[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-DcUASffHU]
Computer Bild, Europe’s best-selling computer magazine, has had its PR accreditation pulled after posting a video of one of its journalists bending an iPhone 6 Plus.
The german PR department of the company reacts in a disturbing way: Instead of answering the questions about why the iPhone 6 Plus is so sensitive, a manager called Computer Bild and told us, that Computer Bild will not get any testing devices and no invites to official events any more …
The video is the usual #bendgate nonsense: you can see from the white fingers and shaking from the tension in the hands that a ridiculous amount of force is used. Apply that much force to most phones and you’re going to damage them, as Consumer Reports found when they did their own rather more scientific testing: it took 90 pounds of pressure to bend the iPhone 6 Plus.
But withdrawing media accreditation from a best-selling computer magazine sold in nine European countries might seem overkill when Apple had already debunked #bendgate claims by pointing out that with more than 10 million iPhone 6 models sold, only nine customers had complained. The company also showed journalists around its iPhone stress-testing facility.
It is, however, consistent with Apple PR’s approach to press relations, as noted in part three of Mark Gurman’s Seeing Through the Illusion: Understanding Apple’s Mastery of the Media.
One reporter who covers a number of technology companies opined that “the huge difference is that people love Apple, and Apple PR knows it.” With that in mind, Apple “understands that they’re giving [journalists] a favor,” says Lam. “Apple knows it has something other journalists want,” another reporter says.
Computer Bild responded with an open letter to Tim Cook in which it questioned Apple’s response and vowed to continue its “incorruptible tests.”
Is this really how your company wants to deal with media that provide your customers with profound tests of your products? Do you really think that a withdrawal of Apple’s love and affection could have an intimidating effect on us? Luckily we do not have to rely on devices that Apple provides us with. Luckily, a lot of readers are willing to pay money for our magazine to keep us independent. So we are able to buy devices to do our tests anyway. Even devices of manufacturers that seem to fear Computer Bild’s independent judgement.
The full text of the letter from Editor in Chief Axel Telzerow can be read below.
Dear Mr. Tim Cook!
Just like anyone else who is obsessed with digital technology we have eagerly awaited the new iPhone. We felt relief when the head of our telecom department one day shouted “Here we go!”, presenting an invitation to the great event. And certainly we took a flight, went all the way to California, just to tell our readers every detail about the device that you and your company have worked on so hard for such a long time.
When the iPhone 6 Plus finally hit the market we noticed a few reports on a possible problem. According to them the case seemed to be weak, “bendable”, to drop the evil word. Being popular for our tests with utmost scrutiny, we could not leave the subject without comment. Of course that required further tests since testing new products without any prejudice is our obligation to our readers.
And so we bought an iPhone 6 Plus, just to find out whether it was a singular problem or some kind of hoax. The test was quite simple, so we could easily record it on video. Just to prove that what happens is nothing but the truth.
To be honest: We were shocked about how easy it was to bend the device. And so were around 200.000 viewers who watched the video up until now. We can imagine that you and your colleagues must have been shocked, too. This might have been the reason why we got a call from one of your german colleagues the next morning. He was upset, and it was a rather short conversation. “From now on”, he said, “you won’t get any devices for testing purposes and you will not be invited to Apple events in the future.”
Dear Mr. Cook: Is this really how your company wants to deal with media that provide your customers with profound tests of your products? Do you really think that a withdrawal of Apple’s love and affection could have an intimidating effect on us? Luckily we do not have to rely on devices that Apple provides us with. Luckily, a lot of readers are willing to pay money for our magazine to keep us independent. So we are able to buy devices to do our tests anyway. Even devices of manufacturers that seem to fear COMPUTER BILD’s independent judgement.
Even if we are quite dismayed about Apple’s reaction, we won’t give up our principles: We will continue our incorruptible tests that have the same high reputation in the german media-landscape as Apple has for its products. So far. We congratulate you to your fine new generation of iPhones, even if one of them has a minor weakness with its casing. But we are deeply disappointed about the lack of respect of your company.
