iPhone 6 Plus Apparently Bends When Pressed Hard

Apple has hired some of the world’s best metallurgists to perfect the aluminum material used on the iPhone. Although the material gives the iPhone a premium feel to it, it also has its downsides. One of them is malleability.

So when we heard reports today that some iPhone 6 Plus units are bowing, we weren’t surprised. One owner posted on a MacRumors forum complaining that his iPhone 6 Plus bended after sitting for a long time.

“Yesterday, I left at 10am with the iPhone in my left FRONT pocket of my suit pants. I drove 4 hours to a wedding, which also involved a lot of sitting during dinner etc but also 2-3 hours of dancing. I left at 2am and went to bed, driving home 4 hours back,” writes forum member Hanzoh. “As I lay it on the coffee table and sat down on the couch to relax from the drive (yes, sitting again ), I saw the reflection of the window in the iPhones slightly distorted.”

Hanzoh isn’t alone. Other iPhone 6 Plus owners reported experiencing the same distortion. The situation isn’t new, though. Older iPhone models were also susceptible to bending, although the causes were mostly intentional and, in some cases, extreme.

Perhaps this is the reason why Samsung is using plastic on its phones, not to mention the economical reasons for using the synthetic material. From an engineering standpoint, the thinner design and the larger display could be contributing factors to the iPhone 6 Plus’s weakness. But are the reports true? Will the iPhone 6 Plus really bend?

Unbox Therapy’s Lewis Hilsenteger has proof. In his video, Hilsenteger intentionally pressed the iPhone 6 Plus with his strong hands. After a few seconds, the iPhone 6 Plus, you guessed it, bowed and was slightly deformed.

In a different video, Hilsenteger did the same “bend test” on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. It didn’t bend. Again, this might explain why Samsung is using plastic on its phones.

Drop tests are a different story, though. For example, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the crowned winners of SquareTrade’s durability test. Both devices performed better than the iPhone 5s and the Samsung Galaxy S5. Apple has yet to comment on the complaints.