back to article Apple 'Genius': iPhone 6? We've had NO COMPLAINTS about our BENDY iThing

Apple has told El Reg that the risk of an iPhone 6 Plus bending in the pocket of a fanboi has been greatly overstated. The fruity firm's British support service told us they had received no calls about the issue and criticised Apple rumour sites for stoking an atmosphere of fear. Fanbois have been tying themselves in knots …

  1. Trollslayer

    Genius?

    It doesn't take one to despise Apple's attitude.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Genius?

      While Samsung and others could only dream of service and support anywhere near Apple. Having to send a Samsung back for repair (and it was only a few months old) and wait over 3 weeks for a fix / replacement = poor.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Genius?

      Guess I should cry to blog sites and Apple when I drop my iPhone out of a window onto tarmac and it break because of course it's always preferable to blame someone else. If you sell 10m phones you are going to have a number that receive accidental damage (like this) within the first few days - I'm sure there are people who have dropped them into water etc. and been back to get replaced.

      At least Applecare+ covers 2 incidents of accidental damage over the 2 year coverage for a £55 excess - so if you do severely damage your phone getting it fixed / replaced is not so bad.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Genius?

      There cleary IS a problem, but Apple don't want to admit to it, and have to replace millions of phones.

      Some sites are desperately trying to ant-spin by claiming all phones bend. CultofMac being hilariously the most feeble.

      1. whatevs...

        Re: Genius?

        There'd 'clearly be a problem' if every other iPhone 6 was bending. They're not. It's a handful of fuckwits putting their new bling in their back pockets and sitting on them all afternoon, then complaining loudly on the internet when they find the device has been bent by their skinny jean clad arses. OBVIOUSLY it's not their fault. These are people who clearly shouldn't be left alone with safety scissors.

        Oh, and can you show the class the MEEELIONS of iPhones that have bent. Didn't think so...

        1. iEgoPad
          Pint

          Re: Genius?

          "It's a handful of fuckwits putting their new bling in their back pockets and sitting on them all afternoon"

          Yes, but pales into insignificance compared with 10,000,000 fuckwits in one weekend.

          But, hey, great entertainment for un-fuckwits.

          Have a pint.

          Have 10,000,000.

          Because you're worth it.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The REAL problem

      Sitting in an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus when you have a massive ar*e, or if you are overweight, a wide load etc would put a bend in the body panels of a tank, let alone a phone.

      The fact that you can't feel the phone in your pocket when sitting on it means that you are sitting on too much padding.

      1. Observer1959

        Re: The REAL problem

        I was wondering how someone putting that much pressure on a device would not feel it digging into them. I've watched the tech guy bend these phones and it takes a lot of pressure to do it.

      2. iEgoPad

        Re: The REAL problem

        Does not compute.

        Lots of padding absorbs pressue / avoids odeformation.

        Lean and muscley holds it against hard surfaces.

        Maybe that explains so few...?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what's the actual problem?

    Is it:

    1. Normal people, doing the normal thing, and placing their new iDoodah in their front jeans pocket?

    2. Dick-heads putting a large phone in their back pocket, sitting down, and wondering where all the consequences are coming from?

    1. thomas newton
      Trollface

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      I do hope no uncharitable type will suggest that 'apple user' and 'dickhead' go hand in hand.

      I certainly wouldn't try and draw any inference like that.

      1. g e

        Re: So what's the actual problem?

        Maybe they're just sitting on it wrong

      2. iEgoPad

        Re: So what's the actual problem?

        "I do hope no uncharitable type will suggest that 'apple user' and 'dickhead' go hand in hand.

        I certainly wouldn't try and draw any inference like that."

        Inference superfluous: observation suffices.

    2. TRT Silver badge

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      You see, from a design point of view, it's inconceivable that anyone would WANT to put their shiny away. Should be permanently attached to the body somehow... on some kind of wristband, maybe.

    3. Peter Storm

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      Of course it must be Apple's fault. My daughter ran over her iPad in her Volkswagen Passat estate loaded with gear and the BLOODY SCREEN CRACKED! It still went on working fine though, but hey, c'mon Apple, people drive over their i devices every day surely.

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        Re: So what's the actual problem?

        As supporting approximately 1,600 kilos of Volkswagen is not a normal use-case for a tablet, no reasonable person should expect a replacement.

        However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So what's the actual problem?

          However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone.

