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Apple may have quietly fixed the iPhone 6 Plus bending problem

posted by Michael H. / Oct 31, 2014, 1:21 PM

Apple may have quietly fixed the iPhone 6 Plus bending problem

At the peak of the iPhone #bendgate fiasco, we predicted that Apple wouldn't bother to properly respond to the issue (which it didn't) and would simply make some changes in the production of the iPhone 6 Plus to fix the problem. While we can't confirm that Apple has fixed the issue (we're waiting on a teardown confirmation), it sounds like Apple has quietly changed the way it builds the 6 Plus.

The story comes from reddit user doctorkuddles, who has a couple bits of interesting evidence to support the idea. The doctor says he recently purchased himself a 128GB iPhone 6 Plus, and compared it to his wife's 16GB iPhone 6 Plus, which was purchased soon after launch back in September. He notes a few differences between his device and his wife's, including simple tapping on the case to note the difference in sound, and even pulling out a stethoscope (he is a real doctor apparently) to listen to the devices and found his model sounded "much more dull toned" and "solid" compared to his wife's, which "had a lot more percussion sound, indicating that area was previously hollow".

He then put the device under a microscope and found a "red colored object placed in the volume down button crank". And, he even put it on a scale and found that his model was 21g heavier than his wife's device. The last thing he did was contact iFixit directly for confirmation. The team at iFixit bought a new iPhone 6 Plus and found it to be 0.8g heavier than the launch model that it had first looked at, which is well within the variance that Apple lists for its products. Apple says on its site that device weight can vary up to 1.5g from the listed official weight.

This could be something of a one-off error for the doctor, or it could be that there has been a change to the manufacturing process, and the stock hasn't made it around to all stores yet. Or, it could well be that the doctor made up the whole thing. At the very least, it seems like something to keep an eye on, because it would be very much like Apple to quietly fix this issue without saying anything or directly addressing any customers that have already had the problem.

source: reddit via BGR

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152 Comments

1. Ninetysix

Posts: 2962; Member since: Oct 08, 2012

Seeya #bendgate. You will be missed :(

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 1:25 PM 10

7. LebronJamesFanboy

Posts: 671; Member since: Mar 23, 2013

Who knows, maybe Tim Cook likes some things a little bent.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 1:43 PM 37

59. juandante

Posts: 679; Member since: Apr 23, 2013

Nice one ! Anyway I will never buy an ***** product (cant even say the name lol)

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 3:53 PM 6

87. cheetah2k

Posts: 2221; Member since: Jan 16, 2011

So Apple gonna recall the "original" iPhone 6+ yeah? Yeah right lol

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 6:24 PM 2

109. techperson211

Posts: 1280; Member since: Feb 27, 2014

Recall?? Never gonna happen. Besides Timmy didn't admit there was a design flaw they just needed to fix the new batch of iphone for the 1st batch who bought it buy a new one that's what Timmy is telling. Good luck apple fans there's nothing wrong with your $1000 device.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 8:39 PM 5

146. reckless562

Posts: 1153; Member since: Sep 09, 2013

lmao its the gayphone

posted on Nov 04, 2014, 9:14 AM 1

147. moebass

Posts: 16; Member since: Oct 31, 2014

So you must have bought two for you and your man.

posted on Nov 05, 2014, 9:24 AM 1

149. reckless562

Posts: 1153; Member since: Sep 09, 2013

no, but I'd steal yours and throw it on the ground in front of you :-)

posted on Nov 07, 2014, 7:33 AM 0

8. SuperAndroidEvo

Posts: 4888; Member since: Apr 15, 2011

Super, super shady... Apple now will NEVER admit that this was an issue. They never addressed it & changed it behind everyone's back. Ohh I just LOVE the corporate world... So honest, so humble, & so reputable.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 1:47 PM 22

14. Mxyzptlk unregistered

So they fix an issue that was blown out of proportions and you still whine?

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 1:58 PM 11

16. ManusImperceptus

Posts: 724; Member since: Jun 10, 2014

Well, they kind of HAVEN'T changed anything for the MILLIONS of users who purchased the dodgy first series... Now that Apple may have fixed the issue, these early adopters could be screwed, because it was never acknowledged that there actually was a problem...

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 2:07 PM 17

34. Mxyzptlk unregistered

You realize they're still under warranty right? There's not any documented incident where MILLIONS were affected. It was only a select few that turned into an overblown frenzy. It only got widespread because the iPhone is one ecosystem while Android has thousands of different devices. Speaking of Android let's not forget that Android manufacturers have also had numerous design flaws. Look at the completely unusable Nexus 7(2012) tablet. That thing lags more than Molasses on a cold winter morning.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 2:44 PM 4

46. ManusImperceptus

Posts: 724; Member since: Jun 10, 2014

It's a structural problem of the device. Even if only a few issues have surfaced (you wanna bet there's a heck of a lot more that we haven't heard of?), it's a potential issue for every single first generation iPhone 6 plus, so chances are we're going to see more as time passes. A lot more!

