We here at iFixYouri did a little science experiment the other day with some of our newest iPhone parts. Many people have been talking that the new iPhone has strong glass, less prone to scratching, 30 times stronger than plastic, etc. Will the new glass prove to be ultra strong and never break?
I’m going to go with a no on this one. Why may you ask? They do say that it is 30 times stronger than plastic, and there is a video of it bending. Bending, yes. They did also state that the iPhone 3Gs Glass was stronger when that came out as well. It may bend more, but can it handle shock and sudden impact, that is the real question. That is what causes 95% of glass shattering. Not because you bent the glass in your pocket, not because you dropped it and it bent, but really because of sudden impact.
Land it flat on the ground, and it will smash. We have evidence. Before i show you the evidence, I am going to point out a design flaw that will bite them in the future. On the new iPhone, the glass basically sits on top of the aluminum frame. On the old iphone, it was recessed and protected by a chrome bezel.
We have a full iPhone 4(minus the circuit board), here at our shop and decided to do a little drop test. This drop was performed from 3.5 ft up. The iPhone 4 did survive 2 drops, as expected, but on the 3rd drop there was a loud POP, and yet again, shattered glass.
We will continue to be the leader in iPhone Repair, and now iPhone 4 Repair.
More updates/pictures here!
Since this posting has got waves from many people, we’re going to clear a few things up here.
1) People are saying, “there’s no way you have iPhone 4 parts yet, the phone isn’t even out!”
- The fact is, is that we’re a repair shop. Along with other major repair shops, we’re able to receive parts earlier than most. A simple google search will show that not only us, but other top players in the ‘iphone repair’ world, do in fact have these parts. We did put out a press release on June 3rd stating that we had the parts. This is no secret. A rather large competitor had them as earlier as May 19th. This is also widely spread on the internet
2) You hit it with a hammer
- Uhmmm…no…we didn’t. That’s the most ridiculous thing we’ve heard.
3) Fake
- We’re going to go with a no on this one as well. iPhone 4 Parts are available to all major repair shops…just seek and you shall see. Google ‘iphone repair’ and check some of the top competitor sites…they’re all ramped up and ready to service iPhone 4’s.
Here’s EXACTLY how it went down…if you want to read more into it, go for it. But honestly, and truthfully, this is the EXACT re-enactment of what happened:
It was a hot day on June 7th, 2010 and us here at the shop had just finished listening to the keynote by the great Steve Jobs. He had made a statement that the glass was stronger, more bendable, etc. After hearing that, one of our techs said “We should test a piece of the glass that we have in stock(iphone 4 glass that is).”
We proceeded down the hallway with our assembled iPhone 4(minus the internal circuit board), stepped out the front door and out to the side walk. Our tech held the phone(front facing the ground), and dropped it. Nothing(drop 1-we were very impressed). Drop 2, nothing. Drop 3, smash. He dropped it flat on the face and it popped. The all too familiar pop sound that some of us beloved iPhone users fear for.
As we sat talking about it, we decided to show our results on our blog, so that our readers could see what we had found. Not expecting it to take wind the way it did.
That is all…no ulterior motive…just to show our readers what had happened. That is it.
Please do yourselves a favor and check some competitor sites and you will see that the iPhone 4 parts aren’t as rare and elusive as you may think. There are numerous places out there with iPhone 4 parts already.
So if the glass didn’t break, would you guys be out of business?
“You are making a common mistake that people make by not distinguishing between hardness (scratch resistance) and toughness (resistance to impact).
For example, diamond is the hardest natural substance. It’s on the Mohs scale at 10. Sapphire, which is 9 on the Mohs scale is 1500 times less hard than diamond. Yes, diamond is about 1500 times harder than sapphire. It’s a logarithmic scale. So the sapphire-like hardness of the iPhone 4 is very good when it comes to scratch resistance.
Next, diamonds are very hard. As are sapphires, which makes them good stones to have in jewelry you use and wear every day, in rings on your hand, where they come in contact with every day objects all the time. Less hard stones are not as good choices.
