Scattered reports around the Web claim that iPhone 6 Plus bent during “normal” use in pants pockets.
Really, does the iPhone 6 Plus bend under pressure?
Well, it depends on how much pressure you plan on applying to the device. Any smartphone on the market today will bend (or crack) under sufficient pressure.
That said, Unbox Therapy conducts their Apple iPhone 6 Plus bend test:
Direct link to video here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote earlier today:
As iPhones get thinner, Apple’s work with Liquidmetal becomes all the more crucial. Be careful out there. Use common sense. iPhones are currently made with aluminum and glass and are not unbendable/unbreakable.
If you tend/expect to be rough on your iPhones, consider a strong protective case.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David E.” for the heads up.]
Related article:
Caution: Some users have accidentally bent their iPhone 6 Plus in pockets – September 23, 2014
This is just another opportunity for Samsuck to post a new commercial that Plastics is the next BIG thing. That Apple must now catch up and make all their stuff in PLASTIC, because all these iPhones bend easily… How many will fall for this? It’s starting already.
Watched the vid, also clicked on the followup the same guy did for a bend test on the Galaxy Note 3.. Point for Samsung in this case for having a more common use durable device.
You’ll be down voted to oblivion for telling the truth.
The sheer amount of Samdung Fandroid trolls on the websites focusing on the bend ability of the iPhone 6+ is pathetic, but I fear it won’t end soon. I have seen them on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, basically any social media outlet they can find.
However, as a release date pre-order iPhone 6plus owner, I have had zero problems. I even tried (rather meekly I admit) to put a bend in my phone with my two hands. Of course I didn’t bring out the hulk muscle like the DIGG video idiot obviously did. My conclusion is that if you REALLY want to bend it you obviously can. But I have no fear keeping it in my front pants pocket. I could not bend mine with what I consider to be a substantial amount of pressure
The incessant trolling does bother me, but I try to look on the bright side. This just shows me how awesome my purchase was… since Samdung Fandroids are going out of their minds with insane jealousy and the only thing they know how to do is try to find 1 negative thing (which is a stretch at best) to harp on. It has to be a very sad life they lead. I do feel for them.
Paranoid much? It does bend. I too was lucky enough, or not, to get a 6+ early. It will bend. And I’m no troll. Mine is going back to be replaced with the 4.7 inch iPhone six. It’s a no-brainer. Come out of your distortion reality field. Accept it for what it is, a mistake.
Stay away from Imgur if you don’t like Samdung Android trolls. Lots of ‘Android Circle-jerk’ tagged photos, and countless inane swipes by people who’ve never used an Apple product in their lives.
If you’re not happy with this turn of events, let Apple know. They do have a page, apple.com/feedback, where you can tell them you’re sick of skinny, bendable phones. Give them an earful unless you want two years of this design. The more people complaining, the more likely we’ll see some results.
It only takes a minute or two. We’re the one’s paying a premium for a premium product, our opinions should be heard. Just bitching here won’t do any good, tell Apple!
Are you head sheep or something.
Head sheep and Samsung paid troll. I’m being called everything here. 🙂
Really, you could bend a 24 carrat pair of Cartier glasses into a pretzel too…
Is that because of the battery placement? I watched the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 bend test. It seems like the location of the battery can make a big diff in the degree of the device’s bend-ability.
Battery placement could certainly affect the stiffness of the phone. But the results is undesirable stress on a fragile and potentially dangerous component, if damaged. Using the battery to stiffen a mobile device would not be a wise move, IMO.
One would have thought that the battery would be an integral part of it not bending. Plastic might bend back but repetitive bending would soon degrade it over time so something stiffer than aluminium or plastic would need to provide that rigidity either way.
Pop the back off a Samsung and you’ll see more plastic. A spot for the battery, for the SIM and for the memory expansion card. All this extra plastic adds rigidity. The iPhone has no such internal structures. It’s basically a hollow tube. This worked ok when it was thicker and had vertical sides (I beam construction), but is less robust with longer, curved sides. Counting on a lithium battery for additional rigidity isn’t a good idea because of the battery’s volatility.
You think Apple might buy Cartier, huh? Then they can fix the phone and them glasses you were a-referrin’ to. Y’know… so neither of ’em will bend.
I guess there must be some meaning to those words but dammed if I can detect them.