Best regards,
Axel Telzerow
Editor in Chief COMPUTER BILD-Group
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
That’s not overkill. Filing a defamation suit against a few parties wouldn’t be overkill either.
agreed, especially when these sort of publications are just looking for media drama…..you want to play with the big boys be prepared to deal with the consequences
All the major sites are scared to say anything bad about Apple. The Verge is stroking Apple’s d*** all week out of fear.
Does that excite you? Most people who have to resort to sexual metaphors are often very excitable.
Tbh, this news of bending phones struck a big cord for me. I’m torn between getting a Moto X or seemingly having to baby sit a sexy thin iphone 6 Plus. Is the answer to wait a few more months? I guess so. Do this arrouse me? No, not at all. But if makes me second guess the biases of some of my favorite sites.
@Lee: Aside from the fact that you should be banned for the dick reference …
The Verge is hardly an “objective review” site. They give 9 or 10 out of 10 to almost every product they review. They consistently give higher (typically almost twice as high) ratings to products than any other source. Not only that they give high ratings and positive reviews to *all* products whether they be from Apple, Google, or anyone else.
So saying the Verge is biased is kind of like saying Hitler wasn’t a nice guy sometimes.
What defamation? It’s a video, anyone can analyze it as they please.
Defamation can only be used when whats being said is untrue but with video evidence its showing it to be true so defamation wont work and cant be used.
Look at you, PMZanetti, showing your complete ignorance over and over again.
Surely this has been standard Apple practice for years now? There was the Gizmodo boycott after the lost/stolen iPhone 4, they selectively sending review units to favourable reviewers, etc.
Business as usual, no?
So it was wrong of Apple to boycott Gizmodo for possessing stolen property?
I didn’t say that. They can do what they like. I would have done the same thing.
So do you think that Apple should be “thanking” Gizmodo for not only buying STOLEN property (a pre-release prototype), but then also writing about it and providing photos for the world to see?
I don’t think so!!!
If Gizmodo had done the right and honest thing, to return the stolen property to Apple, they would not have been exiled from Apple’s future presentations.
It had absolutely NOTHING to do with whether Gizmodo was providing good or bad reviews of Apple’s products (in fact, most of Gizmodo’s prior reviews of Apple products were positive!).
Computer Bild is not to pity. They’re not very generous themselves when it comes to backlinks for competitors, and they have a history on mixing things up. In their very first printed issue they mistook a Dreamcast for a PlayStation 2. How hard could it be?! In general papers and employees from this publisher do not get very much sympathy when it comes to public complaining. They are one of those who went against Google News, wanted revenue for “their” work, and lamented on a new law in Germany which tightens the rights of publishers and loosens those of their editors.
And this is why nobody in tech news media has filmed their own bendgate video. Linking to Unbox Therapy without ridiculing the guy was already frowned upon by the Apple PR department. It’s just shameful that big tech sites aren’t doing their own iPhone 6 Plus bend test videos!
It is simply NOT true that any phone bends under the same pressure and stress as the iPhone 6 Plus. Try it yourself! And then try HTC One M8 and any other major brand phone if you want! They do not bend as easily as the iPhone 6 Plus! Even the iPhone 6 bends far less easily! Try it yourself on video! Show us! Quit ridiculing the very few youtubers who are sacrifising their own $949 iPhones to show us their test!
See the linked Consumer Reports video.
Consumer Reports does not show how weak the iPhone 6 Plus is just below the volume buttons, this is where the easy bending happens, a much lower force is needed to bend the iPhone 6 Plus than reported in Consumer Reports! A much lower force than iPhone 6, HTC One M8 and any other major phone! Why is nobody actually testing this? Basically because Apple will ban them if they do.
By Charbax;
“A much lower force is needed”
You have no evidence of that.
Someone bending phones with their hands is not an objective test and there is no way to measure the amount of force by using your hands.
“Why is nobody actually testing this?”
Doing a proper test? Because getting the right equipment, which Consumer Reports did, (but with a custom design to measure multiple stress points) is very difficult. And destroying six or seven phones for each test at each stress point is expensive.
