Wow, what a thread. So many disparate opinions and "facts" and whatnot, and not a few unkind words.
Here's my story and why I'm posting here (and why I registered just to post here)...
I don't have a lot - if any - answers, but I have a lot of info that I hope might help people understand what's involved here.
I'm not much of an Apple user. My wife just got her second iphone. Her first was a 3g, I think, it was run over by a truck years ago and we've both been Android users since (the truck incident is not at all relevant here, just putting it out there - we went with Android for other reasons.) About 2 weeks ago we replaced my wife's perfectly good 2-year old Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD (what a mouthful!) with a shiny new iPhone6/64GB because her employer said that's all they'd support if she wanted to use it for work email/calendar etc.
About a week after buying the phone, it dropped from her coat pocket while she was pulling out some Kleenex, and landed on asphalt; a drop of not more than 3ft. It was in a protective case, the Spigen Slim Armor CS Case for iPhone 6 (4.7-Inch) to be precise. The phone landed on the corner of the case (confirmed because there are no scratches on the iPhone itself, just on the case.) The screen shattered (see images attached). Note the mint-colored Spigen case is in the background of the first image. We have insurance for the phone, Asurion, so it'll cost us $199 to replace it. I didn't take it into the Apple Store where it was purchased, but I might after reading this thread, just to see if they take pity and give us a better deal.
So some thoughts/comments on this whole topic and my experience in particular:
1) It was an accident. Accidents happen. It was not abusive use.
2) She had it in a case for reason #1, as she had for her Motorola before that and every phone before that.
3) We pay for Asurion via Verizon for reason #1 (and because we've also had a phone stolen).
This was not a big drop; it is the kind of drop everyone should expect to happen occasionally to any phone. Some people are clumsier than others, but some day, no matter how careful (and some of you are pathologically careful it seems) a drop like this will happen and you will find yourself thinking "OH NO!!!" as you watch your phone tumble to the ground/floor/pool/toilet/steps/sand/etc.
I'm a mechanical engineer with several years experience in electronics packaging design (although I now do a different type of engineering, and the electronics packaging was not for phones). I've designed the mechanical housing for commercial/consumer electronics devices, as well as military and space, and had to think about use-conditions about each product, and test each product for possible worst-case scenarios. Commercial products are interesting, because you only need to show that they are safe/not dangerous, you don't need to show that they are durable or effective. In contrast the FDA requires things to be proven safe and effective, whereas the Pentagon is more interested in effectiveness; less in safety, although it's there too. NASA is all over the place, depending on the project.
So a lot of you in this thread are complaining that the iPhone6 is way too fragile, while others are chastizing them saying in effect, "get over it, it's a phone with a glass screen, glass is breakable, etc." One of you even went so far as to compare using the phone to using your Waterford crystal!
Well, even though we thought ahead and planned for damage to the phone, and I more than most customers know how and why things break, I as an engineer am still AMAZED that it broke the way it did. It may have been a "perfect storm" impact, but still, if designed properly it SHOULD have survived that drop 999 times out of 1000.
Here are several things about the design process: First of all, it's full of trade-offs. You want a thin, sexy phone? It's going to be less durable. You want it to be big and flat (and still thin)? It's going to bend and break more easily. That's just physics/mechanics. On the insider's perspective there are trade-offs too: Marketing will want the impossible and Engineering will want the impractical. When we design a new product we first do market research (often known as VoC or Voice of Customer) to see what people want. So, you can bet that Apple has delivered what their research indicated what people wanted (or as close as they could get to it). Once you have a list of VoC wants, you start figuring out how much of that you can deliver, and at what cost. Some things will be taken off the list because they are not technically achievable, while others will be taken off the list because of cost to achieve them (the two of usually related). Next you start to design prototypes, which you test and test and test. You need to make sure that the customer will be happy. With regards to this topic, testing involves actual physical abuse of the thing: drops, shaking, baking, submersion, dull impact, sharp impact, and on and on; you need to find out how and why and when it will break or fail in any and every way you can fathom. It also involves analytical simulation of damage, using FEA (finite element analysis) to figure out exactly how and why a part will bend or break or overheat, and then reinforcing maybe just those few weak spots. Then you compare these results to what your market research says is tolerable. If the thing is failing too easily, it's back to the drawing board to solve that problem. But what if your marketing department says, "sorry no time for further design changes, we need to go into production to meet our business needs on time"? This is just one aspect of the eternal and classic (Dilbert, anyone?) struggle between engineering and marketing. Sometimes, it's not so much a timeline thing as a features thing: in order to make this button not fall out, I'd have to make it uglier, and marketing will say no to the ugly. So you get a pretty button that might fall out in certain circumstances. Or maybe engineering pushes back and says, "no REALLY it's going to fall out all the time people will be at a loss" and marketing may cave, go in front of Tim Cook (or whomever) and say "we need to delay the release of the iPuck another 3 months.... engineering screwed up and designed a faulty button."