Guys, let’s face the facts here. The iPhone 6 Plus appears to bend fairly easily. This is a ~$1000 phone. There is no excuse for this poor product management. I hate Android but I’m seriously considering taking my 6 Plus back and getting a Moto X or Note 4.
Guys, shut up already with labelling people. I’m frustrated. Outside of the fragility of the new iPhones due to poor product management, all the Apps are blown up garbage on the 6/6 Plus. They look terrible. It’s like Apple didn’t really do anything to deal with this problem. And the split screen Apps aren’t that great on the Plus.
I really don’t know what to do because I hate Android but I’m $1200 into the top Plus model and there’s some serious problems here. And no, telling people to get a case is just bullshit. This is a failure of product design. iPhones should be waterproof and very durable by now after multiple product generations. And Apple needed to do way more of a deeper dive into App scaling to make it right and work with developers to have a better App showing out of the gate.
I look at Motomaker and see rubber backs and a phone that seems like you could throw it around all day and not damage it.
Who here can give me an honest take on using Android? Because I’m seriously considering the new Moto X and the Moto watch if I return the 6 Plus. And no the 6 isn’t for me: I want a larger screen.
Haul your butt over to an Android site and stfu. If you don’t have the common sense to be able to take care of an iPhone then go find a phone made out of titanium or rubber. I’ll bet you’re still using a sippy cup since you can’t be trusted with a glass.
let it go idiot you are a simple fact that there is a idiot born every Apple phone hahaha
I hope English isn’t your native language because if it is you have to be a retard.
Interesting that there are so many new contributors on here who just happen to be Apple buyers yet oh so swift to slam the company in a strangely mechanical fashion. Yes why would anyone be suspicious of their motives., or unaware of their inherent fear for that matter.
The only thing they have to fear is Android itself.
I think you are full of crap and paid to do this. Did I see you waiting on line to buy two phones to send to China? Anything for a buck, weasel.
Buy an Android phone, Sligt. Please.
Don’t worry. Sligt already has an Android. Anyone who can complain about the iPhone 6 apps as “blown up garbage” is a paid troll.
HONEST TAKE ON ANDROID
Ive been the Not-So-Proud owner of a galaxy note 2 for the past two years. (Hopefully going to upgrade to iPhone 6) Im not going to sit here and tell you androids crap, because its not. Its decent. That doesnt mean its great though. In many cases theres bugs that leave me frustrated and begging for an iPhone. The phones are quick and snappy for the first year, but due to low quality, they decline significantly throughout year two. At least this is what I’ve noticed with the note and other peoples Samsungs. I wouldn’t go android ever again, just because these devices dont last. Thats my honest take
U guys are such hopeless fanboys it’s disgusting. You say the same thing over and over and over and over. “Paid Samsung/Android troll!” Just shut up already. No, I’m an Apple guy that is objective. I don’t think I can bring myself to use Android but here’s the bottom line: the Note 3 passed the same test with flying colors. I don’t give a crap about Samsung, but the reality is this… If you have to tell your customers to use a case, you’re engineering it wrong. Then make the phone thicker or whatever… or use different materials.
Oh boy! They’ll be coming for your throat now. How dare you have the nerve to speak honestly!
I give you an honest, nonobjective take on android and you call me disgusting? I wish someone was paying me to say these things but the fact of the matter is that its my honest opinion and Im correct when I say apple makes higher quality phones because Ive had both for years and years. And I’m not hopping on the bandwagon either, because I could just as easily be in love with droid and go kiss Samsungs behind on another website with all the fandroids out there.
Macadelic:
It’s not you I’m directing that toward, it’s most people on this site. For fanboys to get out of their delusions and realize that Apple – Tim Cook – has been riding on the coattails of Steve Jobs since he died. Nobody, nobody can say whether Tim Cook is right for Apple, and that Apple will go in the right direction.
For me, the tweener 6 Plus that I own is feeling like a bizarre device. What would Steve have done? And don’t bullshit me that nobody should ask what Steve would have done because some idiot journalist wrote an article years ago about that that everyone vomits up. You should ask that right now because Steve is the only reason Apple even exists today and made the products they did.
He would have said, “Focus. One new phone. Not two entirely different screen sizes. Slice those bezels, make it as small physically as possible but with a perfect jump in screen size”.