* The only objective test that has been done so far is the one done by Consumer Reports.
bb1111116, the equipment to test is very cheap, and it’s not true the test units cost money, big media get review units from Apple for free. Why would they not use those free review units to test if they bend? It is very objective, if you can bend iPhone 6 Plus and you can’t bend any other phone, especially when pushing your phone in the same way on each (not pushing against table corner or anything else), this is the whole point. Most average people can bend the iPhone 6 Plus with their bare hands, but cannot bend any other phone, at least not permanently in the way the iPhone 6 Plus gets bent. That is the basic test all big test sites should do. And smaller sites should do it with bought iPhone 6 Pluses, and they can post another video in case the Apple Store geniuses deny them returning their bent iPhone 6 Pluses, be them bent purposefully or not. They shouldn’t bend with normal force.
Herb, is that you?
Did you know that if you stand on a BMW and jump on the hood it will bend?! BMW must answer for this! How dare they! We deserve answers!
If the BMW looks like shit after you drive it around normally, you are allowed to demand recall and get it fixed. People are spending giants amount of money on the new iPhone, if it bends with normal use, Apple must recall, offer free exchange or refund and issue a rev2 as soon as possible that does not bend!
@ARMdevices.net
So if 9/10000000 BMWs look like shit after you drive them around normally, are we going to throw a huge fit until they recall or offer refunds/exchanges?
Andrew its not 9 out of 10,000,000, that figure is for both iphones sold and the 6+ is being reported as selling a lot less then the 6 so the ratio drops. Now if BMW’s competitor Mercedes sold their car for the same if not less and didnt have this issue would you be upset? Maybe want to get rid of the BMW and buy a merc now? I dont think Apple needs a recall but if your phone bends they sure as hell should give you an exchange or refund.
I worked at the Apple Store for about 3 years and I will let you know now that the 5 and 5S bent too. There was no big scandal or news stories for it. We also didn’t swap them out for free unless on very specific cases. Apple does their own stress testing and knows the exact numbers and force it takes to bend these devices. They know it doesn’t casually happen by just placing it in your front jean pocket and sitting down. It requires a great amount of pressure to bend them.
With the 6 plus they HAVE been replacing them for no charge because of the stupid bendgate. But people on YouTube like Unbox Therapy that say Apple needs to ‘fix the design’ because when they intentionally tried to damage the phone and it got damaged are idiots.
Give me $949 dollars first and I’ll “sacrifise” whatever phone you want.
You’re right, the consumer report test is corrupted as they do not test how much pressure it takes to bend the phone by the volume button where its clearly its weakest point! I bet you its half the pressure what they claim it takes or less! Apple’s 9 out of 10million is just rubbish and clearly a lie! This will happen to 90% of all iphone 6 sold! Apple has a HUGE problem on their hands, I guarantee you they will recall all those 10million sold and replace them with a version 2 that is not that bendable! Anybody who thinks this is not an issue is just an iSheep.
Hey Don_Afrim, or should i say shitdroidboy?
A German institute called “Stiftung Warentest” with a high reputation and tests of almost every consumer good on the market, tested both, 6 and 6+. They claim there is no bending problem.
So you can wait until the end of time until your vision of Apples disaster will becoming real!
And sorry, someone who can not treat a 900$ high tech computer adequately, is not worth having such a device!
This bendgate thing is so amusing to me because I would have assumed the iPhone 6 Plus, even the iPhone 6 could be bent, by hand, if you tried hard enough. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal to everyone. Of course it’ll bend if you try hard to bend it, it’s thin and aluminum. What matters is if it will actually truly bend from normal daily use, and that hasn’t been proven in any way to be a real problem for more than a few careless people. But the result is a shit storm of viral bullshit giving this otherwise great product a bad name of people trying their hardest to bend it and doing so.
HTC One M8 didn’t bend under the same pressure, it broke.
Well, jumping on the Clickbait-whore bandwagon, in a week chock-full of unfounded anti-Apple diatribes and software update glitches, culminating in a 3% dive of the company’s share price, constitutes “kicking me when I’m on the ground” enemy action, for which there obviously will be dire consequences “when I get back on my feet”… especially for those whose daily bread for the most part involves news about the Fruity One.
That’s life.
Apple took it all on the chin, and now strikes back. Suck it up, b*****s!!!
