Last year, we saw the term “bendgate” come into play, as there were a very small amount of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices that were bending. This was a very small issue and it led to some bad publicity for Apple, who responded by setting up a replacement program and giving select media a tour of their device testing lab. Flash forward a year later and we have new iPhones, the 6s and 6s Plus. They are built out of a new 7000 series aluminum that we saw on the Apple Watch Sport and it is used in aero space technologies. Just like time work, SquareTrade has put the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to the test in it’s latest breakability test.
SquareTrade put both the 6s and 6s Plus through several different tests, one that checks if they bend, one for drops, and a new one for temperature. Through their testing the first conclusion made was that Apple fixed the bending problem, 7000 series aluminum is quite strong and durable to say the least. The 6s withstood 170 pounds of pressure, while the 6s Plus was able to handle 180 pounds of pressure. This over a 50% improvement when it comes to bendability in comparison to last year’s devices. They also compared the new iPhones against the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5, which was able to withstand 170 pounds of pressure.
A common problem with all smartphones would have to be there displays, a simple fact is that glass will eventually crack if you push it hard enough. SquareTrade noted that both Apple and Samsung have work to do here.
Lastly, SquareTrade designed a Thermo Rig which measures battery life performance in different environments. It can simulate leaving your phone in a hot car or leaving it outside on a cold night. At a cold zero degrees the iPhone 6s Plus lasted for more than hour while making a FaceTime call, the iPhone 6s lasted around 30 minutes. Surprisingly, the Galaxy Note 5 lasted a long two hours, but it didn’t do as well as the iPhones in the other two testing categories.
Overall, it is clear that Apple has some made great improvements with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. You can watch the video below to see SquareTrade’s full Breakability video!