So in your pocket, you could have nails and they would not scratch the iPhone 4’s screen, being hard as sapphire. But it appears, as with diamonds, impact can do a lot of damage. A diamond that has been caught in a closing car door, or banged on a kitchen counter top can shatter. Especially if it has some kind of cleavage that can compromise its stability. But those broken pieces of diamond won’t be scratched, unless they’re scratched by other diamonds.
So Apple is obviously talking about hardness, or scratch resistance, not toughness, which is a resistance to impact.”
How did you get the iPhone?!
Yea, but it still looks cool :P.
And that’s probably the only reason why I’m not going to get an iPhone any time soon, it’s to expensive to loose in such obvious way, especially if most of my tech gadgets are flying all over the time 😛
So basically, don’t drop your iPhone three times or you’ll need to conveniently use this company’s service to repair it. Got it.
Nice job not showing a video of just how exactly you “dropped” this phone.
Wow!! So it again broke out! But I personally think it is more stiffer than previous versions. About the test you performed it proved that it is still not as stiffer as it expected to be.
– Mansoor!
And where did you get the new Iphone 4?
Looks like a fake. The new Iphone has Buttons and no holes at the soundcontrol (left side). And i don’t see a front camera.
So where is the video???
There’s food for thought. I’ll definitely be getting a ‘bumper’ or case now. With the iPhone 4’s touch panel being glued to the glass now, screen repairs will be pretty pricey.
What was it dropped onto: carpet? wood? concrete?
Cool! I wish Sony’s PSP and Nintendo DS’ had a glass screen like that.
Now that’s amazing!
I would never have guessed that a piece of glass would break when you drop it from 3.5 ft. Besides, if Apple states it is 30 times stronger, one would expect the safe drop heigth must be 30 times higher, eh?
Then why don’t you try dropping it from the roof. Maybe it will hold it then. (Oh no. Not possible. You broke it already. Bummer.)
That looks damn ugly 🙂
I would be too careful not to do something like that to my iPhone 4.
Which Bumper color should I get?
Good job, Holmes. So it took you two failed attempts before finding the right angle to “drop” it so it could break. Seems like it might just be “30 times stronger” after all.
No video, so we can’t tell if by “drop” you meant “throw” or “hurl”.
Shatter, sure. But I think we’re all wondering how it will deal with those all-too-common kitchen accidents. The real question, then, is… Will it blend??
Do you want a beautiful product or a phone that can be dropped without breaking?
Try this with your laptop an complain about it being broken ?!!
That’s a great point about impact vs. bending. But can you be more precise about how you performed your drops? It sounds like you dropped it flat on the glass screen 3 times in a row. But during practical use, it seems the phone would have a tendency to land non-flat and thus deaden some of the impact.
Given the above, in your opinion, is the iPhone 4 more or less prone to have shattered glass than the previous generation?
This was an informal test. We actually did the first break dropping it flat on the face. We ended up getting many requests to do more ‘real world’ drops. On the corner, back, etc, and we still able to get it to break. We did not slam, hurl, or spike the phone.
For the second round, we took the phone and dropped it ways that people drop their iPhones normally. Taking it out of your pocket, fumbling it, etc. We did not slam the phone. It was a drop test. That’s all. i.e. taking the phone and dropping it. It did withhold breakage more than expect. It took about 6-7 time of dropping it to get it to break.
I beg to differ that this showed nothing, we showed that the phone did break 🙂
We also performed a scratch test, in which it held up nicely against key, razors, and screwdrivers. Not a mark. 🙂
We’re just trying to inform the general public that it’s not indestructible.
Wasn’t hurled or thrown. We’ll video the next go around 🙂
We did scratch test it and it held up like a champ! Held up great
This was an informal test. We took the phone and dropped it ways that people drop their iPhones normally. Taking it out of your pocket, fumbling it, etc. We did not slam the phone. It was a drop test. That’s all. i.e. taking the phone and dropping it.
We’re just trying to inform the general public that it’s not indestructible.
Carpet, held up fine.