With friends like you, who needs enemas (spelling error intentional, a General Patton favourite).
“Europe’s best-selling computer magazine Bild”
i hate Bild! it’s one of the most stupid newspaper and computer magazin also. they are xenophobic, homophobic and i don’t know why this should be europe’s best-selling computer magazine?! i don’t believe that rubbish!
they are probably “Europe’s Best Selling Computer Magazine” because there aren’t any computer magazines anymore.
At least in my country there are only a couple left, and they are pure garbage and advertising. Ironically, no one who is actually “into computers” would read a computer magazine anymore as all the information is six months old.
I’m not bothered by this at all. If BILD wants to feed into this nonsense for the sake of some clicks, then go ahead, but don’t be surprised when Apple isn’t happy about it.
How is it none of these videos show people bending the phones thru an actual use case? Like it being in your pocket? Nope, they have to reef on it with both hands to have the desired effect.
Utter poppycock!
I also notice they always have the big guy do it and his hands are shaking along with white fingertips.
If it’s so easy, as they say then let’s see a frail man or tiny woman do it.
Have you seen the video of the like 13 year old UK kids bending the iPhones in the Apple store? It really is that easy im afraid.
I can imagine it happening, but I can’t imagine Apple actually ringing up companies and telling them that they “… will not get any testing devices and no invites to official events any more …” unless someone did the wrong thing, that is.
I would say not having access to Apple products while reporting on the tech sector would have a negative effect. Not saying Apple is such a big fish but that magazines and newspapers are all struggling to survive in an instant information available world.
Bild is europes crapiest newspaper. They deserve it. It is like a paper edition of Fox News combined with TMZ and DailyMail but even worse.
Who?
I guess they can sink back into the sea floor for those of us that don’t know them from a can of paint. Business is Business. I wouldn’t extend any favors to someone who treated me or my products like that.
Instead of bending these phones in an artificial way why not just have a bunch of staff put the phones in both front and rear pockets and go about life for a week. Wouldn’t that represent normal life?
The details of the original customers whose phones bent would be useful.
Isn’t Apple supposed to be better than the rest? Isn’t that thier thing? “We don’t do it first, we do it right (best)”. Well clearly not. People are upset because after years of waiting for a larger screen, which Apple mocked until they copied it, the phone is so thin It deforms under pressure. Maybe other (cheaper) phones bend or break too, but Apple is supposed to be better than that. They have gone too far, sacrificed too much, in their pursuit of thin at all costs.
This is perhaps one of the most reasoned comments I’ve seen here. Thanks for demonstrating to me that not everyone blindly follows Apple. I love Apple, and I love their products (and I buy their products every 2 years), but I hate the “defend Apple at all costs” mentality that goes on here. It actually harms Apple as a brand.
This is exactly right. We can’t be satisfied with the iPhone 6 taking 4th out of 6 in an unbiased phone strength test. That’s a 33%. That’s below failing. The iPhone should be 1st, and nothing less. We can’t be satisfied with them releasing to the public a hopelessly broken firmware update. We can’t be satisfied with iWork data being accidentally deleted. Etc. Because that’s what we expect from all the other phone manufacturers. In using as an argument “Well everyone else has these issues!”, we put Apple at the same level as Google, Samsung, Windows, etc. And they shouldn’t be. We pay more because we expect more.
As for the topic of this post, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that Apple would revoke PR accreditation to a leading multinational publication over a video of them bending an iPhone. That’s called unbiased media. That’s called showing all the sides. That’s called informing the consumer. It’s clear that it takes an obscene amount of force to actually bend the device, and that gets taken into account by the viewer. Seems like Apple is playing big brother here and enforcing what can and can’t be said about their handsets. :/
It seems to me they should be stressing that it’s safe to put in your pocket, rather than following the herd and bashing Apple needlessly. Where’s the stress-o-meter to show how much stress those fingers were generating to make it bend?
I’m all for testing, but one mans fingers are stronger that the next, so this proves nothing and only serves to feed the trolls, and it would appear that Apple’s PR people agree.
You actually dont need an obscene amount of force if pushed in the right spot, take a look at the like 13 year old kids bending iPhones in an Apple store in the UK, if a kid that young can do it im guessing its a little weaker then some of us think.