          So what you're saying is that Apple should have made it explicit in their documentation that having a round ass bending a straight phone is probably not a good idea? OK, I buy that, given that certain people apparently need to be told that a cruise control is not the same as auto-pilot and were indeed successful in court.

          To me, it simply says that some people seem to have no idea how to treat equipment and blaming Apple, and that Apple has underestimated the amount of obesity out there.

          Where does this stop? Do we need a notice for every laptop that it's not the right thing to put your car jack on? Do we take all personal responsibility off people? Why don't we have a warning on power sockets yet that licking them is a bad idea?

          1. Oninoshiko

            Re: So what's the actual problem?

            I stick my Nexus 5 in my pocket every day, doesn't have a problem with bending.

            Then again, it's a quality product designed to just work in every day workload. If you have to baby the damn phone to the point you can't put it in your front pocket, it's just not suited to be a mobile phone. This is just one of the many reasons I don't buy apple products.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: So what's the actual problem?

              "They are used to treating a class of device in a certain way."

              Really? It would never have occurred to me to put a phone in my back pocket. It just strikes me as an idea incredibly lacking in common sense. As for my front pockets, well even my jeans have enough give for my Nexus 5, without exerting any real pressure on it. This is why I'm somewhat incredulous at the bendy phone complaint. It's going to take real pressure to bend one of these phones. The best way I can think of, to do that, is it stick in my back pocket, behind my fat arse, and then proceed to sit down. If I did that, I'd put it down to experience, and keep it quiet, rather than advertising what I'd done, to the world.

              1. BasicChimpTheory

                Re: So what's the actual problem?

                "It would never have occurred to me to put a phone in my back pocket. It just strikes me as an idea incredibly lacking in common sense."

                Agreed. Unfortunately (for your position), the only mentions of back pocket phone holstering I've read is below articles where commenters question the intelligence of Banana Phone owners. It seems to me that this is fundamental to the point here - everyone agrees the phones should only bend under abusive conditions but the original reports don't really show those are the conditions under which the damage occurs. It seems very much like people are just treating them the way they've always treated their phones.

                Remember that these stress test videos and the like aren't how the issue became public. Initially, people (about half of them technology reviewers, as my observations go) incidentally noticed that the phone didn't sit level face downon a flat surface anymore - we're not talking about bum-shaped devices here.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: So what's the actual problem?

              "I stick my Nexus 5 in my pocket every day, doesn't have a problem with bending."

              Yes, me too. And it is indeed a quality product. However, I'm just a teensy weensy bit careful as to which pocket I put it in. It goes in my left front jeans or trouser pocket. And if I'm going to lounge on the settee (usually on my left side), I take it out and put it on the coffee table.

              1. Trainee grumpy old ****

                Re: So what's the actual problem?

                I'll put my hand up to carrying my Galaxy Note(*) in the back pocket of my jeans(**) and occasionally sitting on it. No ill effect.

                *: the original one, still going strong on Cyanogen Mod

                **: Not particular skinny.

              2. TRT Silver badge

                Re: So what's the actual problem?

                I tried poking a Nexus-6 the other day, but she beat me up and then her boyfriend rammed my head through the partition wall.

          2. iEgoPad

            Re: So what's the actual problem?

            "So what you're saying is that Apple should have made it explicit in their documentation that having a round ass bending a straight phone is probably not a good idea?"

            They're iUsers. Not the brightest stars in the firmament. You have to spell it out.

          3. e^iπ+1=0

            Re: So what's the actual problem?

            However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone.

            ... Don't be insecure here - the 6+ is more of a phablet than a phone and may not suit certain pockets.

        2. JDX Gold badge

          Re: However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone

          Indeed. But it's not clear if it was placed carefully in a pocket, or for instance, stuffed in a back pocket.

          It DOES sound like the phone is more delicate than some, but that may or may not be to the extent it should be considered a problem. A handful of people reporting the issue out of 10 million is not a big enough sample.

          It could be a bad batch with a common fault, even.

          1. iEgoPad

            Re: However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone

            "It could be a bad batch with a common fault, even."

            A batch of 10,000,000.

            Hmmm. You were talking about the iBuyers, weren't you?

        3. Peter Storm

          Re: So what's the actual problem?

          "However, being transported in a user's pocket is a normal use-case for a phone."

          Not, I would argue, if you're a big fat bastard and you sit on it.

    4. BasicChimpTheory

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      "Dickheads putting a large phone in their back pocket, sitting down, and wondering where all the consequences are coming from?"

