Apple has comeback at claims that the iPhone 6 Plus is easily bent by stating that this damage would be ‘rare’ with normal use.
The retort comes amidst the ongoing bendgate incident, so called because some owners of the iPhone 6 Plus are claiming that their phones are bending after prolonged stays in their front trouser pockets.
First appearing on MacRumors.com, photos of bent iPhones quickly circulated the web, with competitors eagerly jumping in to mock Apple. Samsung posted this photo of its Galaxy Note Edge on Twitter, a smartphone which is meant to have a curve in it.
In a statement, Apple said: "Our iPhones are designed, engineered and manufactured to be both beautiful and sturdy. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature a precision engineered unibody enclosure constructed from machining a custom grade of 6000 series anodized aluminum, which is tempered for extra strength. They also feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry.
UK phone tester SquareTrade, which originally said that the iPhone 6 Plus scored higher in terms of durability than the Samsung Galaxy S5, issued a statement this this week saying it would retest the phone to measure its bendability.
The firm said: "A bendability test hasn’t been part of our breakability testing to date because up until this week we’ve never seen a phone thin enough to make this a potential issue."
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In its statement, Apple said that the materials and construction methods used in making the iPhone 6 Plus were chosen very carefully for their strength and durability. The phone giant also said that it performs strict testing on all phones during their development cycles.
"We also perform rigorous tests throughout the entire development cycle including 3-point bending, pressure point cycling, sit, torsion, and user studies. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus meet or exceed all of our high quality standards to endure everyday, real life use.
"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. As with any Apple product, if you have questions please contact Apple."
Apple’s share price has dropped following bendgate, but some blame can also be attributed to the initial iOS 8update which left many users unable to use their iPhone properly.
$20bn was obliterated off the value of Apple on Thursday after it pulled the iOS8 update. Apple said: "We apologise for the great inconvenience experienced by users and are working around the clock to prepare iOS 8.0.2 with a fix for the issue."
Shares had fallen 3.8% on Thursday, putting Apple below the $100 mark.