They could have added more titanium around the phone. They could have used “liquid metal”. Apple messed up their phone. Simple as that. Now we have to wait a few months before we get the reinforced version.
Yikes.
I’m from Europe and i can tell you right here, right now that only old people buy these magazines, including bild or whatever it is. My stepfather is 60+ and even he stopped buying this kind of stuff. They are just attention whore, because they need it so badly. Youngsters don’t need these type of magazines anymore (fortunately). They always publish everything, like, 3 months late. After EVERYBODY already saw it all over the internet.
This is the result of a popular magazine pandering to social media hype and forgetting the basics of testing.
Any valid Computer Magazine test must use a benchmark\standard for comparison, but they’ve neglected to set a standard, so this can be in no way a scientific experiment. All they’ve proved is that the iPhone 6Plus isn’t made of granite …is any phone?
Furthermore; if they aren’t bothered by the ban, why the open letter to Tim Cook? I feel it’s more about assuring their subscribers that they’ll continue “testing” Apple products in an independent manner – but what’s the point in that if the tests aren’t definitive because of the methods used?
It was a dumb “test” made to look all the more dumb after other smartphone have been scientifically proven to be even “bendier”, to lose your accreditation because of it proves it’s the ultimate in stupidity.
heads should roll at BILD
I’m not sure if it makes Bild more worth reading if they even ask attention for this meta nonsense.
Silly response from Apple. Lots of people were questioning the authenticity of unboxing therapy’s youtube video, so they had every reason to their own test. So had CR every reason to their test, luckily with a more scientific approach. Bild will get their Apple products anyway so this is just bad publicity for Apple.
They deserved it. Link baiting sensationalist trash does not qualify as journalism. Anyone with half a brain understands that this much pressure applied to an iPhone (or any mobile device) will cause it to bend or break. We don’t need more staged demonstrations to make that point clear. I’ve been carrying my iPhone 6 in my pocket since day one. No problems, and I don’t expect to have any because I know how to treat my devices properly.
Only the iPhone 6 Plus will break with this much pressure. This is exactly the whole point, this is exactly why we need all media to publish their own bend tests, to confirm that the iPhone 6 Plus is the only major brand phone that bends with this little force. It means iPhone 6 Plus does bend in a normal pocket, why because also in normal pockets there can be pressure put on the phone, such as when people walk up stairs for example and if the pocket isn’t deep enough the top of the phone might push against the side of your waste or belly and this is exactly where the iPhone 6 Plus is weak! At the top just below the volume buttons!
Android Samsung Galaxy S5 & HTC One are “weaker” than iPhones when they were rated fairly with more sophisticated independent testing companies. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
It’s not an iPhone problem, it’s a small device real world problem – oops sorry they aren’t completely indestructible and made foolproof for consumer dopes. I suppose next you’ll complain your car collapses like an accordion when hit by a Mac truck.
Come to think of it you’re own body won’t take much outside forces abuse now will it? How “weak” are you?
Big flippin’ deal! Yammer on all you want, but I’m not going to fall for this BS.
If someone deserves it then it’s certainly BILD. It’s a total stultification platform.
I’m not a physicist but it stands to reason if one applies enough force to a thin object it will bend. I don’t get what the hubbub is all about.
If you are paying $949 for a smartphone, you must be able to expect it not to bend in your pocket. If it does bend, then Apple should have said: “we made it so very thin, so be careful it will bend easily”. Apple didn’t warn any consumers like that, instead Apple claims their iPhone 6 Plus has no problem with durability. Which is a lie.
Funny i didn’t see Samsung (Galaxy S5) or HTC (HTC One) warning customers their phones will bend – and they got worse marks in that regard.
Again you’re full of crap. Apple received complains about 0.00009% of the iPhone 6’s sold in the first 2 weeks.
Okay guy (ARMdevices.net (@Charbax) we get it you love to troll bendgate. But the fact of the matter is so far only 9 ppl has reported to apple with the bending. The only crap you are seeing and apparently preaching here are ppl bending the iPhone with their “HANDS”. Notice the upper casing of H-A-N-D-S. But where are the videos that ppl actually putting the iPhone in their pocket and seeing that it is bent? Where are all of those videos??
