Apple has offered an unprecedented peek behind the Cupertino curtain as it goes on the offensive against allegations the iPhone 6 Plus handset can be bent under limited duress.
After releasing a statement citing only 9 complaints from customers and reiterating the handset’s tough design, Apple has let some journalists into his quality testing labs to show exactly what an iPhone goes through before meeting the standards.
In a fascinating report, the company showed showed The Verge exactly how it tests how the devices respond to ‘drops, pressure, twisting and tapping’ and other incidences the iPhone 6 Plus could be exposed to in the real world.
Apple said it placed 15,000 iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices through these tests in order to “find out a way to break them before customers do.”
Dan Riccio, Apples SVP of hardware engineering claimed the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus were the most tested handsets yet.
In its tests, the company aims to put the phone through an entire life-cycle’s worth of tests in a very short period of time. It simulates the devices being sat on in pockets, including Apple’s “worst-case scenario,” which the report says is in the back pocket of skinny jeans on a hard surface.
There’s also a torsion test, where the device is twisted from end-to-end over and over again, and a press test where Apple establishes how much pressure a device can handle before it breaks.
The tour, offered to select media, echoes the one that took place in 2009 following the iPhone 4’s antenna flaw. That caused a similar uproar and spawned Steve Jobs’ famous “just hold it differently” response to a customer email.
So Apple has put its best put forward to defend its prized phablet? Do you buy their explanation that these handsets will not be bending under normal voice? Let us know your thoughts below.
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