The iPhone SE may have the brains of the iPhone 6s, but not the brawn.
It took only 160 pounds of force to bend the iPhone SE’s frame in a new durability test pitting Apple’s tiny new iPhone against the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The new 4-inch iPhone stands up well fairly well against the iPhone 6s Plus, but it gets wrecked in SquareTrade’s tests, while the iPhone 6s takes a beating and still looks great.
Apple is 40 years old today. In that time, the Cupertino company has delivered some incredible products and services, and revolutionized smartphones, tablets, and music players. But is it boring now?
Some say Apple’s innovation has stalled in recent years, and it has become too predictable. The surprises we used to see during its big keynotes no longer show up, and despite its secrecy, you can almost predict its product roadmap for the next year.
Are those claims harsh? Is Apple really past its best, or will it deliver groundbreaking new products again that can shake up the consumer technology industry?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight over Apple at 40.
A joke in Zoolander 2 pokes fun at the ’90s craze for tiny cellphones, something which today seems as retro as flannel shirts and Pulp Fiction posters in your dorm room.
With the upcoming iPhone 7, Apple is apparently showing us the next iteration of that ideal by bringing us a smartphone so thin — just 6.1 mm thick — that even Victoria’s Secret models would advise it to eat a sandwich.
But are super-slim iPhones what users really want, or have Jony Ive and Apple’s design team taken things too far?
It’s finally here! The Apple TV we’ve all been waiting for should be arriving in homes across the world today. We’ve got our review of the cute little black box, plus a ton more, including the biggest takeaways from Apple’s recent earnings call, how Google is facing its own Bendgate issues, 10 delightful new iOS games from the month of October, and how to get those gorgeous Apple TV screensavers right on your Mac.
All that, plus the usual plethora of news, reveiws, and how-tos, and you’ve got yourself a hot new free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Be sure to download our fantastic app today.
Here’s the rundown of the top stories this week:
Bendgate is back, and this time, it’s an Android device that’s at the center of it.
Google’s brand new Nexus 6P, which is being dubbed the company’s best smartphone by critics and consumers, is nowhere near as durable as it is pretty. Check out the video below in which the device scratches, cracks, burns, and bends surprisingly easily.
This week: we celebrate CultCast 200! And just in time for the party—it’s the iPhone 6s scandal we all knew would someday come… #CHIPGATE. We’ll tell why the internet is nerd-raging over this newest iPhone scandal, and why it might just be diminishing your iPhone 6s’ battery life. Plus: the new Jobs movie is generating Oscar buzz. Seriously! And since he’s seen it—twice—Alex E Heath is here to give us his review. And stay tuned till the end for our favorite memories of CultCast’s past. It’s CultCast 200!
Our thanks to Harry’s for supporting this episode. Harry’s super-sharp, German-made razors ship free right to your door and for way less than the drugstore razors. And be sure to use code CultCast at checkout save $5 off your first order.
Although we’re not sure if it did much to damage sales, last year’s iPhone launch was marred slightly by the so-called Bendgate problem — most famously shown off by the man who bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands.
Given the notoriety that video enjoyed, it’s no surprise that this year’s customers would be willing to put their new iPhone 6s handsets through the wringer to answer the immortal question: Will it bend?
While his testing method isn’t exactly scientific, Australian YouTuber Christian from FoneFox took up the challenge with his brand new iPhone 6s — and the results look very promising indeed.
Check it out below:
Apple isn’t going to repeat its Bendgate error for a second year, according to a video posted by Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy, aka the man who famously bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands.
Hilsenteger got hold of an iPhone 6s backplate, courtesy of renowned Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, and compared it to the original iPhone 6. As he points out, Apple has made key changes to the iPhone design with the aim of learning from its past mistakes.
Check out his video below:
It’s been rumored for months that the iPhone 6S might pick up Apple Watch’s Force Touch feature when it’s updated this Fall, but according to the Chinese media Jony Ive is also planning to use the same aluminum used in the Apple Watch Sport.
If Apple pulls it off, it could solve the Bendgate controversy.
The so-called Bendgate incident might have done Apple no favors in 2014, but according to a new patent published today, Cupertino is far from done when it comes to flexible iPhones — this time, purposely so.
Apple’s newly-granted patent covers an invention related to flexible housing for future iOS devices. As described, these devices would be capable of being bent or even folded with no damage to the internal components.
To pull this off, Apple would likely ditch the milled aluminium used in current iPhones for more easily deformable materials such as soft plastics and fiber composites able to withstand repeated flexing.
