Take it from the guy who tried to bend an Apple Execs iPhone air; Seeing how far Apple will bend its own ultra-slim phone is a rioting affair.
Hi, I’m the technical journalist who fumbled an iPhone air thrown to (or know) me by the Apple Executive Greg Joswiak. I was about things as far as I could and managed only a small bend from which the phone quickly recovered. In truth, however, I had already seen the trials of Apple’s new 5.6 mm iPhone Air and the entire new iPhone 17 setup would endure. So maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised.
When it comes to reliability and durability tests, mess, don’t mess around and are not afraid to push the boundaries. It does, so when you drop, kick, twist, bend, dunk or drive through a haboob, your iPhone will come out undamaged.
Shortly after Apple’s ‘Awe Dopping Event’ on September 9, when the company revealed four new iPhones, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and AirPods Pro 3, Apple took me behind closed doors to show how the stressed iPhone Air.
It’s no surprise that Apple wants to demonstrate that it’s more than ready to ask questions about a potentially flexible iPhone. The scars from the iPhone 6’s Bendgate are almost still visible (I’m sure the mental wounds persist).
Apple’s iPhone Guantlet
As Apple went through the unique build and design decisions from iPhone Air, which includes putting virtually all the components under the camera’s plateau. I wondered about the little components (which I was not allowed to touch) the array in front of me. Much of the high-strength titanium degree 5-body surrounds nothing but a lithium-on battery encased in a special metal frame.
Apple showed me videos of a phone that was sprayed with high-intensity water from all angles and explained how they also exposed it to seawater and even artificial sweat-cling.
To test the strength of its new ceramic Shield 2 screen, Apple rubs it with a special grinding tip; Not exactly car keys, but I got the point.
Apple has a special phone-cooling robot that tests the phone against drops on the screen, corners and back. The goal is to simulate almost any drop angle and when the phone failed a test, they would detect it, make adjustments and repeat the exact drop scenario again and again.
The great bending test
Next, Apple handed me out what looked like a small black brick. It was the size of a smartphone. I was asked to apply as much bending pressure as possible while a screen measured the torque. I succeeded around 60 kg. It was fun and good exercise.
Next to the print measurement screen was what could only be described as an iPhone torture device. In it was an iPhone air, balanced, with the front down on a mounting, and two similar mounts were placed right on the back. A technician turned on the machine, which continued to push the top mounts down on iPhone air.
I saw in horror when the phone bent me in the middle and gave way to a measured 133 lbs of pressure. I was sticky and repelled (the poor phone). The technician released the pressure and as the assemblies pulled up, the phone returned to a perfectly flat frame. To prove it, they took the iPhone air out of the machine and it lay perfectly flat on the table.
(The video above matches carefully what I personally saw, and was provided by Apple with this caption: “The iPhone Air exceeds Apple’s strict bending strength needs and is not damaged after reviewing an extreme level of power.”)
As Apple told me, the air is more durable than any iPhone they have ever created, and now I tend to agree with them.
