Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s New Phones Getting a Bad Bendy Rap?: Consumer Reports

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has taken on a heap of criticism in the days since a video first surfaced of a man’s iPhone being grotesquely bent while it was in his pocket. That was followed shortly afterwards by another video of a man seemingly bending an iPhone 6 with nothing but his bare hands. The brouhaha prompted Consumer Reports to run some scientific testing on the new iPhones, and they believe their results showed the larger smartphones are getting a bad rap.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CR put Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new phones up against phones from Samsung, LG, and HTC, as well as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s own iPhone 5. They subjected the devices to pressure tests in a machine called an Instron, which anchors the sides of the devices in place and applies force in the middle. The phones were pressured both to the point of bending and then to the destruction or separation of the case.

In the case of the iPhone 6, it took 70 pounds of force to bend it and 100 pounds for the case to separate. The 6 Plus actually fared slightly better at 90 pounds and 110 pounds respectively, despite being perceived as the more likely to bend because of its increased size. In CR’s estimation, the phones performed well, and are getting an overly bad rap, even though they finished near the bottom of the phones that were tested.

Of the four other phones tested, only the HTC One M8 performed worse than either of the iPhone 6’s, submitting to the tests after 70 and 90 pounds respectively. The LG 3, iPhone 5, and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 on the other hand all performed significantly better, with the Note 3 withstanding 150 pounds from both tests, more than double the force the iPhone 6 could endure before bending.

The latest test results for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) follow drop tests that were performed on the phones by Squaretrade shortly after their release. The iPhone 6 held up remarkably well, suffering almost no noticeable damage after being dropped six times from four feet high. The 6 Plus was not as resilient however, suffering structural damage that left the front and back panels separating, and having its sound stop working shortly afterwards.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rebounded from a large drop themselves on Thursday to rise 2.94% on Friday and finish the controversial, action-packed week down 0.27%.

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