What would he be saying about Beats Audio? “Why the fxck did you do that? You’re selling another brand under the Apple brand? That’s confusing firstly.”
What would he say about the iOS 8.0.1 update? “You should hate yourselves.”
What would he say about the massive delay in the Apple TV that he had apparently cracked years ago? “What the fxck are you waiting for?”
Look, what I see is a loss of focus at Apple. Forget the watch Apple, get your damn crown jewel right first. Right now, the iPhone 6/6 Plus are blowing up pretty much every App out there and the experience is crap. None of this stuff is acceptable.
Interesting that you didn’t bother actually answering his points, perhaps that is why those like you are considered trolls, the replies seem to spout the party line rather than answer those who make valid points. The above comment was very fair and rational so why did you ignore it exactly in the way you a use others of doing, the hypocrisy is laughable. Personally I think it shouldn’t bend so easily though aluminium is prone to bending more than plastic but has other qualities that make it preferable as the durability tests elsewhere show. At the end of the day it’s swings and roundabouts the difference is Some of us won’t make childish knee jerk claims on one set of durability tests while deliberately, maliciously or through ignorance ignoring other contradictory or competing claims by another set of tests. Only trolls do that.
Buddy, why’nt you just go onto eBay and find yerself one o’ them titanium G4 laptops from a few years back. Take a real sharp exacto knife and cut yerself a nice case outta the laptop housing. Maybe you could get three or four cases outta the laptop housing. Then, you could come on here and tell what you done and sell them other three or four titanium 6plus cases to all yer pals here on the forum. Now tell me that ain’t the best idea you heard of since they announced all the new ways we’re gonna be a-fightin’ global warmin’.
Why are you so defensive? You act like a child. You don’t work there and you didn’t design the phones. Perhaps there is a real problem with the phones being so thin? Perhaps we should wait to see how this comes out? Wipe your mouth. Oh, and it’s running down off your chin too. How embarrassing.
If you expect a large, thin, hollow shell to resist a concentrated bending load, then you are clueless. If you intentionally subject your device to such a load, then you are clueless. If you don’t understand why it bent near the button cutout (function of the structural design and the applied load), then you are clueless.
Have all of these haters forgotten previous generations of cell phones breaking in pockets? i routinely remove my cell phone from my pocket or shift it to avoid bending loads before sitting down, and it is much smaller than the current crop of phablets. When you abuse electronic hardware, then you only have yourself to blame.
To the trolls (excuse me, “truth tellers”) on this forum…this is only one load case. I seem to recall Samsung phones flying apart when dropped. Plastic is not the answer to everything. Apple could add thickness and weight to the iPhone 6/Plus to increase stiffness. Is that what people want?
Hey, dufus video guy…try bending it back before declaring a total disaster.
Before you start calling people names you might note that the vid guy posted a link below his vid for a followup bend test, this time for a Galaxy Note 3. At the start of that vid he reports on the result of trying to bend the iPhone 6 Plus back. Basically a crack in the casing appeared near the button and the screen fractured. He suggests that if bent you do not attempt to bend it back. As for Samsung phone flying apart, most resulted in the back case falling off and the battery falling out. Easily remedied by re-installing the battery and snapping the back back on. Usually a few scratches but no major damage.
He did not attempt to bend it back in the original video. I did not follow that rabbit trail any farther.
Again, this is just one load case. And, I might add, you appear to have overlooked the cracked displays that resulted more frequently in Samsung devices during drop tests. It was not always just a matter of reinstalling the battery and snapping the back on.
That guy in the video was a dufus, regardless. And I can call him any darn thing that I want. I am sick of people jumping on this forum and throwing down the “fanboy” card. If you want a phone that withstands more abuse, then go buy one. But quit trying to develop this into a national emergency.
No prob. Just need to follow the rabbit trail a bit further in the future. 🙂
Yes, and the comments I made are simply for this load case, haven’t pulled in anything from outside. I haven’t overlooked them, just noted that it wasn’t a ‘total disaster’.
I have not thrown down the ‘fanboy’ card nor have I declared this a national emergency. Purchasing a phone to meet your needs and preferences is best in the long term. 😀
A large thin phone is the problem. And yes, they should have made a thicker phone. What? It would be too heavy to lift? Get real. We don’t need a phone as thin as a credit card. Take your excuse making and name-calling somewhere else. Who the hell calls himself king anyway? Asswipe.