Anyway, all this is to say that I know this process; I know what goes on; I've been there, many times. I'm still amazed that the phone broke as easily as it did, and as early as it did. If the phone had sustained several hits over many months of use I might not be as surprised. Maybe some of the epoxy used to bond the glass to the case had degraded, maybe the case screws had worked loose, any number of things. But to fail in the first week? With such a simple, small, COMMON drop? VERY Surprising.
Also, any consumer product, especially from a MAJOR brand (with tons of resources and cash) should be designed to survive "typical" use. Trust me Apple knows this and tests for it. But for whatever reason, they erred on the side of attractive over durable this time. I do not agree with this, and am honestly surprised Apple would go this route.
A friend of mine peddles imported Chinese knock-off Android phones in Europe as a hobby. These phones are very cheap, but they work. I would completely expect them to break if dropped from any height. If I buy a Samsung, Motorola, LG, or Apple product though, I expect SOME level of increased durability.
To those of you who keep repeating "it's glass, it breaks, get insurance" I say WRONG. This is not Waterford crystal! This is an EVERYDAY device that is essential to many many people. It is and MUST BE used and carried in very many different ways and scenarios. The designers must account for the FACT that it will be subject to small bumps and drops and maybe an occasional few drops of liquid or sweat. Also, I think my perspective is backed up by the fact that Corning is making a decent business with their Gorilla Glass product. The iPhone6 was the first device to get Gorilla Glass 4, apparently. If Apple didn't care about durability, why spend the time and money to get Corning's latest, most durable glass? (Also note to those who whine about the iPhone glass being inferior -- it clearly is not, in fact it is arguably the most superior glass available in the world). The problem is, again, physics. The phone is thin and flat and BIG, this equates to a very bendable thing. Just compare the iPhone4/5 to the 6: it should be intuitive to anyone that all things being equal, the 6 is going to bend easier: it's thinner and wider and longer. So how do you make a bigger thinner phone as durable? You need better materials. But materials have not improved THAT much in the past 4 years. Gorilla Glass 4 may be the best yet, but is it THAT much better? And it's not just the glass; the chassis/body needs to get stronger too. We know (from bendgate) that the 6's chassis is not that strong. Also do you know how Gorilla Glass is made? Each and every phone must be shipped to Corning to have the glass installed because it is bonded in place under stress. The glass is under constant stress; this is how corning achieves it's toughness. So if the bond breaks or gives at all (or maybe if the chassis bends) the glass shatters. There's a great episode of PBS's Nova about Gorilla Glass. Check it out. This is why designing a durable smartphone is a tough job. But it can be done. Apple has done it in the past. I believe they gave up some durability in favor of sexyness on the iP6. If the 6 were as thick as the 4, and had similar squared off sides, I bet it would be better than it is.
I've had smartphones since 2008 or 9 or so. I've never used a case for mine, and they always live in my pockets. I toss them on the table when I get home, I drop them, I try to be careful, but it does happen. My RAZR Maxx HD is scuffed, and dented and scratched. The glass has never broken. The thing is built like a tank. I personally am against the idea that phones should be kept in a protective case. I'd rather have the phone be designed to be as large as it would be with the case, but not need the case. Why spend all this money on a beautiful phone only to wrap it up in plastic and rubber and never see the real thing? My wife doesn't mind cases, but this time it didn't seem to help her.
Here are a couple pictures.
Cheers!
<Edited by Host>
