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Comment by stevewepay | Hacker News Reader

I've had the iPhone 6 since Sept 19. In the 10 days since then, I've shattered the screen, when it slipped out of my pocket as I got out of a chair, and bent the phone just yesterday, after putting it in my back pocket and sitting down on it (and then immediately getting up when I realized what I did). Let me tell you that the bending issue is very real. My phone isn't bent like those consumer reports videos, but it is definitely warped.

I realize that both incidents are my fault, but this phone is by far the most fragile iphone I've ever owned, out of 4. In the 10 days that I've owned it, I haven't changed any of my behavior and it already has been damaged twice. I'm pretty disappointed with the poor durability of the phone and am considering replacing it with my reliable iphone5, and waiting for the 6S which hopefully fixes these durability issues.

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> after putting it in my back pocket and sitting down on it

> the bending issue is very real

I'd suggest that the issue is that you're a guy who thinks sitting on $1,000 of glass and aluminium is a normal thing to do.

I did this all the time with my iPhone 3, 4 and 5 without any issues which is why it developed into a habit. The fact that I can't do that with the iPhone 6 is a surprise and disappointment.

There are lots of bad ideas that can be performed many times before they become a problem.

I'm with the parent. If you think sitting on a phone in your back pocket is a problem, I don't think the solution is a "stronger phone."

You're wrong. I also do this all the time and if my phone broke I'd be outraged because every phone built before the iphone 6 can handle that kind of stress.

The phone is the outlier, not the use case.

Not really, no.

My ex-wife always sat with her 3 in her back jeans pocket because fashion designers refuse to put sensible front pockets on women's jeans. The 3's case began to crack at the top around the power button after a while. And this is a girl sitting on her phone - not some 200lbs guy.

And I certainly wouldn't sit on my nexus 5 or the SGS4 that it replaced.

Eh. I (until recently) weighed around 220lbs. I would not have been surprised if any phone I sat on [0] broke or was otherwise damaged. Especially with the way that anything in a back pocket gets flexed. It's not just the weight placed on it, it's the tension from conforming to the shape of your body along with the pants. I guess if I had no ass, or weighed much less, or like some coworkers wear pants so low that the back pocket is actually behind the thigh it might not be a big deal.

[0] This also depends on the seat. My couch at home is very cushy, it'd be hard to break it there. But my kitchen table chair is little more than a slat of wood cut to a comfortable shape.

I'm 185 pounds, and I'm absolutely confident that if I ever placed any of my iPhones in my back jeans pocket and sat on it, it would be destroyed in under a month.

It has a glass screen, that alone should make it obvious that you shouldn't sit on it.

Older iphones were recently rated by Consumer Report to be about twice as resistant to bending from pressure and might well have endured this with ease. Also, the gorilla glass screen may have been less scratch resistant (though more than good enough), but it is less prone to shattering too.

So once people may have fixed certain expectations about the durability of an iPhone. But those will have to be revised with the new models.

When did durability stop being a factor used to assess a phone's quality? As someone who is somewhat accident prone (and who doesn't want to spend too much time fretting about protecting my phone), it's something I care about.

Granted, I don't this should be as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be, but I think the discussion should go beyond chastising owners for putting their phones in the wrong pocket. That's not much better than saying "you're holding it wrong."

If the back pocket is "not supported", that's fine, but when support is pulled on anything that people use, (however obscure or unwise its use may be), there's going to be friction.

Durability should be an important part of assessing a phone's quality. I think the issue here, is where do we drawn the dividing line on what's "reasonable" and "unreasonable" performance in that category.

I think it's reasonable to ask for phones that are water proof and shock proof. That is, a phone should be able to handle a dunk in the swimming pool, and should certainly be able to handle being dropped on a sidewalk. Both of those are every day events that happen to everyone. Until phones get to the point at which they can routinely handle both (neither of which any iPhone has ever been able to do), they come up lacking.