      I've been reading this sort of argument in every discussion of this matter that I've seen this week (far too many) and it always brings a question to my mind, so I'll ask it of you now, AC.

      Do you think these bent phones are the first phone these people have owned?

      They are used to treating a class of device in a certain way. The class of device presents a typical level of structural integrity. A NEW AND IMPROVED example of the class performs worse and it is the users' fault somehow? Why?

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Holmes

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      @AC - "Dick-heads putting a large phone in their back pocket, sitting down, and wondering where all the consequences are coming from?"

      Except one of the first complaints was from a guy who had it in the front pocket of his suit pants at a wedding. Not exactly the same as sitting on it.

      So who is the dick-head now? That's right, it's you, coward.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So what's the actual problem?

        "So who is the dick-head now? That's right, it's you, coward."

        The gullible idiot who believed that?

    6. iEgoPad

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      "2. Dick-heads putting a large phone in their back pocket, sitting down, and wondering where all the consequences are coming from?"

      Only iDick-head Minis.

      Full iDick-heads force whole IPads in their pockets.

    7. e^iπ+1=0

      Re: So what's the actual problem?

      1 - Front pocket.

  3. tempemeaty

    Phat Aluminium?

    Does the new iSlab (fondle-phone?) have a case that's milled out of an aluminum block like other iThings?

    It's the rigidity that comes from of making other iThing cases from milled aluminum blocks that might be the solution for this one. Then again perhaps you can't economically do 10 million in a reasonable period with that process of case manufacturing.

    1. KjetilS

      Re: Phat Aluminium?

      Aluminium isn't really that strong. It's usually fairly soft. Properly made plastic casings can actually be quite a bit stronger.

      So in this case I'm suspecting the aluminium body might actually be making the problem worse.

      1. TRT Silver badge

        Re: Phat Aluminium?

        It's actually an alloy.

        1. Dave 126

          Re: Phat Aluminium?

          >It's actually an alloy.

          Well yeah. Most structural metals are alloyed rather than used in their pure form. There are many types of aluminium alloy, to fine-tune the desired properties. Adding magnesium tends to make for easier casting, for example.

          1. Eddy Ito

            Re: Phat Aluminium?

            I assume it's 6061 aluminum which at T6 temper is reasonably stiff / strong (40 ksi / 276 MPa yield, 45 ksi / 310 MPa ultimate) but is practically metal butter when annealed (7-8 ksi / 48-55 MPa yield, 18 ksi / 125 MPa ultimate). It's possible that the spec is for T6 but a few made it out at a lower temper or it could be that even T6 isn't enough. In either case given the small difference between yield and ultimate any plastic bending is likely to result in breakage after a short period of time.

            For anyone not familiar with tensile material strength, yield is the stress level where deformation changes from elastic to plastic which is to say it will not spring back. Ultimate strength is where the material physically breaks.

      2. Dave 126

        Re: Phat Aluminium?

        >Aluminium isn't really that strong. It's usually fairly soft. Properly made plastic casings can actually be quite a bit stronger.

        Aluminium is quite soft and not that stiff for a given cross-section. However, because it is less dense than steel, the actual cross section used to achieve the required strength is larger than that used for steel. As a consequence, aluminium structures tend to be stiffer than steel ones- look at bicycle frames as an example.

        (there are other things going on here though - the choice of material defines the process used to shape it - so ribs might be stamped into steel sheet for stiffness, whereas you might choose to cast a mag/alu alloy, or machine it to achieve a stiff structure)

        Of course the primary concern on a bicycle frame is light weight (it doesn't matter if the tubes are thicker), whereas on a phone it is the physical dimensions (W x L x T) that people compete on.

        Now, you might choose to use one of a number of plastics instead for a phone- and you might arrive at an engineering solution where the device does bend, but can then return to is original flat state. Aluminium, unlike steel and titanium within their elastic limits, exhibits 'fatigue' where eventual catastrophic failure can result from a succession of small bends or vibration over time.

        Another solution would be to build strain gauges into the phone, triggering an audible warning if too much strain is observed, or perhaps a message "get off me you fat bastard!". Or a sound like a mouse being crushed (simulated on a synthesiser of course, not recorded from life in a studio)

        Anyway, looks my next phone will be the Xperia Z3 Compact, with flexible glass front and rear, and nylon corners to protect against shock. And it will be in a case. And I don't wear hipster skinny jeans.

        I am quite butter-fingered though.

        1. x3mxs

          Re: Phat Aluminium?

