Apple insists “bendgate” isn’t an issue after receiving just 9 complaints about bent iPhones as of last week, and the vast majority seem to agree. But will the Cupertino company think differently when it discovers that people are walking into its retail stores and bending the iPhone 6 Plus units it has on display?
Due to challenges receiving regulatory approval, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has yet to make it into China through official channels.
That’s not enough to stop the New York Times running a story claiming that scalpers have already exhausted demand for Apple’s next gen handsets in the country that may one day overtake the U.S. in terms of iPhone sales, however.
The article notes that, despite the fact that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will not officially go on sale for a few weeks (October 10, according to a leaked memo), the gray market has “already dried up” — with wholesalers who smuggled tens of thousands of iPhones into the country being forced to “[slash] prices to move inventory.”
With Bendgate causing some worrywarts to question the structural integrity of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Consumer Reports set out to answer the question: “How much force does it take for a phone to bend — and not bend back?”
The independent consumer-testing outfit took six smartphones — including both iPhone 6 models and an iPhone 5s — into the lab and subjected them to experiments using an Instron compression testing machine. The results are surprising.
Here’s what they found (along with a video showing Consumer Reports’ torture testing).
Although the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus chalked up record-breaking sales, Apple’s week has been far from a celebration. A YouTube video showing the iPhone 6 Plus bending under seemingly normal amounts of pressure sent the Internet to crazyville, and Bendgate was born.
Watch Cult of Mac’s news roundup to see the latest regarding the Bendgate frenzy, why some iPads are being banned, and how one person surprised the world with her iPhone 6 impressions more than others.
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Chuck Jones has an interesting post up on the Forbes site, in which he theorizes about how much ‘bendgate’ could wind up costing Apple — with an (unlikely) maximum hit potentially being in the hundreds of millions.
Jones weighs up the different ways Apple and customers may respond to the meme, including consumers potentially being put off buying the new iPhone 6 Plus, to Apple undergoing a full-on redesign.
Mesmerizing slow-motion videos have flooded the Internet in the last few days, showcasing the kind of amazing footage you rarely see outside a movie theater or Blu-ray disc.
What opened the floodgates? The iPhone 6. The device’s camera and software allows for a mind-boggling 240 frames-per-second shooting rate, letting videographers of all abilities try their hands at slowing down the action and making an impact.
Slow motion has long been used in your favorite films to convey the intensity of a moment (think The Matrix or anything by John Woo), but this is the first time the average consumer has this kind of stunning tech in their hands.
With more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units sold already, we’ll undoubtedly get slammed with even more beautiful slow-motion videos in the weeks and months to come. Here are a bunch we’ve found that show off the startling capabilities of the iPhone 6 while also proving that, seriously, people will film anything.
Before the iPhone 6, the reason Apple decided on 3.5-inch and then 4-inch displays was to allow for the entire screen to be easily within reach of your thumb when using your iPhone with a single hand. Now that the iPhone 6 starts at a massive 4.7 inches, you’re going to need a bigger thumb.
Like this one! Thanko, a Tokyo-based maker of electronic crapcessories, has just delivered unto the market its magnum opus: a soft, silicon-based “finger stylus” that extends your thumb up to 0.6 inches, helping you reach the far corners of your iPhone 6 Plus with one hand.
Today Apple spoke out on Bendgate, the international scandal that has set the world ablaze with questions about the iPhone 6 Plus like, “Will it bend?”
“With normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus,” said Apple in a statement. To further solidify its stance on not making bendy hardware, the company has laid out the five methods it uses to test iPhone durability.
“It just works.”
Those three words are synonymous with Apple. It’s the slogan Apple fanboys use when trying to convince their Android-loving friends that iOS is a better option. And it was used over and over by Steve Jobs as he unveiled new products at Apple keynotes.
That makes it even more embarrassing for the Cupertino company when things don’t “just work.” Especially when it royally screws things up — as it did with the hideously half-baked iOS 8.0.1 update that rolled out to millions of users Wednesday morning.
It turns out that things made out of thin pieces of aluminum will bend under enough force. Who’d have thought it? But fortunately for those who are experiencing the well-documented “Bendgate” issue with a new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple is not ignoring the problem: The company will replace devices under warranty so long as they pass a visual inspection.
Apple has promised to roll out a new iOS 8 update in the “next few days” that will fix the issues plaguing iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who updated to iOS 8.0.1. In the meantime, users are being advised to downgrade to the initial iOS 8 release that came pre-installed on their devices.
With iOS 8, iPhone and iPad owners for the first time ever can replace Apple’s default virtual keyboard with a third-party alternative.
Doing so — with keyboards made by SwiftKey, Swype, Fleksy and others — could vastly improve your touchscreen typing experience. Not only do some of these keyboards make typing easier, but they also boast innovative features, like the ability to type words using simple swipes instead of taps. Many of these keyboards are completely customizable, so you can set their size and color scheme to suit you.
If you haven’t already installed a third-party keyboard, you’re missing out on one of iOS 8’s best features. In this guide, first we’ll tell you about the best keyboards available from the App Store right now. We’ll also run through the features that make them unique, show you how you can customize them and make them work for you, and explain some important concepts, such as “Full Access.”
The YouTuber who set the world ablaze by bending the iPhone 6 Plus is back.
Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy has a new video out in which he tries to bend the regular iPhone 6 like the Plus. Those who are actually worried about their iPhone’s bendability will be glad to see that the 6 holds its shape much better than its larger sibling. And you’d basically need some kind of power tool to bend the iPhone 5s.