No sound when I play on iPhone 5s. How come?
quick solution for people that are worried, find a very rigid case. Any suggestions? If I spent all that money i would be pissed if it got bent
Don’t sit on it you silly person.
Put it in a ¼” thick steel case then.
Life Proof case or Otterbox is what I will choose when we upgrade next month.
Try using your brain for a second. It’s like saying I can’t park my full size pickup in that motorcycle spot so there’s something wrong with it! Come on people use your common sense. People are starting to say that this is a problem? Well buy pants that have bigger pockets or a case that you can clip on your waste. This has nothing to do with the phones except you have to understand there built as an electronic device, not as something you can crush in your small ass pockets!
A longer phone means more leverage and a thinner phone with rounded sides means less rigidity. This is an engineering problem caused by Apple’s stupid obsession with thinner and thinner phones and that they wanted rounded edges this year. They screwed up, and buying a new wardrobe is a poor fix.
I just hope they fix this problem by next year when my contract runs out.
Since when do you put a phone in your front pocket, SIDEWAYS? Also most thighs are strait, vertically.
The trick to putting the phone in your pocket. Glass to the leg, metal to the air. With forces bending towards the glass surface, there is more resistance.
1. Glass does not compress
2. The aluminum metal, two sides plus across the back provides more resistance to stretching.
—–
All images of the iPhone bending are towards the back. Where for all your strength, the glass does not offer stretch resistance, because it is not sealed against the sides. It will just offer bend resistance as it is. Also the aluminum back isn’t either being compressed or stretched because it’s the focal point of the bend. Only the sides offer real resistance.
From the video, it took a lot of effort to bend the phone. Because it’s metal, it doesn’t flex back.
Legs bend at the hips, a front pocket is no safer than a back wren sitting.
Besides, no one should have to worry about something as mundane as how to place a phone in a pocket. Samsung is going to have a field day with this all because of Apple’s fixation with thin.
Maybe next week I will were my Levi 508, slim fits, and see how it goes. Also I have a pair of low waste jeans, but they don’t fit anymore (oops)
Two words: Spell Check.
waist
Spell check is no good, the words are technically spelt correctly, but either mistyped or overlooked. If MDM allowed editing, even for 1 to 10 minute as other blogs do, then these things could be fixed.
I don’t care anymore, because life’s too short and you, who like to point out these things, aren’t worth my extra 3 minutes to check… It’s a retarded system and you should know better. Stop being an ass and have some sympathy. I don’t like it either.
wear
Two words: “spelt” checker
spelt 1 |spɛlt|
chiefly Brit. past and past participle of spell1.
FUCKER
Gollum, mistakes do happen. But it would take you the same 5 seconds to reread your comment that it took me to read it. And you are using neither the past or past participle form but the present tense, so it is spelled incorrectly.
Wow , low waste jeans ! Does this men that when the reach EOL they simply break down into the component molecules ?
Cool
Cargo pocket on the thigh – by far the best, most convenient and safest spot to park a cell phone. I have not broken one yet.
I have some sympathy for those who have bent their new iPhones. But you have to take care of things. This has been a lesson in personal responsibility for some. For others, the lesson will never, ever be effective.
Bend, yes, butt will it blend?
That is the question. http://youtu.be/GAuhUTzNwiY
To save auramac the bother, its “but” not “butt”, that’s where most android users keep there heads
Haven’t yet touched a real one yet, can’t “feel” the likelihood of such.
But it that’s true, Apple does need to re-engineer or re-model the thickness-to-height ratio of iPhone 6/Plus, or find ways to reinforce the materials to counter such “bend-ability” (is that the right word to use?)
Don’t bend your iPhone. If you did the same test on a plastic device it would probably snap in half.
Agree.
Yet, since the first iPhone, most of us the iPhone users would likely also agree that we can feel the unparalleled sturdiness of our beloved devices comparing to most other smartphones or mobile devices.
Because of this, we begin to perceive that iPhone is as “unbend-able” as one thick piece of glass, and forget its body is indeed also made of aluminum, not to mention the separate components within (unibody or not.)
I’m commenting here with my iPhone 4s and it “feels” like it will last forever, and I believe it is harder to bend than iPhone 6/Plus, yet more breakable (?)