          I would like to point out that being quite a ductile material, when bent, aluminum will retain the shape.

          A plastic, definitively more elastic, would try to get back to the original shape.

  4. NoneSuch Silver badge

    Back pocket storage is common on our campus. Mostly women from my informal survey.

    Denial and spin from Apple is hardly unprecedented. "Oh you're on fire, sir? Maybe you should buy an iPod to feel better about the situation."

    1. Shady
      Trollface

      You imply that you spend a lot of time staring at peoples bottoms. Is it really "your campus", or do you get chased away a lot?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      > Mostly women from my informal survey.

      Did the judge believe you?

    3. Omniaural

      @ nonesuch

      Or perhaps your informal survey just happened to focus mainly on women's bottoms and therefore biases the result?

    4. Old Tom

      Drop Dead Drop

      I've always been a back pocketer - never had an issue until the Drop Dead Drop Ride at the London Dungeon. My screen shattered an hour or so later in some weird delayed-action consequence.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    "They had received no calls about the issue..."

    Yeah... certainly not after that IOS 8.0.1 update...

  6. dogged
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yeah right as if that is reasonable - take any similar phone and put it under that much stress and it's likely to crack - I'm surprised the glass did not break / pop off TBH.

      Suspect the reports of this happening are greatly exaggerated - but there again sell 10m phones in a weekend and you are bound to get a few that manage to break them - wonder if they work for a competitor - hmm...

      Seriously though - £500+ on a device that is so slim and light - you take reasonable care of it. This will happen when people get the Apple Watch - despite it having a sapphire glass people will scrape it down a wall and say OOH OOH it's scratched and it's all Apple's fault.

      1. VinceH

        "Yeah right as if that is reasonable - take any similar phone and put it under that much stress and it's likely to crack - I'm surprised the glass did not break / pop off TBH."

        You might want to watch the full video - and, given your comment about what might happen to a similar phone, the follow-up video as well, for one example of just that.

        It's worth noting that the iPhone 6 had a minor bend in it already, before he started his 'test'.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Even if another phone made of different materials survives the test does not mean it's a reasonable test. I mean should I compare a Casio G-Shock to a Rolex and then say the Rolex is inferior because it did not survive being dropped from 10 floors up onto concrete but the Casio did?

          The iPhone is made of thin aluminium and glass to make it thin and light - the test shown in the video is just ridiculous - you may as well take a hammer to the screen and complain when it breaks. Suspect what is happening here is a small number of people have carelessly sat 'hard' on their phones and bent them. If it happened in a front pocket you would probably have hurt yourself with that much force.

          1. VinceH

            "Even if another phone made of different materials survives the test does not mean it's a reasonable test."

            Quite. Now look back at the part where I referred to his 'test' and note the apostrophes around the word.

            It's not a reasonable test because it's not representative of the stresses the phone will be put through in the real world - he's applied a much larger amount of force than the phone would normally receive, just to see if it will bend, rather than to see if it will bend under normal circumstances.

            However, the reason I pointed it out is because of what the previous AC (assuming you are not the same one) said:

            > take any similar phone and put it under that much stress and it's likely to crack

            The Samsung tested is a similar form factor - [troll] after all, it's a phone from the manufacturer Apple are trying to copy[/troll] - and it didn't crack. In fact, it regained its original shape.

            It may not have been made of the same material, but ISTR he specifically pointed out the different material, and that it may have been a factor in the Samsung phone returning to its original shape.

            And also:

            > I'm surprised the glass did not break/pop off TBH.

            (So am I, actually)

            The iPhone's glass did crack - when he tried to straighten it, as mentioned at the start of the follow-up video.

  7. Persiflage
    Paris Hilton

    Visual Mechanical Inspection

    "Genius": "Mmmm... Yes, the phone is definitely bent, but before I can issue you a free replacement, I just need you to show me how you carry the phone."

    *young lady slides phone into pocket of skinny jeans*

    "Okay, that's great, now take it out again..."

    *removes phone*

    "Now in again, but sloooowly... "

    Seriously, just you wait: they'll all be trying to get an iFull.

    __

    Paris, because I can hardly imagine what shape her iThingy would end up.

  8. btrower

    iOmerta iLikeIT(tm)

    iEOM, iGuess.

  9. McWibble

    > There is a test called a Visual Mechanical Inspection that the device will have to pass

    In other words, the sycophant looks at it?

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Pretty much the same as the basic PAT, then.

