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    BENDABLE IPHONE 6?

    Do the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus bend? We plan to find out for sure.

    We're designing an authoritative test to find out whether Apple's new phones have structural issues.

    Published: September 24, 2014 06:15 PM

    It's been a hard day for Apple. It pushed out an update of its mobile operating system, iOS 8.0.1, but then had to yank it after users started pointing out problems with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and SIM card (which interfaces with the cellular network to allow the phone to make calls).

    But by far the biggest controversy of the day has to do with the very structural integrity of Apple's new iPhones. Photos and videos have surfaced showing bent iPhone 6 Pluses (it's unclear whether the issue is affecting the smaller iPhone 6). Predictably, rumors have swirled about just why this is happening. ("It's because of iPhone owners' tight pants!" "It's because people are beating up on it!") The "bendable iPhone" phenomenon rapidly became a Twitter hashtag: #bendgate.

    Well as luck would have it, Consumer Reports has exactly the right equipment to test this sort of thing, and we've used it to test the flexibility of phones before. We want to do a scientifically valid test of the structural strength of the new iPhones as well as that of comparable phones, and we'll have results soon. So stay tuned.  

    —Glenn Derene

    Take a look at our phone-bending test results. And check our first look at the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and learn more about the Apple Watch.


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