It’s been a hard day for Apple [on Wednesday].
It pushed out an update of its mobile operating system, iOS 8.0.1, but then had to yank it after users started surfacing 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.