  10. Carbon life unit 5,232,556
    Trollface

    Just when all the pundits were slating Apple for the yestertech, they come out with a flexible device, genius

  11. khisanth

    I would NEVER put my phone in a jeans pocket front or back, especially if I was going to sit down at any point. Teething problems with a new product are nothing new, yet people make out its the first time its happened and only to Apple!

    1. dogged
      Stop

      I do it all the time.

      Then again, I use a Nokia.

      I also go out in the wind and rain without a hat or umbrella but then I don't have an exclusive haircut or makeup to look after because I'm not a massive nonce.

      1. captain veg Silver badge

        Same here

        Not only that, but my N9 survived being chucked down a cobbled hill from my speeding bike (zip failure) with no visible damage whatsoever.

        Aluminium case, eh? Like with the "digital interference" prone external antennae on the iPhone 4, this is what happens when you let designers do engineering.

        -A.

  12. Shady

    Apple must be REALLY worried about this problem

    if they've swallowed their pride and agreed to speak to el reg about it.

    1. whatevs...

      Re: Apple must be REALLY worried about this problem

      RTFA. It was a "Genius". I'm not sure if they'd even count as Apple...

      1. Martin-73 Silver badge

        Re: Apple must be REALLY worried about this problem

        Yeah, they're an employee, they count

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So it's a slab of thin aluminium and glass and you sit on it and are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

    Guess if you sell 10m phones in 3 days you have to expect this. Samsung will have the same issue but perhaps only sell 10m phones in a year so it's not going to make the news.

    Bottom line is they did not ship that way (clearly) - you have to put a lot of force on them to bend - so it's a case of accidental damage. Just in the same way that Apple can not make a phone immune to damage if you drop it from 2m (approximate ear height) onto concrete.

    1. Tom 13

      Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

      Yes, many people are. Sometimes even my roomie who posses an Engineering degree and makes things that must withstand far greater stresses.

      Also the definition of "a lot of force" is too flexible. The actual analysis is more complicated:

      1. Is the method of carrying it an expected mode of transport for the typical user?

      2. Is the answer to 1 is yes, did you account for this in the design?

      3. If it was accounted for in the design was it tested in QA?

      Fail any of those in the US and you have a potential class action lawsuit. Yes, it is as silly as the warnings on step ladders that you shouldn't attempt to stand on the piece that is intended to hold a pain can, but that is the precedent I am referencing.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

        I'd say anything should be a shared responsibility but unfortunately when you have to state MAY CONTAIN NUTS on a pack of nuts - well what do you expect.

        What about an iPad - if it reasonable I should expect to be able to sit on it - just because I could? It is reasonable to expect a phone to survive a drop from ear height onto tarmac - well that is a normal usage so perhaps manufacturers should ensure it will survive that.

        While they are at it they should make whiskey bottles that ensure you cannot drink too much (although guess that is subjective) or knives that can only be used to chop food and not stab people.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

          Stating "MAY CONTAIN NUTS" on a pack of peanuts can be entirely correct. Peanuts, despite their name, are not nuts and belong to the Leguminosae family. That's legumes to you and me.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

            Stating "MAY CONTAIN NUTS" on a pack of peanuts can be entirely correct. Peanuts, despite their name, are not nuts and belong to the Leguminosae family. That's legumes to you and me.

            I'm sure such pedantry will be a relief to people with a nut allergy busy fighting off an anaphylactic shock.

            1. Swarthy

              Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

              I'm sure such pedantry will be a relief to people with a nut allergy busy fighting off an anaphylactic shock.

              It should. If you go into anaphylactic shock from peanuts, that means you have a legume allergy and should be careful when consuming peas and beans (including soy).

          2. 404

            Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

            'May Contain Nuts'

            +1 for making me look*.

            *I learned something today.

        2. Eddy Ito

          Re: are surprised it bends / cracks - really.

          While they are at it they should make whiskey bottles that ensure you cannot drink too much (although guess that is subjective) or knives that can only be used to chop food and not stab people.

          It seems someone doesn't know their recent history. People have tried to cure every perceived ill of mankind for a rather long time and when the products flop because nobody really wants them the true control freaks come out of the cracks and try to legislate behavior by controlling what people can have.

          Ultimately this is just a PR problem. If they didn't want people to slip the phone into their pocket they could have made it 15 mm thick and it would likely never bend. In the end they'll probably just do the same thing they did for the antenna thing on the 4, offer a free case as a sign of good will to the customers who feel they need the "added protection" of their new stiffie 'carbon fiber' case or something.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Samsung

      "Samsung will have the same issue but perhaps only sell 10m phones in a year so it's not going to make the news."