I think it’s another engineering challenge to make a big screen device that thin. Hard to be both unbendable and unbreakable.
Get bent: The shocking history of bent smartphones
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/297404/get-bent-shocking-history-bent-smartphones/
Well, some of you were crying for Big Ass phones. You got em. Now deal with them. I’ll stick with my 4.7″ phone. Love it.
Such a stupid ass comment. The iPhone 6 is even thinner so that bitch may bend too.. You jack ass..
I’m with you. If made properly neither phone should bend or break. It looks as though super thin may bite Apple in the ass. And his stupid comment about everyone wanting a larger phone is true. Everyone has wanted a larger phone. So now they’re available. And BK, we noticed that you too picked a larger iPhone. Why didn’t you stick with the 5S which is still for sale? Dumb shit.
I’m with you Bk. Even casual perusal of the 6+ specs showed me that the 6+ was too big for normal pockets. Like many people I then cut out both phone sizes on paper and this confirmed my first conclusion. While I very much wanted the 6+ screen, I knew that carrying it around in a pocket was possible, but not safely and comfortably. So I went for the 6 and don’t regret it for a moment. Yes, the bigger screen would be nice for the 2% of time I’d actually be looking at it, but for the other 98% of the time it would be a real pain to carry. Even the 6 is noticeably bigger and less comfortable in my pocket than my old 5s. If you use a handbag/manbag, then the 6+ might be for you. If you want to carry it in your pocket, have a serious think about that bigger phone before you commit.
Not really a fair test as far as location of the fulcrum on an already stressed point, since it would normally be spread across the width of the phone.
But yes, it will bend.
If I did this to my 4S, the glass would break.
<<<<>>>>
Two important things missing from his presentation:
1. Was the phone still functioning after the extreme force that caused the bending? It seemed the glass did not crack (pretty incredible) and that the UI was still visible and normal.
2. Can one bend it back? Maybe it is the flexible phone we have all ben dreaming of!
The guy that did the vid has a link for a followup bend test on the Galaxy Note 3. Just before going in to the bending he shows his iPhone 6 Plus after he tried bending it back.. Result was cracked aluminum near the button and screen fracture.. He strongly suggests that if your phone gets bent to not try to bend it back. 😛
Thin is great if it’s practical. But there’s no need for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6+ to be this thin. There’s really not. None of the iPhone versions have been too thick or heavy. It’s a phone. If you can’t handle the weight of a phone you shouldn’t buy it. Several years ago I purchased a couple of fourth-generation iPod’s for business purposes. They were too thin. I guess this is all driven by Jony Ive? Sounds as though Apple could use a practical engineer.
This is exactly why I buy Apple Care+, for unexpected damage. New marketing campaign for Apple to sell more Apple Care+ subscriptions: “Apple Care+ puts the Plus in iPhone 6 Plus”.
Let’s all follow the Scots and start wearing the sporran.
As a Scott, I concur. Disappointed with the No vote though on independence for the UK. Bloody monarchists !!!
Damn it !! I meant “from the UK, not “for”. Too much hydro tonihhht,
Please, will someone post a video of a competitor’s phone bending (and hopefully shattering) under the force of a human hand, preferably gloved to prevent injury.
Interesting.
I did a pretty involved search for a Samsung S5 bend test, and found nothing.
Has a test been done?
Have Samsung test results been hidden?
Can the Samsung phone resist bending?
I can’t find any answers.
Anyone?
Anyone?
Bueller?
Soon as we learned Apple had made larger screen iPhones *and* made them thinner, I knew this would be a problem that would get press, because many people, for whatever reason, put their phones in their back pockets and then actually sit on them. Seriously WTF?? Yes I know some report it being in their front pocket but I’ll bet there are far more rear-pocket incidents.
OTOH, An extra 1 or 2mm probably wouldn’t help much… not unless the extra space housed a spine/frame made of something more rigid than aluminum. That’d *reduce* the bending occurrences, but wouldn’t eliminate them.
Tight pants and phone in front pocket would probably be a worse environment. 😛
Something other than aluminum. Carbon fiber, Glass polymer blend (used for knife handles, stiff and virtually indestructible.), a more springy metal, G10, Micarta, the list goes on. Apple doesn’t have to stick with aluminum.