I paid $1,200 for my Mac so that means i shouldnt be careful or i should, should i throw it on the table top or should i put it, i own the 5s since day one put in a case, even if i ever trop it i worry if something happened, when i put it in my back pocket before i sit down i remove it, so for people that dont care about it so should deserve to have it, one because when i resell it i’ll get most of my money back, what phone do you use? If its Android send it to me and i’ll make a video and im sure i’ll break it in half!
Why is my cell phone not capable of being hit with a lead pipe more then once? Can you say over kill?
It is not overkill. Deliberately destroying, while lying on the ease of this so called “bend” issue is defamation. You don’t struggle and turn whitish as the blood is squished out of your veins if this was so “easy” to do.
You can see in this that Apple PR slapping them on the wrist didn’t truly hurt then why the several jabs at Apple and Tim Cook in his letter? Not like Apple sued them. Get over it. Only 9 of like 10 million bent. Not a major issue. Media is all vultures. Now, the Galaxy S4’s exploding battery issue that burnt homes down and injured several people…THAT is a flaw to be worried about.
The 9 out of 10 million is Apple’s carefully concocted PR counter-attack response, for one that can just not possibly be true (how would Apple even know), it’s got nothing to do with the truth about how vulnerable the phone is!
Spoken like a disingenuous conspiracy seeking Fandroid numbskull who only will accept his own made up facts. Hate to “break” it to yah junkie but iPhone 6 did better than top Android phones.
“How can apple possibly know” how many complains apple received?Aare you even hearing yourself? That is the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard.
And why would anyone think you are a more reliable source than Apple? Please.
What if a week after owning the Plus, I lie it on its face, and it SLIGHTLY wobbles because it deformed, or warped in my pocket. Will Apple give me a new one? How much wobble or warping does it take to get a new Plus? im waiting for Tim Cook to say they added more support to the frame.
The Plus will slightly wobble because of the protruding camera lens, not bending. So don’t get “bent.” This isn’t a widespread issue. If it was we’d hear a lot more about it instead of it being a non-issue and a rounding error lemon factor. You can expect out of 20 million phones sold that a thousand people would be mistreating their phones. It’s true of any device.
@FAME
There’s is no way for me to find out how many people this is happening to by a simple search on YouTube or search engine. Only Apple knows. Hopefully enough peoples phones bend soon so I can’t get the new and improved one.
Aluminum is not as stiff as steel and not as stiff as plastic. Apple has been building computers out of Aluminum for years and, if you see enough of them, you see the dents they can accumulate. This is the price you pay for the quality look and feel of real metal. But this has been measured and it takes quite a bit of force to deform the aluminum case of either iPhone 6. You may be able to reduce the force needed if you concentrate efforts on the area just below the cutouts for the volume buttons, as video posters have done. But, I have had iPhones for years. Those kind of forces just do not come up in normal use. If you want to use your phone like a Gorilla, get another device. If you want small-light-thin (and take reasonable care), these are great phones.
All their test proved is that when you apply a sufficient force a phone will bend and fail. Not terribly useful when a standard test is not applied over a variety of phones (instead of just some guy mangling a phone in his bare hands) and when the iPhone 6’s were tested fairly elsewhere against Android phones it got very good marks doing better then the HTC One & Galaxy S5.
It was disingenuous and unfair for such a gross attack that any phone would be destined to fail as indicative of it’s it build strength. All calculated to make headlines because it’s “Apple” and get web hits. Now they must pay the Piper for such misguided chicanery. One thing these these protesting too much people aren’t are innocents.
@ ARM Devices: You are the one making up stories. In fact, it has been proven that the iPhone 6 plus will NOT deform with “normal use.” 9 devices out of even 1 million (multiple millions have sold) is the proof.
You can say you don’t believe it and make up some giant conspiracy where Apple is covering up the facts (at least in your mind you can), but you cannot say that the iPhone deforms in normal use without some kind of proof. Proof you do not have.