Concrete is what did it in
We didn’t video it this go around. I know, i know…it was a very informal experiment that we were anxious to do. We went and did it, and took pics of the results.
Next time we will!
Definitely not a fake. Notice how a lot of the leading repair companies have parts. Well we are a leader in iPhone repair, so we have parts. 😉
This doesn’t have the internals, hence the reason for no buttons.
Definitely is stiffer, took a bit more of a beating than expected.
Do some scratch testing with sharp objects. This type of material is support to be highly scratch resistant…though can be brittle.
It was a very informal experiment. We were just informing the public that it CAN still break. That’s the one and only purpose of this.
We will re-enact it here shortly, with video to satisfy you 🙂
Chris – What kind of surface were you dropping it on? Was it tile? concrete? carpet? Just curious. Thanks for doing the test.
I wonder if the shipping phone with the motherboard also includes some sort of buffering layer or gasket between the body and glass. Once the shop gets an actual iPhone 4 unit, I wonder if you’ll try the same test and video the experience. Thanks!
Well said. You are 100% correct.
We did a scratch test, and it held up great! No marks whatsoever.
No because we handle a wide variety of repairs, not just iPhone glass repair 🙂
Yeah I just signed up to post something. This is pretty silly. So let’s see, it is like driving a prototype car without safety features completely built in and saying it is not safe. The source is bunk, the test is bunk. There are also no scratches on the bezel – so what did they drop this on – a hammer? The phone with all of it innards, and a fitting glass case would not do this. It is HOLLOW people – THERE IS NO SUPPORT behind the glass. I respect valid journalism, but this is tabloid like news. I do not see how people would not write about this. Word of mouth is pretty nasty negative advertising. Oh wait – ifixyouri fixes these things for a living…ahhhh free marketing to them. Your got it posed on 9to5 – good for your marketing team. Hey test a actual iphone with video to see if it breaks – would love to see that.
It’s fake!! Pretty obvious. It’s like a thin sheet of plastic sticked to the glass, crumpled to make it broken. show the video! to see is to believe! and it is not realeased yet how come you already have the device?
Remind me not to ride any high-speed trains or helicopters. 😉
I think the real question we all want to know is….
Will it blend? 😉
Not a fake. We’re not the only repair company that has these parts in. Check all the major players in the repair business….they ALL have iPhone 4 Repair parts in stock and ready to go.
It was dropped on concrete.
Glass shatters after being repeatedly dropped on hard surface. News at 5.
Since it has no internals it is lighter and less stiff, right? I’m assuming the touchscreen and display is not glued on, the boards aren’t in place. That means there is less dampening of impacts. Still, 3 or so hits means a couple of different things.. (1) cracks and weaknesses can develop or (2) it just needs to hit a sweet spot. I’d be more concerned with 1, since number 2 can be worked on.
Well it appears that this device suffered a blow in the upper right hand side of the screen, however if it was dropped 3 times it should show damage such as scratches on the stainless steel bezel. I’m concerned that the damage shown is not consistent with the story given. Not to mention that if this is proven to be false & it damages the reputation and or sales of the iPhone, this repair company will subsequently be held legally responsible for damages.
I’m merely just pointing out that if the story doesn’t add up then this could have been a costly spoof.
Would you be willing to do a similar test on the Dell Streak?
Is in iPhone 4 a drop counter and warning signal implemented ? 😉
Lets do some charpy testing of glass 😛
I get all my stuff coated with invisishields anyway. It just looks like I’m going to have to get a case for this thing too on top of it all…
Can we see a comparison of the new iPhone to this Dell Streak test on endgadget?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/29/dell-streaks-gorilla-glass-screen-torture-tested-for-your-amus/
Do you want us to belive this story without a video proof? You are naive.
This is total BS… give us some proof that this is the new glass… I bumped up the contrast and brightness in photoshop, there is NO front facing camera on this glass. We already know the old glass breaks, big deal.
The question is NOT:
Will the glass break?
The question is:
Will it blend?!
http://www.blendtec.com/willitblend/
Nice pictures! Now, show me the video 😉
There were two drop tests conducted.