Would everyone who would prefer a little thicker phone with longer battery life and other benefits, please let Jony Ive hear from you? His obsession with thinness has never made any practical sense. Regardless of the inferiority of any other brand of phone, we are going to hear more and more about the risks of bending these larger iPhones.
Apple.com/feedback
If I drive my car into a brick wall . . . it’ll get a dent.
It seems like MDN and many on this forum and others who derided larger phones made by Samsung, LG, HTC and others were very wrong, as were those who told us that Apple takes its time to produce the perfect product.
While there are some fantastic non-Apple large screen phones out there and have been for a good while, Apple takes its time and produces larger phones that have flawed hardware and a bug ridden IOS with apps that are not optimised for the larger screen. Yes, this is a first release, but Apple had long enough to get it right and failed. Perhaps it’s time that more people started to criticise Apple when they get it wrong instead of denying or covering up for them. Maybe Apple would then listen more and not make the mistakes it is doing now.
They did not fail you nonce, check out the presentation. iOS 8 has implement the same display tech the allows a desktop or laptop to have dynamic screen size.
Developers can use the new api’s to make their apps screen agnostic.
Take a look in real life, read the reviews you will see that there is still a lot of work to do before the big screen is utilised properly. Apple presentation of course they will make it look good!
Look at the fudge for one-handed use, so un-Apple like. You have to fiddle with the home button to be able to reach the top of the screen its a cheap fix. As I said Apple had more than enough time to get this right, now look we have IOS in meltdown, protruding camera lenses and bendy phones. Stop trying to find excuses for Apple in the long run all Apple customers will be better off.
I think constructive criticism can be very, um, constructive.
Be aware of SamDung trolls Taking this to the moon folks!
This is due miss handling. All phones bend given enough force.
This guys hand are trembling he is exerting so much force.
This .. As always is a plot by SamDung .. And as you know SamDung will do anything to discredit Apple.. Anything.
The lowlife company has a lot to loose …. And given their absolute lack of moral compass.. Be aware of how disinformation can be spread by scumbags hired by them !
Bite the bullet and accept the fact that Apple screwed up. They let Jony Ive go wild and now we have a screwed up phone.
How so ?
He’s posted all over, it’s his job. Why bother asking him this?
Rest my case ….
Thanks for proving my point !
Now go collect your pay from samy !
Sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling LA, LA< LA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU and calling me a troll doesn't make the problem go away.
My 5s contract expires next fall and I don't want a bendy 6s.
I’m going to get the Six because when I handled both in the store, the Six Plus felt too fragile, like a big graham cracker. And I will use a case.
As for the thinness issue, I agree that Apple has gone farther in that direction than I would want if I had my preference. A few more mm thickness, more battery capacity, and less bendy. Sold!
As for the “make the case from other materials” comment, it’s an interesting idea. Jony Ive loves his aluminium, and won’t be convinced by me to let it go. However, G-10 has a high stiffness and is transparent to radio waves. Kevlar composite is even stiffer, also tougher, and RF transparent, as well. A manufacturing issue might be the need for hand labor placing preforms, plus cycle times in the mold. If anyone could pull it off it would be Apple, but they’d have to want to do it.
common sense is not so common.
I can’t sees how anyone can even fit it in their front pocket – it’s too big. I played with one today and there’s no way I would try to carry it in my front pocket. If I did, I’d have to take it out to sit down or it would either be force out or be really uncomfortable.. I know some people stuff their phone in a back pocket and I could see this bending it.
They’re aluminum with a wide base . . . of course they’ll bend. They’re not militarized so be a little careful. Don’t carry them where they will be torqued.
1. Attention for-hire trolls, please return to the underside of the bridges you crawled out from.
2. Why has no one commented on how much forced it took for this guy to bend “his?” phone? His thumbs were turning red under the prsessure he applied. His hands were shaking….. How hard do you have to push on something to make your hands shake?
You can see in the video it was (he claims) already slightly bent from regular use.
There’s also a follow up video where he tries bending a Samsung phone, which proves to be much more durable even under (he claims) higher pressure.
My assumption for that result is that the plastic body bore the brunt of the force and only transmitted a fraction of it to the metal frame. On reflection this isn’t a huge surprise, since even hardshell cases protect iPhones pretty well from drops onto the ground, and the basic idea of force distribution is the same whether it’s sudden impacts or gradual pressure.