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Here’s how iPhone 6s Plus handles bendgate brutality

When the iPhone 6 Plus launched a year ago, users quickly started noticing that the device would bend when put in pockets and put under moderate levels of pressure. Dubbed ‘bendgate,’ the issue overshadowed much of the iPhone 6 Plus launch and with the release of the iPhone 6s Plus, Apple claims that it has made changes to the device to make it more sturdy…

YouTuber Christian from FoneFox has already gotten his hands on the iPhone 6s Plus over in New Zealand and has put the device through a variety of different bend tests, seeing if Apple’s efforts to increase the strength of the device actually help in real world usage. The iPhone 6s Plus is .02mm thicker than the iPhone 6 Plus and features new 7000 Series aluminum, both of which should greatly lend aid to the sturdiness of the device.

In FoneFox’s tests the iPhone 6s Plus is subject to the same bend process that its predecessor was a year ago. Pressure is simply applied to both ends of the device in an effort to bend it in the middle. As more pressure is applied, the device does slightly start to bend, but once the pressure is removed, the device falls back into its normal form. Furthermore, FoneFox has two people attempt to bend a single iPhone 6s Plus, with one person on either end of the device. Under this amount of pressure, the device does bend permanently, but as FoneFox notes, this amount of pressure is unlikely to ever occur in real world usage.

It’s clear that Apple’s efforts to make the iPhone 6s Plus more sturdy than its predecessor have succeeded for the most part. You can view the bend test video itself below:

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Comments

  1. Ralph Castro - 9 years ago

    I don’t know about others, but this is really important to me cuz my iPhone 6 bent a little while in my pocket. Glad to see Apple resolve this #gate

  2. claustin - 9 years ago

    I’m just waiting for the iPhone that beats the “will it blend” guy.

  3. jpnz55 - 9 years ago

    Hmmmmm…… They are From New Zealand!!! Pukekohe is in NZ!

  4. Ahmed Hassan - 9 years ago

    So that means these two guys would find it nearly impossible to bend an iPhone 6s?

  5. sword 2 pen (@sword2pen) - 9 years ago

    Awesome! #bendgate no mo!

  6. mpias3785 - 9 years ago

    Interesting video but a subsequent video was far more scientific. It used a device to measure the force needed to bend the cases (just the aluminum, no internals). The 6 case bent with about 30 lb. force and the 6s took about 80 lb. Quite an improvement!

    More interesting was an instrument used to analyze the grade of aluminum which required that some of the anodizing be removed. The anodizing was significantly thicker on the 6s (Anodize II vs Anodize III?). Thicker anodizing means a more scratch resistant phone!

    For those who are unfamiliar with anodizing aluminum, anodizing creates a protective layer of aluminum oxide (sapphire is aluminum oxide), so the thicker the layer, the more scratch resistant it is. Good news all around!

  7. strawbis - 9 years ago

    I wouldn’t put much stock in this test, Kiwi’s are notoriously soft – Haka my elbow.

  8. spiralynth - 9 years ago

    Unbox Therapy did an excellent scientific bit on this a few weeks ago, proving 6s to be 2-3 times stronger.

  9. Robert Dupuy - 9 years ago

    Last year when this all started, I kind of assumed most phones would bend if you tried hard enough, so I had an old phone in my desk that I hadn’t used in a few years, and I got it out, thinking I would kind of post a video response to the whole bendgate controversy.

    haha, that video never got uploaded…that old phone I tried to bend, didn’t budge one iota, it was as hard as a brick.

    Luckily, despite it possibly being prone to bending, I never did bend my iPhone 6 plus, and it’s been a great phone. I am glad that Apple strengthened the phone to answer the critics.

  10. Andrew Rose - 9 years ago

    Please note that while us Kiwis are use to be mistaken for Australians we dislike it about as much as Americans like being called Canadian (and vice versa).

  11. lkrupp215 - 9 years ago

    Do worry your pretty little heads. A brand new #gate for the 6S Plus will be invented shortly. The bozos that spend their lives trying to take down Apple are furiously working away in their parent’s basements loo˚ing for something to latch onto. They don’t even have time to trim their neckbeards.

    • srgmac - 9 years ago

      If bendgate was “invented” and not real, why did Apple change the material the phones are made out of for the 6S/6S Plus and why are they multiple times stronger now? If it’s not broke, why fix it?

      • Are you familiar with the term improve manufacturing processes? Oh, why to use steel over iron to build a bridge if iron is pretty good?

  12. chrisl84 - 9 years ago

    couple of weaklings

  13. gshenaut - 9 years ago

    I’ve done the pocket bend test on my 6+ hundreds of time now, and each time, it was the pocket, not the iPhone, that bent.

  14. josephferranti - 9 years ago

    I hope they bought Apple Care. That is crazy to spend all that money just to see if it bends. And besides the testing that they did is not practical for every day use. What phone will actually go through that amount of pressure anyway.

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com