We are awaiting more parts, as soon as they arrive we will be filming it! We did this out of our own curiosity…
These pictures do not show the side impact on the screen and it sure loks like direct impact on the screen. Every iPhone I have seen with a broken screen had a shatrered side as a result of the drop but I don’t see any evidence of this here. This is for sure a preproduction unit an it could possily be not up to par withthe actual Now here is the main point, it is claimed that you already have thje parts then why not just do it right now with a video. But later it was pointed out that you don’t have the part so that means the statement of having the parts before hands is false. When you get an actual production unit and do the test and record it then may be I will beleive it. Oh yes, Chris you also said it sort of broke on the first drop, then reality says any further drops will conitnue to break the glass oh wait, it was also said that it was the 3rd drop that did it. Now can you realy give the real story with no contradictions.
Whoa baby, that is an epic failure! I broke my 3G with just one unlucky drop (flat down) onto the concrete. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zooboing/sets/72157624175856346/
Thanks again for the testing! Looks like a case is soon in my future.
Have you done an iPhone 4 in the microwave oven test? O.o
How much would a repair like this cost ?
Thank you so much for posting this excellent information! Looking forward to seeintg more blogs.
Steve did an incredible job in unveiling the brand new iPhone 4 which could change the method in which we use cell phones today. It’s been a while in the making and it is finally time for it’s release!
We got iPhone 4 parts a few weeks back and when Steve announced the new glass at the conference a few of us informally decided to test the glass to see if it will break….it did. Simple as that. It was not recorded, we have more parts on the way to us and we will in fact be recording it this time, I can assure you 🙂
any new updates on this subject?
faaaaaaaaaaaaake
Is the digitizer glued to the LCD????
New Updates — http://www.ifixyouri.com/blog/?p=62&cpage=1#comment-171
Hey, thanks for the blog article.Thanks Again. Awesome.
You guys really think that they are using the hiQ glass in a prototype?
Probably they did in the last prototypes being around, but either it is a fake prototype we got here or it was one of the first that had just regular glass built in to show the design as there are no components in it and just a shell.
it is als a possibility that the components are giving some kind of inner strength and the power will be absorbed, but just with a shell there is no inner strength so that all the power gies to the glass and thats why it breaks. even though it shouldnt break if it was that kind of hardly-breakable material.
so thats why we come back to the conclusion that it might be regular glass used in that (fake?) prototype.
sorry for my english if there might be some failures…..and i hope this post wont be deleted, cause i guess everybody should have his chance if sharing his thoughts. same as ifixyouri did with this blog.
have a good one….
Where did you buy the iPhone 4?
HAH! they took my comment off. THIS PICTURE IS FAKE! Just some jealous mutha futha fakers. The iPhone 4 isnt even OUT!!!! They jus took a pic of an old iphone’s cracked screen nd photoshopped it onto the iphone 4 prototype pic which were taken by gizmodo. How bout the admin of this blog grow some balls nd NOT delete my comment? ahah yeah i know…the truth hurts 😀
Photo shop this? hammer thing that? bunch of idiot apple fan boys!
cant understand even a simple test. IDIOTS!
Seriously….we agree. Thank you.
This is not fake…it’s not photoshoped. If you guys would look around on the Internet, plenty of repair shops out there have iPhone 4 repair services. Additionally, we put out a press release a week ago stating we had iPhone 4 parts. We just happeed to do a simple drop test out of curiousity after we saw wwdc. That’s all…no science…just stating what we found out. Plain and simple…no hidden meaning here…just sharing info…I mean…that’s what the freedom of the internet is about right?
ahah noo i understand the TEST portion. but the fact that they are using a product which has not even been released to the WORLD!!!!! how do u have iphone 4 parts jus laying around. Those of you who actually believe this bullshit just have no common sense whatsoever. I would totaly believe it even without a video if this test took place after the iphone 4 was released but it WASNT. jus look at the picture urself. the edge is made out of STEEL!!! and yet it still seems to have a shiny as if light was reflecting off of chrome! common sense ppl!