      At least as recently as April this year, Samsung apparently shipped more phones than Apple..... and Huawei, Lenovo and LG put together. 85,000,000 smartphones in the first quarter alone.

      http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/04/30/samsung-is-undisputed-king-of-smartphones-apple-still-distant-second/

      1. Toothpick

        Re: Samsung

        Don't Samsung always quote numbers shipped, whereas Apple quote numbers sold? There will be one hell of a difference.

        1. Eddy Ito

          Re: Samsung

          Shipped, sold - who cares. Sell-in vs sell-through difference is just marketing BS but feel free to keep strumming that chord.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Most people realise if you have a super thin and light phone and you sit on it - it's going to bend. I would not jump up and down on the bonnet of my car.

    Careless people looking to blame someone else for not making an unbreakable device. I'm really surprised the screen did not crack first.

    1. Dazed and Confused
      Happy

      Re: Most people realise

      > Most people realise if you have a super thin and light phone and you sit on it - it's going to bend. I would not jump up and down on the bonnet of my car.

      You might not jump up and down on the bonnet of your car, but you'd be pretty pissed off if it bent due to wind resistance when driven at 70MPH on the motorway. You'd feel that driving at 70 was normal use for a car and that to be fit for purpose a car should be designed to handle the stresses of normal motorway driving.

      Most product designers would realise that if they design a mobile device that people are going to carry it around with them. So question, where do people carry things around ?

      Answers on a post card please.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Most people realise

        Actually, a lot of modern, very smart and expensive cars will suffer dents in the bonnet and such like if leaned on too heavily, opened too roughly. Strong air currents over a surface angled and shaped for that are not the same as a lard-arse resting his elbows or bottom on the bonnet.

        The idea that people put any rigid or semi-rigid device in a tight pocket, front or back and are surprised that it is inclined to bend or break when the wearer bends down or sits is depressing.

        Do they also put a paperback book in the pocket and complain it got bent or creased? Even Nokias could break and I do recall repeated advice not to put any mobile in a rear pocket, though it is extraordinary how many women seem to think it a good place for an iPhone or other make. I suppose if they are lucky it falls out before it breaks.

        But then, pocketable size is one reason I think the iPhone 5s is a good, compromise size.

        1. Dazed and Confused

          Re: Most people realise

          My point was that why would someone design a mobile that is designed not to be able to be carried in the way that you know most people are going to carry it. It's a question of whether the design is fit for purpose. I've no idea how the size compares with an SGS4 but that works fine in the front pocket of any trousers I've tried, but I'd not not try sticking it in a back pocket and sitting down. Lesson learned from Nokia bricks... sit on them and you end up with bruised buttocks.

          1. whatevs...

            Re: Most people realise

            Are you suggesting that most people carry their phones in their back pockets. Genuinely, the stats on this would be very interesting. I don't think it's a typical use case. Happy to be proved wrong.

            1. Z80

              Re: Most people realise

              Back pocket is typically how I carry my phone around at work. Since chairs are more often than not situated next to desks and other such level surfaces, I always remove it before sitting down. Seems the obvious thing to to with something not designed to bend and uncomfortable to sit on.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Most people realise

                I know some girls who USED to carry their phones in their back pocket, but they all stopped because it seems it is only a matter of time before they forget their phone is in their and they go the bathroom and the phone takes a dip in the toilet.

                That accounts for 100% of the cases of dropping a phone in a toilet that I'm aware of, and as one can easily imagine, after it happens once they NEVER stow their phone in their back pocket ever again!

                1. Dr. Mouse

                  Re: Most people realise

                  "That accounts for 100% of the cases of dropping a phone in a toilet that I'm aware of"

                  I've heard of a few where it dropped out of a front pocket, but the funniest was a friend who had one of the Nokia phones with a waterproof case (can't remember the model, but the case split in half between screen and keypad). He found it easier to text with the case removed. You can see where this is going: texting while sat on the loo, case removed, slip, plop.

                  As for the iPhone issue, many people do keep their phone in their back pocket. If that's what they are used to, and it has never damaged their phone before, they are going to be peeved if they find their brand new, overpriced expensive device has bent under what they take to be normal use.

                2. Observer1959

                  Re: Most people realise

                  This reminds me of the episode of the IT Crowd when the frizzy haired geek got his new smartphone and ran around bragging to everyone only to accidently flushing it down the toilet. That made me cry laughing.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Most people realise

              If you weren't supposed to put it in your pocket why the f*** would they have a vibrate feature?

