If you’ve ever thought that your iPhone had the frictional coefficient of a Slip n’ Slide, you’re not alone. A new report from SquareTrade details the accident-prone nature of Apple’s line of smartphones, reporting that over 20% of iPhones have been damaged in the last 22 months. Cracked screens abound.
From a manufacturing standpoint, the iPhone wins higher marks than its competition by a significant margin. The report says that over the last 22 months, only 9.9% of iPhones have malfunctioned, versus 15.3% of BlackBerry and 19.9% of Treo phones. Apple is getting even better, too: these manufacturing defects were averaged across both the iPhone 2G and 3G, and the report indicates that the latter is significantly more reliable.
But when it comes to surviving drops, the iPhone doesn’t fare so well. The report says that more than 20% of iPhone owners accidentialy damaged their phones during the 22 months since SquareTrade began tracking the data. The most common cause of death was a drop or fall, which accounted for 66% of the failed phones. Another 25% of them were due to water damage (e.g. dropping your phone into the toilet or pool).
The report doesn’t detail exactly why the phone is so prone to accidents, but it isn’t hard to make a few educated guesses. The phone is a sleek, somewhat slippery device, nearly half of which is made up by a glass screen. There are also very few physical buttons to offer a solid grip. And the iPhone’s screen, which is relatively huge compared to the Treo and most BlackBerrys, is obviously going to be more prone to shattering than its smaller counterparts. Wrapping up the iPhone in a case can help matters, but I always feel sort of guilty doing it.
The report also highlights the insult-to-injury pricing offered by AT&T for a replacement phone. Depending on how long you have until you’re eligible for an upgrade, you can find yourself paying hundreds of dollars more than you paid for the phone in the first place (though this is typically the case for other phones as well).
Finally, it’s worth nothing that SquareTrade is in the business of selling warranties for these phones. This makes them a great source of data, but the company’s conclusions aren’t going to be entirely without bias, either. SquareTrade’s iPhone warranty starts at around $77 for two years, which includes accident coverage (AppleCare does not). You can find full details here.
You can find the full SquareTrade report here.
Photo taken by PSD.
It really is amazing how reliable the phone is compared to others but when you remember that it is running on a slim version of OS X you realize why. ; )
built in corner rubber is good idea, they should incorporate in iphone 4. protective cover simply spoils the look and what not.
Yet, protective cover is what protects the iPhone. There are about a hundred different cases/covers for the iPhone. They serve well to suit our outdoor/indoor gear and to save the phone during a drop-situation.
Yep. I have a rubberized case on my 3G… Mainly because this happened to my old 2G:
http://cleaning...ken-iphone.html
Trust me, you only have to drop it once to find yourself believing in the addition of a case.
my fav is the carbon fibre case, I discovered on http://www.geek...re-iphone-case/
I read the title wrong, as accidental magnet
Ditto. I thought I could pick up screws I drop.
Definitely! Other than the browser crashing constantly, and the occasional lock-up when the phone runs out of memory and requires a hard-reset, it’s rock-solid.
I know I’m alone in this, but my iPhone crashed more than any of the Windows Mobile phones I’ve used. On the other hand, I did do a lot more browsing on the iPhone, so maybe it was all my fault.
Maybe they’ve got the bugs worked out in 3.0 (not likely, as as 2.0 didn’t really solve the 1.0 problems), and the extra memory in the 3GS probably helps. I don’t really care anymore, cause my new Pre hasn’t crashed once since launch day.
Sounds like your iphone was screwed up. I haven’t had any crashing problems since 2.0.
And I know, you don’t care, except that you’re here, writing about it…
No, my iPhone wasn’t defective. Many people had the same problems with the browser that I had. Pretty much anyone who would seriously use the browser for any length of time. Seemed like the browser would leak memory the longer it was used, and eventually it would just crap out.
As far as the phone freezing entirely, I had two apps that would reliably cause the phone to freeze. They’d work fine after a restart, but if the phone had been running for a day or two, it would freeze launching either of those apps. General memory leaks in the 2.x firmware were the most likely cause.
I use Mobile Safari all day long in testing and It’s never crashed since I bought the phone almost a year ago. Can you specify which applications were causing your phone to freeze so that I can verify the claim?
I find that very hard to believe. I am on the browser 24/7 without a problem.
And yes, there will always be apps that give you a hard time. Hopefully the developers learn there lesson if people don’t download their apps as a result.
I’ve had Safari crash on me more times than I could count ever since I got the 3G last year with the 2.0 software. I don’t even have to do heavy surfing (two or three random pages are enough), and Safari will just close on me and return me to the iPhone home screen
And 3 or 4 times since I’ve owned this Safari would completely lock up the iPhone where NOTHING – including holding down the sleep/wake button, home button, attempting to reset it with the little pin tool, and connecting it to iTunes – would work. It just stayed stuck on the browser page. I had to literally let the battery run down before I was able to do anything.
There’s been the occasional buggy and crashy app, but Safari is by far the biggest problem app for me on the iPhone.
Believe it, because it happened. Do a search for “iPhone browser crash” and you’ll see the problem is pretty widespread. Though it got better with 2.2, it still crashed a lot.
The two apps that would freeze the phone consistently were Tap Defense and Mocha VNC. Tap Defense would do it once every 10 games or so, and Mocha VNC would freeze the phone on launch every single time if the phone hadn’t been rebooted recently.