Good. Maybe these media outlets will think twice about perpetuating these BS claims. Have you guys seen the Instron testing video that was posted here for the iPhone? Try and snap 4 pencils bound together. It takes more force to bend an iPhone. Not happening in your pocket. Once again, the media went crazy over this and hyped it way out of proportion. Perpetuating these types of false claims is damaging to a company. I think a company should be well within their rites to act on that.
All their test proved is that when you apply a sufficient force a phone will bend and fail. Not terribly useful when a standard test is not applied over a variety of phones (instead of just some guy mangling a phone in his bare hands) and when the iPhone 6’s were tested fairly elsewhere against Android phones it got very good marks doing better then the HTC One & Galaxy S5.
It was disingenuous and unfair for such a gross attack that any phone would be destined to fail as indicative of it’s it build strength. All calculated to make headlines because it’s “Apple” and get web hits. Now they must pay the Piper for such misguided chicanery. One thing these these protesting-too-much people aren’t are innocents.
There is no way that this helps Apple’s reputation.
It shows that Apple is a bully that punishes independent journalists that it can’t control.
If this is a 3rd rate publication that no one but old people read, as some commenters/Apple syncophants suggest, why is Apple taking this action?
Instead, this incident reinforces that Apple favors media who follow the company line.
It is further airing of Apple’s dirty laundry.
Being able to put a phone in your pocket and sit down without the phone bending permanently is not unreasonable. It happens all the time with my Galaxy S5, which has a large screen and fantastic battery life.
Maybe Apple should follow Samsung a little more closely.
dude, seriously, we all get it: you were an apple fan but now you’re a samsung fan. stop talking about apple and go away. troll!
Interesting as the Patent company of Bild ändern Computer Bild is featured on Apples site: http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/profiles/axel-springer/
Every workplace is a Mac. Over 10.000 Clients.
Interesting as the parent company of Bild and Computer Bild is featured on Apples site: http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/profiles/axel-springer/
Every workplace is a Mac.
Not anymore i guess, they are out and worried about the future because what are they going to write about PC’s please! Apple its the biggest news right now so i guess to them good bye!!
Apple clearly has the right NOT to send them free products that they are going to just trash. I wouldn’t either.
So they spend a couple hundred bucks on a product. It’s a tax write-off.
But they are free from Apple’s tyranny forever. Not a bad deal.
Dear ferrari, your car seems to dent easily. We decided to run the test unit you sent us, into a pole to see what would happen. The results show that there must be something defective with ferraris enzo. It could not even take a 40kph impact without deforming. In fact it performed worse than a 30,000 € vehicle like the Toyota Corolla. We as fans of ferrari (and who paid over 100,000€ for this car) are concerned of ferraris quality control. Instead of taking our letter seriously, you have now banned us from testing future units. Why is that? *sarcasm*. Sincerely AUTO BILD
I’m embarrassed to learn I share appraisal for the company with such oblivious and ignorant people. Apple makes great products – the Macs, it used to make great mobile devices, too, with great attention to detail, features and user convenience – it no longer does.
Apple has the capacity to screw up, just like any other company, the difference is Apple shares the same arrogance the extreme fans project all over the internet. Instead of apologising to their customers for the grievances surrounding #bendate, they respond with lies, “only 9 people complained” – right.. out of the hundreds I have seen online, in newspapers and social networks reporting the same flaw in design they expect anyone with common sense to believe that?
What’s more shameful is a larger percentage of these owners are convinced their phones arrived bent. It is media making Apple look bad, Apple ha done that on it’s own through it’s arrogance and paid shrill journalists who are trying to cover a truth that has already been uncovered – the iPhones are cheap, and have been cheap since iPhone 4 and 4S. The Bending problems started with iPhone 5 and gotten worse year after year.
Thankfully, the underwhelming announcements and pointless incremental updates prevented me upgrading from 4S to 5 and 5S. now it looks like I am skipping another generation. I hope this lack of care doesn’t befall the Macbook line, I have been waiting 3 years to upgrade to Broadwell.
Apple most likely decided that as long as they replace the faulty phones quietly and tell consumers there is nothing wrong it will all die down, problem is all of the phones made have the flaw. For the record, Apple debunked nothing, and neither have media outlets blown anything out of proportion – the problem is very real. This article should have been signed ‘breast fed by Apple’.
