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Drop tests leave iPhone 15 Pro absolutely battered; iPhone 14 Pro comes out fully functional

By Anam Hamid

Published: Sep 22, 2023, 11:16 AM

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iOS Apple

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Drop tests leave iPhone 15 Pro absolutely battered; iPhone 14 Pro comes out fully functional

One of the headlining features of the iPhone 15 Pro is the titanium frame which makes the phone considerably lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro which features stainless steel sides. It also has curved edges, which makes it easier to hold and its screen is also slightly curved at the edges. But it looks like the curved design is detrimental to the new phone's durability.

AppleTracks' Sam Kohl went all the way to Australia to buy the iPhone 15 Pro and drop it from varying heights and see how it stacks up against the iPhone 14 Pro, which theoretically should be more prone to damage than its successor. Plot twist: old is gold in this case.

iPhone 14 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro first drop from waist high, both nearly unscathed

Kohl performed a series of dropped tests on an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro and the results were astonishing. He was simply holding the two phones, and dropping them at the same time on a concrete floor from different heights.

During the first few drops, the iPhone 14 Pro suffered minor damages, but the iPhone 15 Pro's black glass shattered a little and the camera lens was also impacted.

As the tests went on and Kohl stood on a bench to torture the phones even more, the iPhone 15 Pro started spider webbing on the back and two of its lenses were severely damaged. The iPhone 14 Pro, on the other hand, only got some chips on the sides and there was some minor impact on the lenses, but it looked as good as new. When dropped screen down from a height of about 15 feet, the iPhone 15 Pro's screen became white at the bottom and its back was wrecked. The iPhone 14 Pro, meanwhile, had not had a single crack.

After drop 13 from a height of about 15 feet, the iPhone 15 Pro's screen lost some functionality

Kohl then dropped the phones from a height of 20 feet and that was enough to suck out all life from the iPhone 15 Pro. The camera array as well as the area surrounding it came off and the screen completely stopped working. The iPhone 14 Pro's back also shattered at this point and its screen developed some cracks, but the phone remained fully functional.

The iPhone 15 Pro's updated design is part of the reason why it did poorly in the tests. The screen was more prone to damage due to the curved design as it came more into contact with the ground. 9to5Mac notes that the iPhone 14 Pro's flat edges were better at absorbing the impact, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro's rounded sides caused the impact to spread to the rest of the device.

While this was a fun experiment, keep in mind that it was not performed under controlled circumstances, so it's best not to make definitive conclusions here. That said, Kohl dropped the phones a total of 15 times, and each time, the iPhone 14 Pro fared better, which cannot be a coincidence.

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View Full Bio

Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.