How about this…you check any major repair sites, and notice that we are not the only site that has iPhone repair parts and services available. We had a press release go out last week stating we had the parts, as did some other companies. We just wanted to see if they’d break, and happened to be the first to do so. Very informal test. We dropped em, they broke, we took some pictures and put em up. No hidden meaning here…as simple as that. That’s the truth. Your comment was deleted for the profanity and slander. We’re here to share info, that’s all, and tell readers what we found. Don’t stress yourself out over this and read too much into it.
Read…not a full iPhone 4…all major repair shops now have iPhone 4 parts and services available.
Considerably, the article is actually the best on this deserving topic. I totally agree with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your coming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the great clarity in your writing. I will directly grab your rss feed to stay privy of any updates.Fabulous work and much success in your business enterprise!Thanks.
I really liked your blog article.Thanks Again.
ok ok STOP repeating yourself and going around in circles. Your missing my point. HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IPHONE 4 PARTS WHEN THE DEVICE IS NOT EVEN OUT?!?!?!!?!?!?!
Er. Why do none of you see that the admin has mentioned that this and other repair sites have recieved common parts for the next gen phone. The phone itself is due out at the end of the month; it only makes logical sense to supply authorized repair shops with parts ahead of time. Now is likely when they would be gearing up for the release by readying the support structure. How would it look if the 10% or so that break their iPhones the first week couldn’t get it fixed quickly. I can almost guarantee that is why this site has them.
I’d really like to see one of you apple fanboys proof that this was faked/hammered. Get youself an iP4, then drop it three times.
I bet you a million £ that none of you has the guts to do so. Go figure why…
who are all these idiots thinking GLASS won’t break! that’s just stupid. and really, i dont even care it this is a real iphone4 or not, because iphones are gay.
Well… this is all very interesting… but the main question is:
Will it blend?
So glass breaks when you drop repeatedly!?!?!?!? I’ll have to amend that wikipedia article on the “O’rly Phenomenon”.
Wow, iPhone fans will defend that POS device until they die. Or a giant android robot destroys it forever 😉
That people care so much about whether or not it’s a fake is hilarious. Thanks for the laughs.
All those claiming fake or rigged, please do me a favor and drop your iPhone 4 flat on it’s face from your hip. Then, come back to this article and post your results.
Blend it! Blend it! Blend it!
Do the test with the Apple “bumper” case and give us those results – they claim it gets around the “design flaw”.
Thanks for the info
I wonder if it would have broken as easily on a flat drop with Apple’s bumper cover which has slightly raised edges around the glass area.
Ever drop a piece of buttered toast and see it land exactly perfectly face down?
Drop any of these full screen glass phones this way onto stone tile or cement from 4-5 feet up and you can count on a glass shatter. There is simply nowhere else for the kinetic energy to go… it doesn’t bounce, roll, flip, chip, dent, bend… No… all the energy from the fall goes simultaneously flat into the glass and it shatters.
Anyone who thinks you have to ‘fake’ that… I won’t call them an “idiot”, but they are certainly incorrect.
u guys should have made a video of ur experiment… don’t know y u didnt in the first place… but anyways it would have proven ur authenticity… and to those who think the phone is unbreakable… hell the 2g was better in qual then the 3g and 3gs… who knows what they did this time and yet again its glass/plastic or whatever high tech crap it is, it will break… take a 20k rolex which is supposedly indestructible and trust me they break at some level off impact as well
It would be much better (and cheaper) if they used plastics.
So how many inches high were the drops? Hip level, chest, or ear? What was the surface dropped onto? Asphalt, cement, wood, or carpet. Did you perform a similar test on the 3g phone setup? Details like that would beote illuminating.
Blend it! Blend it! Blend it!
someones JEALOUS ^^ ahahaha
Those photos turned me on.
They should use cast iron as the back, as the back, and use an led protector over the screen. /sarcasm The iphone 3g is a lot better then that.
