There’s a bit of hysteria around at the moment about the iPhone 6 Plus and some users reporting they were bending inside their pockets.
Now I’m not here to defend Apple but merely to make a few observations.
A user is entitled to carry their iPhone however they like whether it’s in their front or back pocket.
And if it bends in their normal day-to-day use then they’re entitled to get their money back or exchange it for a new iPhone.
I’ve seen the reports and I’ve seen the photographs and I can understand how it might happen.
What I’ve also seen are bend tests where video bloggers are exerting an unnatural amount of force to bend the iPhone 6 Plus. And they’ve succeeded.
But I can argue there a number of other brands of smartphones that would also bend or break if the same pressure is exerted.
I don’t think that’s realistic because anyone who’s going to spend more than $1000 on a device – be it Apple or otherwise – are going to treat it with a great deal more care.
But if it’s just resting in your pocket and still developing a curve then that’s a whole other story and, if it turns out that these were just isolated cases, we need to all relax.
Now I’ve been using the iPhone 6 Plus for more than two weeks and I have been carrying it with me in the same place I carry every other smartphones I’ve owned – my back pocket.
For those that haven’t met me I can tell you that my 110kg frame comes with a generously proportioned rear end.
This same rear end which has been parked on the iPhone 6 Plus several times for extended periods over the last couple of weeks when I’ve been sitting down.
And thankfully it is still as straight as an arrow.
So far there have only been a few isolated incidents of “bendgate” which, when put against more than 10 million iPhones sold in three days, isn’t a disastrous track record.
Apple has offered no official comment about this thus far.
But as time goes by and more and more people are buying the larger iPhone 6 Plus we’ll have to wait and see if it’s a more widespread problem.
If that’s the case then Apple will have to make some response.
The last time Apple had to address an issue like this was when the iPhone 4’s antenna was brought into question soon after it’s release in 2010.
“Antennagate” it was called (can’t believe the bent iPhone already has a gate!) and suggested you could lose signal or drop calls when held the device in a certain way. Some called it the death grip.
And it forced then CEO, the late Steve Jobs, to come out and address the issue.
He naturally defended the iPhone 4 and produced stats to prove the device had less drop outs than any other iPhone but he offered a free bumper case to keep customers happy.
Maybe that’s the solution for anyone who’s worried about putting a curve in their iPhone 6 Plus – offer them a free case to help reinforce the device – or give the customer their money back if they’re not happy.
That worked for Apple last time before the hysteria died down.
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