Hilsenteger also tries bending some iPhone competitors, and the most durable smartphone might surprise you.
Team “Uncage the Soul” spent three days in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, capturing some stunning moving images with their new iPhone 6 Plus.
While videographer Ben Casales found the iPhone 6 Plus to be an amazing bit of video technology, he’s not worried about his day job.
“Is the iPhone 6+ amazing? YES. Would I bring it to a job shooting for a client? No,” he writes on the video page. “It will shoot 240fps, but it degrades and is not what you’d want full size in a polished video. The in-camera stabilizer in the Instagram Hyperlapse app is AMAZING, but it exports final video in 720 not 1080. Timelapse looks great when the conditions are stable, but changing light has the phone struggling to smoothly change exposures following the light.”
Still, check out the amazing footage below and dream of all the things you can do with it when you’re out and about in a hipster ear-flap hat and drinking PBR. Just be prepared for the very twee pop song by Hugo Hans “Wildrunners.”
“Will it bend?” has become the hottest question in tech this week as some iPhone 6 owners have discovered that the laws of physics still apply to the aluminum frame of the new Apple phones … even when neglected in a back pocket.
We pointed out yesterday that any smartphone made of metal will bend when subjected to pressure, but the Internet has jumped on the BendGate controversy like a joyful Steve Wozniak pounding through the polo fields on his mighty Segway.
#BendGate, #BentGate and #BendGhazi started trending on Twitter within the last 24 hours, and while Apple’s PR machine remains silent, the Internet has given its hilarious opinion on the controversy.
Here are some of the funniest BendGate reactions:
Update: iOS 8.0.1 upgraders are reporting problems with Touch ID and cellular connectivity after installing Apple’s update. You should wait before taking the plunge. If you’ve already installed iOS 8.0.1, here’s how to downgrade to iOS 8.
Apple has pulled an iOS 8.0.1 update that fixed problems with HealthKit and various other features after iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users discovered the update broke Touch ID and blocked cellular connectivity.
The iOS 8.0.1 update was also supposed to improve Reachability on the iPhone 6, but it has already been removed while Apple addresses the nest of new bugs it unleashed.
Bend-Gate is slowly taking over the Internet this morning as Apple fans discover the startling fact that when pressure is applied to an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus frame, it bends – just like every other smartphone ever made of metal.
The bending problem has been reported by a number of iPhone 6 owners who pocketed their big iPhone 6 only to retrieve it later with a significant curve in the frame. Some sites are deeming the new iPhones “more fragile than expected,” but the truth is we’ve seen this problem almost every year.
In fact, last year ran we an article titled “iPhone 5s Bending in People’s Pockets.” Any phone made of metal is still subject to the laws of physics, but to reiterate that this isn’t exactly a problem exclusive to the iPhone 6, here’s a look at other Android and Apple phones that have bending problems.
Apple has debuted two new ads, featuring the combined vocal talents of Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon, to advertise its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets.
Despite KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s usually excellent track record on Apple predictions, he messed up his last prediction that the iPad Air 2 would make its appearance at Apple’s iPhone 6 launch event two weeks ago.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. But if you’re eager for an iPad Air boasting an A8 chip, a new report corroborates a rumor we’ve heard before: it’s coming in October. Don’t wait for an A8 iPad mini though: it’s at least three months away.
Given how constrained supplies of the iPhone 6 Plus have been, it should come as no surprise that Apple’s biggest smartphone isn’t being used the most right now.
While Apple won’t say how many of each model it’s sold, mobile analytics data shows that iPhone 6 sales are outpacing 6 Plus sales more than seven to one.
The display rating experts at DisplayMate got intimately acquainted with Apple’s bigger than big display over the weekend, and after thorough testing, the LCD experts pronounced Apple’s 5.5-inch display the best performing LCD display they’ve ever tested on a smartphone.
The iPhone 6 did pretty well too in their iPhone 6 Display Technology Shootout report released this morning.
Here’s the rave review they gave the iPhone 6 Plus display:
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the thinnest iPhones Apple’s ever made, but all that design perfection is slightly tainted by the protruding camera that makes it annoying to use the smartphone on a flat surface.
Slapping on a case fixes the problem, but for those wanting to revel in the beauty of a nude iPhone 6, the PeripateticPandas have come up with an ingenious – though somewhat impractical – solution: Introduce your shiny new 6 to a grinding machine.
Checkout the horrific how-to video below:
After an “unprecedented” order for manufacturers, record-breaking preorders, and a monster first day on sale, how did the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus do over its first weekend?
Incredibly well, says proud parent Apple, which put out a press release this morning noting that more than 10 million new iPhone 6 family devices were snapped up by customers at the weekend — signalling a new record for Apple.
“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” Tim Cook is quoted as saying. “We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin.”
After claiming no one would buy big phones during his iPhone 4 reveal in 2010, Steve Jobs made it pretty clear Apple had no interest in making a substantially larger smartphone anytime soon. But fast-forward to 2014, and the company Jobs founded in his parents’ garage has been forced to do just that.
Having watched customers flock to Android in pursuit of bigger screens, Apple could no longer ignore our demands. It had to build new iPhones that would win back users it lost, and prevent any more from wandering.
And boy has Apple done that in style.
We just saw how incredibly far the iPhone’s display has come in seven short years. But if you think that’s impressive, check out how far the actual speed of the iPhone has come from the iPhone 2G to iPhone 6 Plus.