In addition, a phone should certainly not deform that much if it sits in a reasonable pocket.

On the flip side - I'm not expecting my phone to handle 200 pounds of force by me sitting on it on a hard surface repeatedly, particularly if there is hard edge/corner involved (which greatly increases the PSI the device has to handle). I also absolutely do not expect a phone to not deform if someone tries to bend it. People can bend freaking rebar, and I'm not expecting a phone to be structurally stronger than rebar.

That isn't to say you shouldn't be proud of your device if it can handle that amount of stress - I think it's definitely an advantage, it just isn't what I would consider the "minimum bar of performance for a smartphone."

When did durability stop being a factor used to assess a phone's quality?

When consumers expressed a clear preference for big, thin phones that offer a lot of mechanical advantage to their round butts when sitting on them.

it's something I care about

But not enough to buy a smaller, more durable phone? One with a thick, rubber or plastic exterior case? No? I didn't think so.

That's not much better than saying "you're holding it wrong."

Maybe people should take personal responsibility for breaking their belongings?

But not enough to buy a smaller, more durable phone? One with a thick, rubber or plastic exterior case? No? I didn't think so.

I only just recently upgraded from an old feature phone to a Moto G. One of the major reasons I selected it was its relative cost versus other phones, and thus less worrying on my part about it (also, it was the cheapest phone Republic Wireless was offering). While that's not specifically buying based on durability, it's the same idea of being concerned about how much money you've sunk versus how easily it will break.

Even still, I don't go sitting on it (or, if I discover I'm sitting on it, I immediately cease the sitting action). I'm not arguing Apple should refund these people for their bent phones or anything, and I agree that people should take personal responsibility for their actions. I'm just fine with the potential lack of durability being discussed, which is the issue stevewepay originally mentioned.

EDIT: Upon further thinking, I agree that my comparison to "you're holding it wrong" is somewhat mistaken. While the grip one uses on a phone doesn't have any common-sense effects, putting a phone in your back pocket and sitting on it should have clear potential consequences, even if phones of the past typically had the durability to withstand it.

Well - the issue isn't that it's a good idea to sit on a iPhone, the issue is that this iPhone seems to be less durable than previous iPhones, where nearly every other model was an upgrade in terms of durability.

I get the feeling some people are too far up there to realize that.

I've sat on my Note 3 (sans any type of case) more times than I can remember, and have never even so much as scratched it.

Out of curiosity, why not put your phone in the front pocket?

Because half the population doesn't have front pockets that fit phones, and sometimes your purse is slightly out of reach.

I'd be surprised if most jeans for women have back pockets that could comfortably fit an iPhone 6. They're generally design additions rather than serious pockets.

> I'd be surprised if most jeans for women have back pockets that could comfortably fit an iPhone 6.

The rear pocket in women's jeans might be able to accept an iPhone 6, but only if the woman's rear isn't present at the same time.

It's interesting that "cargo" pockets, located on the side of the pants at mid-hip height, are popular right now, because that's a much better and safer place for a phone than the back pockets.

The thing with back pockets is that the phone can stick up out of the pocket and stay in there. So the amount of pocket you need for that to work is reduced.

You don't have to be part of that half of the population.

You make it sound like it's elective...?

Membership in the group of people who wear pants with non-functional pockets is elective. That said, I think we all know what the original poster actually meant, and this subthread isn’t illuminating anything.

I keep my phone in my front pocket 90% of the time. However, there's been a number of times where I've been distracted, and have slipped it in my back pocket just before sitting on it, such as finishing a conversation just before getting into the car or working on something that may get my front wet, like gardening. It's a nice adrenaline rush feeling it under me all of a sudden, but, thankfully, I've never inflicted damage like that.

Because you can't sit down at all then. The note 3 (which I own and love) is too big.

Keys and change go in front pockets and tend to scratch phone... Phones fit in back pockets and I've never damaged one that way in many generations of iPhones (and also Android phones).

