Here’s one story of a bent iPhone and Apple’s response:
Following Apple’s instructions, I used my bent iPhone to schedule an appointment at the Apple Store’s Genius Bar for the following morning. I went to the store for my appointment, explained the situation to the employee, who then confirmed that the device was indeed bent without any obvious signs of abuse. I was then given a replacement iPhone and sent on my merry way. The whole process took less than a half an hour. From the time that I discovered my iPhone was bent to having a new phone in my hand was about 12 hours. Apple replaced the damaged phone under warranty at no cost to me, even though I had originally purchased the device from AT&T and not Apple itself. I’d never paid for any extended warranty or AppleCare Plus.
Your mileage may vary.
The key is likely how bent it is and if there is other damage. I’ve had three iPhones over the years replaced under warranty after dropping them but they only had a single crack with no impact break or branches. The genius acted like it was no big deal every time. This is likely a similar game.
It’s good that they’re replacing bent phones, but does this actually help? If normal, non-abusive use bends the phone for you, a replacement phone will just be bent again in a few months?
Judging by this Apple Store’s statistics, a couple of bent phones vs. thousands with no issue, I’m not sure you would call usage that results in a broken unit normal.
who says it was truly normal non abusive use. i have a friend who bent his 5S and got it replaced. I was there when it happened. He swore up and down that he didnt do anything to it. But not five seconds after we walked out of the store he was putting it in his back pocket. A pocket that hangs low enough that he sits on it when he sits down. So he likely did cause the bend through repeated application of butt pressure.
This. And the Engadget poster did say “maybe I should stop putting it in my back pocket.”
I have friends who bought the iPhone 6 and 6+ and despite the reality have been checking endlessly, and they’ve been fine.
The iPhone 6 won’t bend unless you sit on it or it was intentional. The guy was lucky Apple replaced it, but it should be a “one and done” warranty kind of thing for this customer.
If he’s too dumb to know he should not be sitting on it (duh), then he probably has no business using a smartphone in the first place.
This story was pure clickbait. Of course it worked as there are over 600 comments. I don’t take the Verge seriously anymore because most of what they do is clickbait.