Technology experts offered sage advice: don't put it in your pocket
BY: JAMES VINCENT
In what’s already being dubbed ‘bend gate’, owners of Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus are reporting that their new smartphones are being bent out of shape – just from being carried in their pockets.
Apple has yet to respond to the issue, but numerous pictures of unintentionally curved iPhones have been circulating on Twitter, with one intrepid YouTube user (Unbox Therapy) even sacrificing his handset to prove that, yes, the iPhone 6 Plus does indeed bend.
It's thought that the issue is simply because the 6 Plus is so much larger and thinner than previous phones, that the aluminum case simply doesn't have enough strength proportional to its length.
Although Twitter has been full of pictures of bent smartphones, it seems that the actual number of users affected is limited, with tech experts poiting out that the issue is not unique to Apple devices but simply a reflection of how casually many gadgets are treated.
The trend was first picked up by specialist site MacRumours, who reported one reader’s tale of bending his iPhone 6 Plus after putting it in his front pocket to attend a wedding.
“The 6 Plus was about 18 hours in my pocket while sitting mosty,” said the irate Apple customer. “As I lay it on the coffee table and sat down on the couch to relax from the drive (yes, sitting again), I saw the reflection of the window in the iPhones slightly distorted.”
Handsets like the LG G Flex and the Samsung Galaxy Round have proved that manufacturers can make curved smartphones if they really want to, but with the iPhone 6 Plus it seems Apple is offering customers a do-it-yourself option.
It's obvious of course that practically any smartphone will bend if you apply enough pressure - there were similar reports of Sony's Xperia Z1 warping earlier this year - but unfortunately for Apple, the prestige (and price) of their devices means any fault is taken far more seriously than those of their rivals'.
For anyone who remembers the iPhone 4, 'bend-gate' will also be sadly familiar. The 2010 iPhone didn't bend, but it did ship with a flawed antenna that meant it dropped calls when owners held in a certain way (critics would say would an absolutely normal way).
Steve Jobs himself was forced to respond to the accusations (by mocking the media and claiming that there was no real problem) but Apple eventually issued free cases to to those affected. Will they do the same for the iPhone 6 Plus?
Earlier this week Apple reported that they had sold a record 10 million units of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both smartphones offer larger screens than any previous models as well as an improved processor, larger memory and better camera.
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