You again? You seriously need to STFU and go out onto Twitter and join #idiotgate, because that’s appropriate in describing the FUD you spread.
For everyone outside german-speaking countries: Computer-BILD belongs to the BILD publishing house, and if you only read the BILD Newspaper once, you won´t read it anymore. Their quality level is below anything else. That thing is just ridiculous.
This just puts a smile on my face! Apple should not only start pulling PR accreditations from these dumpster diver rags, but also start filing defamation suits, as PMZanetti stated, to teach them a lesson that if you partake in biased, slanderous journalism, you will eventually have to pay the piper.
You know what I haven’t seen yet? The phone, shown to be in perfect condition, placed in a pocket and bent. I know a lot of argument has been that this in fact has been bent in a front pocket. Show me that kind of force shown in the videos being applied in a front pocket. And if you can bend the phone like in the video, I want to see the cup being worn too.
Hey you are right, put it in your front pocket and make a video, that guy from Unboxed Therapy showing his hands shacking like a leaf dont mean nothing, fir the trolls it does but a phone this thin of course but under normal use no!
I agree.
Normal use.
I think Apple’s point is they jumped on a relative non-issue to make it something dramatic and larger than life. Sure it bends, my car and house will if you try hard enough too.
but they can hardly expect front row access if they are happy to perpetuate you tube handycam vids as proper testing of a product they say they only wish to report on. Truth is, every iphone release has a “gate” story that promises to end Apple forever, and this is the latest and they were happy to cash in.
I would do the same thing to them.
Given that these articles have shown Apple is a media bully, I think everyone who rights about the company should be required to state any financial interest and whether the company gave them something for free/ahead of the public.
But I’m sure disclosing that would get you on Apple’s naughty list.
” … everyone who writes … “
Q: “Apply that much force to most phones and you’re going to damage them, as Consumer Reports found when they did their own rather more scientific testing: it took 90 pounds of pressure to bend the iPhone 6 Plus.”
Everyone who tried it DID try it with other phones even Consumer Report and all show that other phones don’t bend as the new iPhones. PERIOD. You just need to see the numbers. Is that hard.
But more important point is this:
Ask yourself why the stress test on all the phones are done in such way?
Why is the pressure point always in the middle?
The answer:
Usually bending like that (will result in the LEAST force needed to bend it. That is physics 101 – the longer the distance between the pressure points the smaller force is necessary. That is the point of these stress tests – they will not try to bend a phone at the strongest point but the weakest because naturally occurring bend will act in that fashion – around the weakest point.
Now – The bendgate shows that the new iPhones (due to the constructional deficiency) have even a weaker point (than the middle point) which lies just under the volume button. Where even less force is necessary to bend it if the pressure is applied there. Less force than 70 and 90 pounds reported by Consumer Reports.
So much less that even kids in Apple store can bend it, not only bodybuilders.
Having a phone with a weak point like that makes all the Consumer Reports and Apple lab tests useless because in normal usage bending will ALWAYS occur AT THE WEAKEST POINT, not in the middle of the phone.
Obviously the glass screen is more resilient so all iPhone bending video show the force applied to the back not directly on the screen. The BILD video however, only apply this technique to iPhone, but apply the force mainly on the screen of the Samsung. How dare they to claim to be “incorruptible test”? They don’t even get the basics right. And who need another barehand bending video from them? It is already too late at this internet age. Oh of course they are print, they are always late.
After reading a bunch of the above comments:
If a country refused letting select journalists enter their press conferences) it’d be hugely frowned upon…freedom of speech blah blah blah, yet if Apple cherry-picks their journalists it isn’t overkill and they aren’t doing anything wrong. What?
How much do they pay you or do you get new apple devices every year ?
Good Grief! I don’t speak German. But one doesn’t have to, in order to see from this video, the extreme strength it takes to “bend” the iPhone. I suppose my Jeep would bend too, if I applied as much preasure. Apple should sue. This isn’t a scientific test. It’s wanted destruction of a product that no normal user will set about applying during the average everyday use of their iPhone.