Which FMCG company makes a product to last forever these days anyway?
so what’s the point? any glass when drop runs the risk of breaking isn’t it? lol dumb doorknob…
Iphone is a great product and people have spoken already. But glass breaking on new I-phone4 will be a reality. All Iphones used chemically hardened Aluminno silicate glass from Corning. Brand name is Corning Gorilla. Latest grade is slightly better than that used in previous but it wont prevent shattering on a face drop. “Windshield of high-speed trains and helicopters”, “20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic” and “comparable in strength to sapphire crystal” are all real and it was real even in Iphone 3GS. Common apple, compare and physical properties against your previous Iphones.
Please drop an real iPhone 4 when they come out instead of an empty shell. I’m not saying it wont break but all this “test” tells us is that an empty shell _might_ break when dropped repeatedly. I just want to know what would really happen with a full iPhone 4. Then blend it…
Why is this even news? People are retarded. Wait for the real test.
We have had many requests for a video taped drop test with a full iPhone 4…please stay tuned…once we get the full one here at the shop(INCLUDING the circuit board, we will definitely post)
Can’t wait for that iPhone 4 to break during the video taped drop test.. ^^
They did that already, It was the first one, remember the tinting of the front and the scratches, glass is better.. As for the article, I believe it, I would’ve liked to see drop test results with different cases though. Its a phone worth otter boxing.
Could you also drop an Android and Nokia? See if they break on the first or third drop?
Isn’t it possible that since the inside of the phone is hollow without all of it’s parts, it’s slightly more susceptible to shattering?
no one cares if it breaks or not OFCOURSE glass will break. But u cnt say ur using an ACTUALY AUTHENTIC iPhon4 when the god damn thing isnt even out! yeh u might have some shit fake parts but its not the actual iPhone 4! yes glass breaks…want a cookie?
Steve Jobs’ iPhone 4 is a defective product. Jobs knows it is inferior. The signal-loss design flaw is significant. If everyone returns their iPhone 4 and/or refuses to buy them the design issues will be resolved — with a new design. Jobs has proven to be nothing more than a snake oil salesman ignoring the fact the he was unable to introduce the iP4 himself at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference because he, too, was holding the phone in a normal manner like you and I would and it wouldn’t work. Imagine being a mobile case manufacturer with 100,000 cases in inventory and no iPhones will fit your case because of the cheap-fix bumper! Return your purchased iPhone 4 and when Jobs gets a few million of them stacked up on his desk he’ll fix the problem. Don’t you fanboys/girls let Apple get away with this serious manufacturing error.
Yes, I am that person that accidentally dropped my 4g within hours of getting it. Got in my car, it fell out of my pocket and on to the concrete, maybe 2-3ft up and bam, cracked right down the center. I have dropped my other iphones in the past and never had an issue. Its not durable, and while hopefully no one drops their phone on purpose, it happens. I cant be walking around like I have an egg in my hand. Happened already to one other person I know. It is going to be an issue.
Oh and ps: I had a case on it.
@Francisco
Already done (Search ‘Will It Blend’ on Google)
Had mine 3 days, dropped it from waist level on rolled linoleum floor…shattered the back glass. And yes, it also had reception issues when held in my left hand. All the new “improvements” have made this a lemon.
i got my new iphone on Thursday and Friday i dropped it while getting into my care and the whole back side shattered. I couldn’t even use it because the glass was falling out. I think the new iphones are much easier to break.
Can I buy that broken glass???? Let me know i really need it
I agree new iphone4 is very easy to break. One of my friend’s phone was dropped from 5 feet and back side was shattered.
It depends on the angle of the fall. Mine hit the brick floor from waist height. The frame and the edge of the glass got scratched a bit. Otherwise everything is working fine, including the camera, which was very close to the impact spot.
Nothing is ever indestructible.. Almost all glass shatters easy, don’t criticize apple.. You can make the iPhone glass out of real diamonds and it would still break,. Diamonds are the hardest subtance on earth but they break easy. Why do you think they don’t make hammers out of diamonds
this article is legit. i sadly just dropped my phone while walking from lunch back to work. i am short so the phone wasn’t dropped from any higher than 3 feet (hand at hip) and the screen totally shattered. sad.