              Apart from the giggle factor vibrating phones only act as a silent notification of a call if they are pressed against you.

  15. Jean-Paul

    Just for the record

    not all Apple users are bend. My six inches are absolutely fine and straight.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Re: Just for the record

      But are your 6" sufficiently hard to avoid bending in future? Or will yours suffer damage if someone sits on it?

  16. Dan Paul

    Anyone with half a brain...

    does both non-destructive and destructive testing on their products and components before they assemble them.

    For a company (Apple) that make laptop frames from magnesium, it's difficult to understand why they chose aluminum for the iPhone.

    No one has mentioned heat treating for the iPhone frames but improper heat treating (annealing) aluminum will change it's mechanical properties dramatically. Improper metallurgy is another potential issue, especially when sourced in China. In most cases, machining from billet aluminum leaves the product with brittleness not softness. Typically, heat treating makes an aluminum or non ferrous products more ductile. Then it should get re-hardened by soaking it in hot fluid. Sometimes you use age hardening but that takes time the manufacturer might not have had.

    If this is the result of a manufacturing shortcut then I'll bet there will be hell to pay for it.

    1. tempemeaty

      Re: Anyone with half a brain...

      Dan, I think what you've said here may answer a lot of questions. Thank you. Have another up vote!

      1. Dave 126

        Re: Anyone with half a brain...

        The irreversible bending appear to occur around the volume keys - the cut-outs act as 'stress-risers'. A small flange around the cut-outs - either internal or external - would help alleviate the issue by better distributing the strain.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Anyone with half a brain...

      <i>For a company (Apple) that make laptop frames from magnesium, it's difficult to understand why they chose aluminum for the iPhone.</i>

      Apple Macbooks are made from milled aluminium, not magnesium.

  17. envmod

    stupid people are always the problem

    spend hundreds of pounds on the latest apple iphone - essentially a pocket-sized computer - then keep it in your back pocket and sit down on it. not remotely stupid that....i see so many people chucking their idevices (and androids etc as well) around willy-nilly, smashing the screen, scratching the whole thing up to buggery and generally taking bad care of them - it always amazes me. these are the people who likely also take very bad care of their laptops at work, download all sorts of nonsense onto them, eat their dinner off it and all the rest, then complain that it's "broken" through no fault of their own.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I just wishing someone would man up and cover the iOS fragmentation problem.

    Apps need rewriting for the new phones... This doesn't happen on Android. When will the press grow some balls and talk about the huge elephant in the room...

    http://www.droid-life.com/2014/09/19/welcome-iphone-users-and-ios-developers-to-fragmentation/

  19. Dan 55 Silver badge

    It's going to be Antennagate all over again

    First everyone's been told to say that it's a rumour.

    Then they'll put out videos of other phones bending.

    Shortly followed by a special press event, if Tim Nice But Dim thinks he's got the charisma to get away with it.

    Then finally perhaps a silent hardware change and accepting phones back no-questions-asked.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It's going to be Antennagate all over again

      Apple never made any changes to the antenna in 4 over this. Or even the antenna in the 4S!

      There were a small number of people complaining who had an issue, but it garnered a lot of publicity because Apple benefits from publicity when it is positive (all the attention around the launch of a new iPhone) and Apple is hurt by the publicity when it is negative (antenna gate, maps, the "yellow screen", "purple flare") The bendy 6 Plus is just the next iteration of this.

      Like the rest, it'll be in the news for a few days, then people will forget about it, other than Apple haters who will be making bad jokes about it for the next several years. You still hear idiots saying "you're holding it wrong" or suggesting that Apple Maps will get you lost, so they'll probably still be talking about bent phones in 2020.

      1. Observer1959

        Re: It's going to be Antennagate all over again

        And let's not forget all the paid Samsung shills who go online to post negative remarks about competitors.

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge
          Trollface

          Re: It's going to be Antennagate all over again

          How come no-one told me they pay for negative remarks about Apple? Where do I go with my portfolio to get FRAND back payments?