He didn't say it was normal. We stick things in our pockets and forget about them. It happens.

This is where the marketing concept of "life-proof" comes from. Shit happens. Day-to-day consumer devices are going to get bumped, dropped, damp, sat on, etc. If the iPhone can't handle those things, the answer isn't "Be more careful you idiots", the answer is people will (presumably) stop buying them.

"life-proof", as in "sitting down on a hard chair with your 6 inch smartphone in your back jeans pocket", conflicts with the clear and unmistakable consumer preference for "big and thin".

In FantasyLand, engineers could create phones with 8 inch displays that were still somehow useable with one hand, and you could run over them with your car ("life-proof" - oopsies!) and they'd be ok. In the meantime, put your money where your mouth is and buy a smaller, more durable phone like an iPhone 5.

Well, I put my money where my mouth is and bought a Moto G. It's smaller and quite durable for a smartphone. Acceptable?

"life-proof" is kind of a silly term, I agree. But as much as you might want to mock people who do not baby their smartphone like a delicate glass flower, they are most of the market.

To say you can't or shouldn't put your phone in your pocket is ridiculous. It is quite possibly the most common use case for a phone, and the design should take that into account. Full stop. The RDS is strong here, my friend.

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of pants have pockets that don't require you to sit on their contents when sitting down.

I've never sat on my smartphones before, whether they were large or small. And I've always kept my smartphones in my pocket.

Nobody is saying you can't put it in your pocket. What they're saying is that you can't sit on it.

I've accidentally sat down with my Nexus 5 in my back pocket before and it's been fine. Sometimes you leave your phone in your back pocket and forget about it.

Not to mention that sitting on things in back pockets is bad for you: http://www.osteochirocentre.co.uk/practice-news/company-news...

I used to have one of those Blackberry's that you could drop then kick down the street and it would still work. Basically, it was indestructible. I'd never put it in my back pocket though. That seems like a pretty unnatural thing to do for an electronic device. I guess "Common sense ain't so common."

At least is not a 4/4s with a glass back. I never understood making both sides subject to breakage. Its possible that glass breakage may be easier as larger sizes are more prone to breakage, plus there is that beveled edge. I read we do not have sapphire because of the size issue. Is there a glass composition difference between Apple and Samsung phones?

Regardless, I will have mine tomorrow so coming from 4s my biggest shock will be size. I am assuming the new processor will make iOS 8 feel "snappier" as it has dogged my 4.

Size comparison site I found useful http://www.piliapp.com/actual-size/iphone-6/

Any chance of Apple covering the bending issue free of charge? I'd actually expect them to if you took it into an Apple Store.

Nope. I just paid $79 under Apple Care Plus to have mine repaired. I ran into a corner of a table and decimated my 6+.

https://imgur.com/spdm6mm

"I sat on my phone! Can I have a new one?"

"I fed my phone to my dog! Can I have a new one?"

"I dropped my phone out of my car! Can I have a new one?"

"My phone fell into a commercial smoothie blender! Can I have a new one?"

Can you see how one of these things is not like the others?

Yes. All four of them are evasions of personal responsibility, but only one of them seems to empower people to seek relief at the genius bar.

As I commented last night, I personally know someone who got his phone bent as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8385941

It's extremely frustrating that when I and my friend told this to others, we get accused of lying. Granted that in the large scheme of things these are anecdotes, but it's still not a lie. The phones bend when you keep them in your front pant pocket, a handful of people have reported this.

This phenomenon has been proven already repeatedly, not sure why people would get labeled as liars about it. A german site even made a 'bend' comparison between it and the Galaxy Note:

http://www.phonecruncher.com/news/2576225/apple_bans_german_...

Put it in a front pocket from now on?

The phone is not a one handed phone, and it is not something that can be put in a back pocket. We live in the era of iPad communication devices. Embrace.

Awesome video of stevewepay using his iPhone the last few days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xQLGWTSag

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