390-nexus...</a>), and I'm sure many others.
We need to know the proportion of people this is happening to to understand whether this is a thing or not.<p>Apple supposedly sold 10 million phones on the weekend of release, more since. Apparently more of those are 6s than 6 Pluses but we don't know the exact numbers or breakdown right now. Similarly we know a few people have had problems but it doesn't seem clear whether it's a few, a few tens, a few hundred or many thousands.<p>Ultimately this may be bad design ignoring real world valid use cases, it may be dumbness on the part of a small number of vocal users, but without knowing what sort of numbers are seeing the problem and what that is as a proportion of sales it's almost impossible to say.<p>Right now all we can really say is some iPhone 6s and 6 Pluses have bent and based on that it's no wonder Apple haven't said anything.<p>Not a great story but probably all that we really know right now.
I wonder to what extent this (and the antenna issue before it) are a result of Apple being so secretive. Because they don't take prototypes out for real world testing, or encase them in bulky facades if they do, they don't understand how real people are going to use it.<p>Still think it's stupid - just because this behavior didn't result in a bent iPhone before doesn't mean it was good.
A few ideas about this problem:<p>1. Consumer behavior factors<p>- Get a case. These devices will break if dropped, and when you are carrying it in your hand many times a day, it is highly likely to be dropped. It's a matter of "when", not "if".<p>- Don't carry the device in pants pockets. Carry it in a shirt pocket, or in a bag or satchel or hang it on your belt. Solved.<p>2. Manufacturing and marketing factors<p>- Distribute 5,000 beta devices and really field test them. Manufacturers, especially Apple, hate to do this because it reveals the secret design in advance of the dramatic release event. But field testing the devices makes more sense given their complexity and unknown uses and conditions to which they will be subjected.<p>- Make the devices thicker and sturdier. Many of us would not complain about an extra millimeter or two of thickness, especially if it means a bigger battery and some nice-to-haves such as a memory card slot. Thinness is costly, too. Make it an indestructible brick, charge less, and millions will continue to buy the devices.<p>- An alternative view: yield to bendiness! Make the displays bendy, make the cases flexible, and accept that customers want to abuse their phones by sitting on them in tight jeans.
I <i>really</i> want Apple to issue a statement along the lines of "You asked for a thinner lighter phone, you got it. Now stop being an idiot and sitting on it and we'll all be fine."<p>This is all just incredibly stupid. The fact it bends and <i>continues to function</i> should be newsworthy, not the other way around.
I have one of the slimmest android devices huawei p6 (6.2 mm vs 7.1 mm for iphone 6 plus) for a year and a half and im not having any issues with it bending or giving the feeling that its fragile.<p><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_p6-5467.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_p6-5467.php</a>
I suspect this could also be related to iPhone users having had a fairly small phone to date. Slipping the iPhone into a pocket till now has been an easy practice, so I assume the same is being done out of habit with the new larger models. The new form factor (larger AND thinner) can't stand up to the stresses.
There is a lot of fanboys out there still defending Apple with ridiculous arguments.
Being a consumer, for me, this is unacceptable. Paying 800 to 900€ for a phone that has the quality of a sub 100€ phone is simply taunting the actual Apple costumers.<p>Mark my words. This will be the major flop remembered in the future for the start of the downfall of this brand.<p>This will make history.<p>The excessively low production costs with these devices made in China with low quality standards and low QA at an excessively price range for the end consumer. The profit margin in this phone has to be huge and will serve as an example in the future in how a major international manufacturing fiasco is made of.
This is truly amazing.
So I thought that <a href="http://imgur.com/gallery/FSXJp" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/gallery/FSXJp</a> was a joke. Turns out, nope, it's a real problem. I wonder if Apple did have to fix it, how they'd go about it. I assume reenforcing the body of the phone externally is not really feasible, but manufacturing better bodies and swapping them out en masse would be very expensive and take a long time, no?
We have seen this before. <a href="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/260526?tstart=0" rel="nofollow">https://discussions.apple.com/thread/260526?tstart=0</a> Put a think computer in your pocket, bend, and it will bend. Get a case or protect it. I have had an iPhone since the 3, never used a case, only broken one iPhone by being extra careful.
apple has specifically advertised the iphone as fitting in a pocket.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxtyxCAxGNE" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxtyxCAxGNE</a>
I played with the 6+ for the first time last night, and it surprises me people even sit down with it. It seems like like it would be immediately awkward from its size.
perfect opportunity for Apple to introduce iPants.<p>Joke aside, this is something that Apple needs to quickly address without putting customers at fault. You cannot just tell the customers not to put their phones in their pocket.