Shattered iPhone 4 photographed to challenge Apple's durability claims

Shattered iPhone 4 photographed to challenge Apple's durability claims
AppleInsider | Shattered iPhone 4 photographed to challenge Apple's durability claims

A third-party solutions provider catering to customers of Apple's mobile devices claims to have recently acquired an authentic iPhone 4 enclosure whose glass panel failed to withstand a fall from just a few feet, creating an opportunity for the firm to question Apple's heightened durability claims.

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Not a concvlusive test by any means but is this true the glass is not so strong?

This is madness, poor beautiful Phone.
But letting it fall down on hard ground from 1 meter above 3 times is obviously too much for the glass. The Companies that make protective cases and Leather-pockets will become even more rich with this model.

Seems like they really tried to get it shattered. Just because the glass might be better compared to the older iPhone it doesn't mean that you can just slam the phone into a concrete floor and expect it to survive...

Heard about common sense?

On the original page (iPhone 4 Glass – Will it break? | iFix your i Blog) they also say that they dropped the phone minus the circuit board. Not sure how much that changes stability, rigidity, ...

I'm wondering whether that was an authentic shell. According to Apple, the glass is attached directly to the LCD underneath, there's no space between them as in previous iPhones. Since there was a space, I would guess that the glass on previous iPhones was more prone to shattering on impact since there was less support underneath.

Did this shell have just the glass or did it also have the LCD? If it's the former, then it's lacking the structural rigidity provided by the layers underneath. For all we know, the glass was designed to be stronger in combination with a support structure below, and therefore this would not be a valid test.

I'm going to wait on a test done on a fully built iPhone before I believe any claims on the rigidity of the glass.

After watching the video of the machine testing the breaking point of the glass I can't help
but to wonder what surface this display met and did it get any help on the way down from
a good pitching arm.

Or a hammer…

But… will it blend? (well someone had to say it!)

lifeisabeach said:

But… will it blend? (well someone had to say it!)

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Or will it float?
(Fans of Dave Letterman's show will get that joke).

That damage does not look like it was from a simple drop.

Its either been dropped at a specific angle onto a specific surface or its been hit or thrown with force.

The chances of dropping your phone completely flat and screen down are slim enough as it is. Ive dropped my 3GS a load of times now and it mostly bounces a bit on the edge and then rests on either side with little or no damage.

The fact that they tested this with an empty shell would lend to it breaking easier too as there are no components inside keeping everything rigid and in place.

Its a case of "lets break and iphone4 to get some traffic to our site"

There's one guy responding to their blog saying they are full of it…

I hate to break it to you but you guys used a Dead Blow Hammer to make this impact. I’ve got an industrial design specialist who tests durability willing to testify against this garbage of a test. The hammer head impact on the screen is plain as day in the upper right hand corner of the unit. I don’t think anyone who knows industrial materials would be so stupid to think this was from a drop.

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He then links to these hammers as the potential culprits.

I'm no expert, but I'm inclined to agree with him. I can totally see how the spider-webbing pattern originates from that hammer-headed spot on the side. If they were on the level, they'd have had a video of this. After all, this "testing" was planned out in advance.

I call shenanigans on this one. First off all, you can't get a good drop test on only particular pieces of the phone, you have to test it as a unit overall.

Automotive laminated glass is notoriously strong. But if you were to just take a glass panel and hit it on an unlaminated side at the right angle, it will crack quite easily.

The key here is that it's a "3rd party solutions provider" and they want to instill enough FUD to make people think that they need their products. This is not unlike what Symantec/Intego do to peddle their craptastic security products.

iPhones have one of the least shatter proof screens of all. I remember I was in town with some mates when he literally, gently places his phone on a wall to show us a bit of parkour and the screen cracked. The screen cracked because he put his phone on the wall maybe slightly to hard? It's stupid. I have a BlackBerry which i've thrown at walls and the screens been fine.

TheArtfulDodger said:

iPhones have one of the least shatter proof screens of all. I remember I was in town with some mates when he literally, gently places his phone on a wall to show us a bit of parkour and the screen cracked. The screen cracked because he put his phone on the wall maybe slightly to hard? It's stupid. I have a BlackBerry which i've thrown at walls and the screens been fine.

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This is specific to the iPhone 4, which purportedly has a more durable screen.

Quoted from: Apple - iPhone 4 - Design of the display, A4 processor, and more

Engineered Glass

All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. It’s also recyclable.

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TheArtfulDodger said:

iPhones have one of the least shatter proof screens of all. I remember I was in town with some mates when he literally, gently places his phone on a wall to show us a bit of parkour and the screen cracked. The screen cracked because he put his phone on the wall maybe slightly to hard? It's stupid. I have a BlackBerry which i've thrown at walls and the screens been fine.

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This is either some failed attempt at being sarcastic, or it's just baloney. Utter baloney. Not only do I question the wisdom, if not the truthfulness, of throwing a Blackberry at a wall for sport, but simply and "gently" placing an iPhone on a wall will not result in a cracked screen.

lifeisabeach said:

This is either some failed attempt at being sarcastic, or it's just baloney. Utter baloney. Not only do I question the wisdom, if not the truthfulness, of throwing a Blackberry at a wall for sport, but simply and "gently" placing an iPhone on a wall will not result in a cracked screen.

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Tell that to the cracked iPhone. Oh, and the BlackBerry being thrown at walls isn't a 'sport', it's called agression.

TheArtfulDodger said:

Tell that to the cracked iPhone. Oh, and the BlackBerry being thrown at walls isn't a 'sport', it's called agression.

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Well I just gently placed my iPhone against a wall a couple hundred times to see if I could get it to crack, and it never did. So I'm still calling "baloney" on your story. In fact, there's plenty of baloney here to go around. Lunch is served!

lifeisabeach said:

Well I just gently placed my iPhone against a wall a couple hundred times to see if I could get it to crack, and it never did. So I'm still calling "baloney" on your story. In fact, there's plenty of baloney here to go around. Lunch is served!

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You know , I have read that baloney is a trolls favorite food !


Clay

Hardly surprising

the8thark said:

Shattered iPhone 4 photographed to challenge Apple's durability claims
AppleInsider | Shattered iPhone 4 photographed to challenge Apple's durability claims


Not a concvlusive test by any means but is this true the glass is not so strong?

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This is silly. I'm sure most "indestructible" things can be damaged if one really tries. My friend shattered her boyfriend's iPhone on purpose during an argument, hence I already knew they could be shatterred! lol. I'm sure they are durable enough for most knocks and drops though.

I would like to see video of the tests happening, not just the aftermath of this so called dropping test.

You can't really take one's word anymore.