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I seem to remember the return rate for antennagate was less than 1% and many of those would have been people just returning it because they changed their minds and were past the initial free return period. People / the press love to bash Apple - you may make the best phone, sell the most units but apparently you have to make in destructive phones as well.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    US-centric problem

    Perhaps this is not a problem in the UK because although we have plenty of obese people they tend not to have iPhones (unless liberated from the owner) whereas in the US, where the Apple market penetration goes much further down the socioeconomic scale, there will be an awful lot of lardarse iPhone toters.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: US-centric problem

      Please don't use the words "penetration" and "lardarse" in close proximity. My overactive analytic mind will immediately key into this and the result is that I have to reach for the mind bleach. Ugh.

    2. Zack Mollusc

      Re: US-centric problem

      I cannot speak for Dahn Sarf, but up here in the godforsaken forgotten wilderness it is all the Gyppos, Scratters and Doleys who have iPhones. The couple of dozen people with jobs seem to all have Androids.

  22. Cynical Observer
    Trollface

    What's the fuss

    Surely this is just the latest iteration of "Round Corners"

  23. sandman

    US v UK complaints

    Now, I'm NOT saying that this is a factor when sitting on your phone but…

    Av Weight:

    UK Male c84kg

    US Male c88kg

    UK Female c69kg

    US Female c77kg

    Sourced from Wikipedia, but references look OK.

  24. Hellcat
    Joke

    Well that answers that.

    I was wondering how Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf was getting on. Looks like he landed a job in Apple customer services and is now called Aoife.

  25. Peter Storm

    "iPhone 6 Plus bending"

    It's just the new Apple Bananaphone

  26. Jagged

    "iPhone 6 Plus bending"

    Its a sneaky new feature.

    You try and throw your iPhone away, but it keeps coming back to you!

    *gets coat*

  27. Yugguy

    Anyone with half a brain

    Wouldnt stick ANYTHING valuable in their arse pocket where it can be a) nicked and b) broken quite easily.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Trouser disfunction

    Does your phone dress to the left or the right though?

  29. captain veg Silver badge

    Shark jumped

    > "Sadly, after listening to hold music courtesy of Adele and Coldplay"

    They really have lost it, haven't they?

    -A.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    iphone 5 seris problem is 100+ times worse!

    There's thousands of bent iPhone out there, so 5 and 5s owners are all waiting in anticipation.

    Its another special characteristic of the iPhone so get used to it, but have some free fudge.

  31. Haku

    I'm almost surprised Apple didn't suggest users upgrade the size of their pockets or suggest having special pockets sewn to their clothes to hold the new iPhone...

  32. W T Riker

    Railway track

    A case made out of used railway track about 2 inches thick should do the trick. It might be a little heavey and yes dropping it on the floor may cause the floor more damage than the phone (don't blame anyone if you left you foot in the way and please make a youtube video), but the phone wont bend or break.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just like iCloud is secure eh Apple?

    http://www.dailydot.com/technology/apple-icloud-brute-force-attack-march/

    I just feel sorry for the idiots just believe all the crap Apple come out with, without question.

  34. returnmyjedi

    Genius?

    If there ever was a sobriquet less deserving of its title than the Apple genius then I'd love to hear about it. The fact that the tech press refer to them as such as well shows how effective Apple's PR machine is. Even simple features readily available on other platforms get the same revered treatment (iSight, AirPlay, TrueTone, Retina blah blah blah).

  35. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Andy Taylor

      Re: I'll bet this is a non-issue like "antenna gate" and all the rest

      Actually, the design did change between 4 and 4S, the 4 has a visible gap in the aluminium band at the top of the phone near the headphone socket which is not present on the 4S.

      1. returnmyjedi

        Re: I'll bet this is a non-issue like "antenna gate" and all the rest

        Now now, lets not allow facts to get in the way of any pro or anti Apple comments. Just because his Jobsness dished out lorry loads of bumpers to fix the non existent issue with the attended doesn't mean Apple were in any way to blame, nor does the findings of ifixit and the like who noted a changed antenna design.

        It's all sad campaign against a poor defenseless multi billion dollar mega-corp.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Banana phone

    Perhaps Apple are trying to emulate the original banana phone - the Nokia 8110 / NK502 - http://nokiamuseum.com/view.php?model=nk502 . Any other fruit they could work on?

  37. Observer1959

    Just watch one of the tech site videos of them bending an iPhone 6 and how much effort it takes to do it. White fingertips shaking hands and saying it hurts. I carry my phone in my front pocket sometimes and I cannot imagine how they could bend it.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Anyone can lie

    "its not something our customers care about" blah blah blah

    the lies get really tedious. Just like the long queues of chinese students paid to stand in line. Never see a white face in the queue outside any London Apple store on launch day. That's not racist just statement of fact.

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