14 DAY TRIAL // Apple gave up on aluminum for the new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in favor of glass, a more exquisite material which not only makes the device look more premium, but also allows for other features like wireless charging.
A side-effect of having a phone with a body made of glass is that it is incredibly slippery, so it’s extremely easy to drop it to the ground, which in the case of glass is obviously something you should avoid.
Apple has paid particular attention to this thing and tried to make the glass as durable as possible, while also improving the metal frame that’s still being used on all three models to be as tough as possible.
At first glance, all these efforts paid off. Torture tests performed by so many people after the launch of these models proved that all three iPhones are extremely durable and they can withstand shocks and hits that they wouldn’t normally be exposed to. Furthermore, what these tests have shown was that new-generation iPhones are no longer prone to bending, a problem that affected the iPhone 6 Plus and which Apple first addressed with the release of the 6s upgrade.
This certainly made sense because honestly, you wouldn’t expect a company the size of Apple to make the same mistake twice, especially when it comes to such a critical product for its long-term strategy.
And while bending never occurred in these tests, it actually happened to me. That’s right, my iPhone 8 Plus bent earlier today, and here’s how it looks like right now.
You’re probably wondering how this happened in the first place. I’m the kind of person who keeps the phone in the back pocket, not necessarily as a personal choice, but because of the dimensions of the iPhone 8 Plus. So it’s not hard to figure out the next part.
Keeping the phone in the back pocket and trying to sit down on a solid surface isn’t quite the best thing to do, but it happens. It happened to so many people and it happened to me too. Only that I was too sure that the iPhone 8 Plus would survive this impromptu durability test that I wasn’t even concerned about it.
And yet, there you go. A bent iPhone 8 Plus with a unique design that makes it super-annoying to use when sitting on a flat surface, like my desk.
Somewhat odd is that although my iPhone now has a curved design, everything works pretty flawlessly, with no other physical or hardware damage experienced. The screen is still in its place, the battery is also there, and there’s no noticeable crack that could compromise water resistance. But I wouldn’t dare to try this out though. Also, no shattered back, despite this being the first thing I checked after sitting on my iPhone.
Is this something that should concern you? Probably not, because in the end, it’s all a matter of how careful you are with your phone. For what it’s worth, I was using a case as well, but it seems it didn’t actually make any difference. Or maybe it did because without it, the damage might have been a lot worse.
So no, there’s no reason to be concerned, but it’s certainly something to have in mind. Despite all these tests, the iPhone 8 Plus is still prone to bending and depending on the factors involved, any unit might end up with a curved design like mine. Obviously, warranty isn’t going to help me, but since no other problem appears to be experienced, I can only hope that this banana phone shape would eventually grow on me.