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 3:04 PM 8

47. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

A select few? I know fools are born everyday, doesn't mean you have to be one of them. The question you should be asking is, should a phone that costs nearly $1000 ever bend in your pocket in the first place. But see you fans never ask those questions, but you call others our for doing so. If this was a Samsung phone you all would be all over it, but not your beloved Apple. They can do no wrong even when they are wrong. I at on my Note 3 nearly everyday for a full year and it isn't bend. I sit in my car for my 45min ride to work and back home. My 2 hour ride to my parents home and just typical everyday driving, yet it has never bent not one millimeter. And here customers buy a phone an in a matter of days its damaged through no fault of their own. It doesn't matter how many have or don't have the problem present itself. You sound like a fool. Let me ask you, there are 7.1Billion people on this planet and only a smaller percentage of them have cancer. Does that mean we shouldn't do anything about it? Because based on your stupid logic, they would all die simply because based on percentage they are such a small group. Again, a small percentage of people have gotten killed in cars that took off by themselves and even when the drivers brakes the car doesn't stop. Millions of cars are on the road, does that mean we should have a callback on them? These companies make BILLIONS of dollars and they can't make a product that is safe? They can't make a phone that won't bend in something as simple as a pocket? After all Sherlock, where do most people carry their phone? Now all of a sudden they cant because some cheap designer and manufacturer is so infatuated with being thin they were to cheap to properly structure prevent such? Suppose people who design building think as you did and cut corners. How many people would you think would be dead? You and YOUR kind are simply to ignorant for words. If I bought any brand of phone that simply bent in my pocket from doing something as simple as bending, trust me they would replace my device. Because if it was my phone and Apple turned me away, I'm on the next plane to Cupertino and trust me they will wished they had replaced it. Either stand up for something or fall for anything. You are a faller I see.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 3:06 PM 24

67. CrimsonFox47

Posts: 3; Member since: Oct 31, 2014

Calm down, dude.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 4:26 PM 1

69. donphone

Posts: 64; Member since: Oct 20, 2013

Agreed! Apple needs to start owning their mistakes.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 4:27 PM 12

84. moebass

Posts: 16; Member since: Oct 31, 2014

Lmao really guy? Did they turn you away? Do you think they would be concerned with you flying to Apple Mr. Keyboard warrior. Apple has by far the best customer service of any company. If your phone legitimately bent it would be swapped. For the record there were complaints about the 5 bending and I've sat on mine many times with ZERO issues.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 6:19 PM 2

117. romeo1

Posts: 814; Member since: Jan 06, 2012

There are enough iphone 5/5s that did bent

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 9:57 PM 0

105. quakan

Posts: 1418; Member since: Mar 02, 2011

Did you really compare cancer to bending iPhones?

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 8:31 PM 2

65. Taters

Posts: 6474; Member since: Jan 28, 2013

You do realize that they overcharged you so much that they don't care about replacing phones yet they have the gull to sell an extra Apple care on top of charging you the price of 4 or 5 phones.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 4:25 PM 4

79. AustinPaul

Posts: 152; Member since: Dec 13, 2011

Have no idea what you're talking about with the Nexus 7 tablet. Mine (2012) still works great. OTOH, I GAVE AWAY my 2nd gen iPad which was more to your description. It just became impossibly slow.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 5:39 PM 2

98. BobbyDigital

Posts: 2124; Member since: May 29, 2014

Nothing overblown about a phone that is proclaimed to be the best, but has such a glaring structural flaw. But of course, an iFangirl like you will defend CR@ppl3 with your last apple smelling breath.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 8:09 PM 5

123. TylerGrunter

Posts: 1544; Member since: Feb 16, 2012

That´s really stupid and false, I bought the Nexus 7(2012) for my parents and it never lags or lagged. The only issue that tabled had was the missing trimming of the disk. And it was solved when Android added automatic trimming on version 4.3.

posted on Nov 01, 2014, 6:09 AM 0

148. Anstice

Posts: 14; Member since: May 26, 2014

Uh, yeah. So as usual, PA never updates. Bendgate fix is untrue Please read the original BGR post.

posted on Nov 06, 2014, 6:23 PM 0

66. CrimsonFox47

Posts: 3; Member since: Oct 31, 2014

But it won't affect MILLIONS of users like you're trying to make it seem. And only a percentage of the people that it does end up affecting are going to notice enough to care. Most people'll be fine.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 4:25 PM 0

22. InspectorGadget80 unregistered

and u should stop speculating against everyone. they should recall all thos some million of #bendgate iPhone 6 6+

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 2:17 PM 8

36. Mxyzptlk unregistered

Someone should recall your poor spelling and grammar.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 2:44 PM 7

49. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

And someone should recall you for using the same ole tired responses. Typical, can't win so you resort to being the grammar police or name calling. Just like a typical fanboy. Your mom must be very proud of her ignorant son.

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 3:08 PM 10

88. cheetah2k

Posts: 2221; Member since: Jan 16, 2011

Butthurt much?

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 6:26 PM 3

29. SuperAndroidEvo

Posts: 4888; Member since: Apr 15, 2011

Nope, it's the shadiness. Why fix something you haven't admitted to being wrong in the first place? Was there something wrong? It's CLEAR there was a design flaw... I mean c'mon now...

posted on Oct 31, 2014, 2:27 PM 7

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