iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus News: Does the iPhone 6 Plus Bend Easily? [Watch]
As we stated yesterday, while the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus' launch have been record-setting in terms of units sold, there appear to be some significant issue with the new phones' hardware and software. Most notably has been the claim that the iPhone 6 Plus is susceptible to bending from something as seemingly benign as keeping it in your pocket for extended periods of time.
Well, once the news of 'bendgate' broke, several noted tech reviewers and commentators decided to put the theory to the test. Unbox Therapy put his own review model of the iPhone 6 Plus on the line by attempting to bend the phone with his bare hands. The result (as you can see in the video below) was not good. The phone bent significantly near the volume buttons.
Now, the iPhone 6 Plus isn't the first phone to bend under pressure, a fact that Unbox Therapy and other are quick to note. The issue, rather, is that the iPhone 6 Plus is the most high-profile phone to be this susceptible to bending, a fact seemingly exacerbated by the fact that Apple (and its legion of faithful followers) has always touted the build quality of iOS devices as ahead of just about everyone else.
It would appear that in the case of the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple chose style over substance by making the device as thin as possible, a decision that most likely sacrificed the phone's strength and ability resist bending in the face of outside forces.
The design of the iPhone 6 Plus is discussed in better detail in the video below by YouTube reviewer MKBHD.
As MKBHD notes, no phone is designed to be continuously 'bended' over time, so it's really no surprise that a phone as thin as the iPhone 6 Plus bends when it encounters a force pressing on it for a prolonged period of time. Another issue seems to be that other metal phones, like the HTC One M8 or the new Moto X, don't bend under similar circumstances because of internal reinforcement. The natural response to that fact is, 'why doesn't the iPhone 6 Plus have similar internal reinforcement?' The simple answer is, because Apple could make it as thin if they included some form on internal reinforcement.
Both videos do a great job of explaining the if and why the iPhone 6 Plus is susceptible to bending, and we recommend you give them a watch. And if you're on the fence about purchasing a new iPhone 6 Plus, you might want to take it's 'build quality' into question before you invest a lot of money in a phone that might end up looking like a boomerang after a night in your pocket.