Bendgate is the latest problem to plug Apple as iOS 8's update fights off bugs and HealthKit recovers from a sickness.
Reports of iPhones bending under moderate pressure have revealed the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to be the baddest and toughest phone around; at least that's what Consumer Reports' stress tests show.
The Internet has been in a frenzy over what's now being called Bendgate, or the tendency supposedly of iPhone 6 handsets to bend when placed inside the front pocket.
Apple said it was extremely rare for iPhone 6 handsets to deform under light and moderate pressure. The company claims it has run all versions of the iPhone 6 through a "sit test" and a "pressure point cycling test," simulating the pressures of a sitting individual in the former test and stressing every angle of the devices in the latter.
All this talk of iPhone 6 endurance prompted watchdog group Consumer Reports to weigh in. After being invited into an Apple lab to witness an iPhone test, Consumer Report said the procedures looked a lot like its own and decided to stress-test iPhones to find their breaking points.
Consumer Reports stress-tested the HTC One M8, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5, LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
"We started light, applying 10 pounds of force for 30 seconds, then releasing the force," states Consumer Reports. "Then we increased the force in 10-pound increments, noted when the phones first started to deform (that's what our engineers call it) and stopped the test for each phone when we saw the screen come loose from the case."
The iPhone 6 Plus began to deform under 90 lbs of pressure and its case started to separate under 110 lbs of force from the test. The more compact iPhone 6 began to deform under 70 lbs of pressure and crack open under 100 lbs of stress, while rivals of the 6 and 6 Plus kept it together a little bit longer during the torture test.
"Throughout most of our test, the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 bent, then recovered completely from each step up in force," states Consumer Reports. "But at 130 pounds, the case of the G3 fractured. At 150 pounds of force, the Note 3's screen splintered and it stopped working."
Though the iPhone 5 began to deform under 130 lbs of pressure, 20 lbs less than the Galaxy Note 3, Apple's last generation smartphone matched the Note 3 in keeping its case together up until 150 lbs of pressure was exerted on it. The HTC One M8 started to deform under 70 lbs of pressure and its case began to split open when 90 pounds of force was applied to it.