Sure, you can blame it on a few bad apps, but app code should always run at a lower priority than crucial system services, such as the service that checks to see catches and terminates crashed apps. There’s no reason that a single app should be able to take down the whole OS.
Well, there is one reason: a buggy OS. The iPhone OS is not exactly bulletproof, but then again, OS X is still buggy on the desktop, too. I still see plenty of beach-balls, for seemingly no reason.
what in the world? I don’t get this article at all. The graph clearly shows other phones as more accident prone (or failure prone) yet you focus on the most reliable phone mentioned? What gives?
I’ve dropped the 2G and 3G many many times. Maybe I’m just lucky but I’ve never had an iPhone die as the result. And these unlucky iPhones have landed at all angles on concrete. So something seems amiss here…
I, and my 3 closest friends who own iPhones have all fallen victim to the cracked screen.
Since it costs $250 to replace the screen, and there is no insurance available, it is about the most frustrating purchase I have made.
I’m on my 4th iPhone, and cracked the screen on my new 3G about 4 days after I bought it. Nothing I can do but put a screen protector on it and wait for the glass to start falling out.
Apple either needs to make a non-slip case or make it easier/cheaper to have the screen replaced.
I read someplace that there is a co. in Dallas, TX that will replace the screen for $99.00 – I thought I saw it mentioned in the comments section on one of the ‘Crunch’ sites, too.
Justyn – SquareTrade, the company that released this report – does sell a warranty that covers screen cracks! You can find more information about it at http://www.squa...rade.com/iphone.
The data from this report comes from all of the iPhones that we have covered under our warranty + accidental damage plan.
Cheers
Vince Tseng
SquareTrade
Justyn – there is insurance available for cracked iPhone screens…it’s the warranty provider featured in this story – SquareTrade. They cover accidents like drops or water immersion. 8gb iPhone 3G or 3G S starts at $77 for 2 years of coverage – compared to $360 from Best Buy or $69 per year from AppleCare- which won’t cover accidents. SquareTrade is a client of mine.
An easier, cheaper screen is the best thing. Apple may have to think about it, still the screen protectors do good job, provided you are willing to lose the original charming looks of the phone.
You should stop playing hockey with your iPhone as a puck. I had my original iPhone for almost two years until I replaced it with a 3GS, and other than some dents and a few small scratches on the screen, it was in great condition and I never had it in a case of any sort.
You can easily get them off eBay for $50 (free shipping worldwide). Use the price filters and don’t get the $100 ones.
Where did you get your figure of $250?
…and as far as the hardware goes, if it wasn’t so darn slippery it wouldn’t be such a problem. ; ) Can’t effectively hold on to mine unless it is in a case.
It’s called inferior design and engineering when a product is developed to look good but fails to stand up under the conditions of real-world use. Although that hasn’t stopped me from buying a 3GS.
Not really. We’re clearly in an era where practicality has taken a back seat to “looking cool.” It started with the bondi blue iMac. There’s nothing inferior about the design and engineering of the iPhone from an aesthetic standpoint, and if you have an appreciation for engineering you realize that the iPhone is really impressive.
It’s called butter fingers and stupid if you drop a device that has a glass screen. For $100 I you can get a new G3, for $20 you can get a clear plastic protective case. Easy to replace and easy to protect. Blaming Apple for an individuals short comings is an easy way out. typical of whiner consumers.
So far I was lucky. Took ugly protective cover off a while a go though. Maybe hope is once again not a good strategy … !?!
Drop anything into a toilet and forget about using it again. Such a stupid reason to go fault the iPhone for this failure. If I also dropped a phone, it really is my fault if it cracks, isn’t it? Unless they were made with solid titanium and a crack resistant polymer screen (most likely causing an increase in $$$), most anything is susceptible to breaking. How about I drop your Blackberry? I’m sure I can find interesting new ways to crack the screen on that too (I have a fat ass and sat on it while it was in my back pocket!)
Drop My Blackberry? Go ahead, I do it all the time. Nothing ever happens to it.
Lol, BB are known for having the worst build quality of any smartphone. Drop it? You’d have a hard time keeping it together in your hands! BTW, I’m sure you’re not counting the Storm as part of the “great” BB quality.
As a matter of fact I have dropped my blackberry in the sink, and thrown water over it by mistake washing down the driveway, not realizing it fell out of my lap when getting out of the car, and it still works without issue. Granted the battery life has taken a short decrease, but in GREAT design a $20 USER REPLACEABLE battery later and it’s working good as new. Let me know how much a similar situation would cost with the iPhone.
By the way I also have an iPhone and love it, but lets not be so quick to claim the iphone the king. Every device has their faults, I almost sent one flying across the room handing it to someone because it is so slippery.
The iPhone battery is covered by 1 year warranty . If it fails on you Apple will replace the entire phone with a new/refurb. Unlike a user replaceable phone where you will have the same scratched and abused phone, and just a new battery. A huge % of people will get a new phone after 2 years, so the $69 two year warranty covers you. The whole user replaceable tagline is a ploy to get you to buy their oversize brick.
“Drop My Blackberry? Go ahead, I do it all the time. Nothing ever happens to it.”
Did anything happen before you dropped it – I doubt it =D
I dropped my LG vx 4500 into a puddle completly submersed for 24 hours.. I dried it out and wha-la it works perfect.. Try that with a jesus phone..
Dude — the Jesus phone walks on water.
I’ve got a cracked screen on my 3G!
Luckily it didn’t break into the touch portion so it still works flawlessly. I got super lucky.
Dropped my Samsung Instinct twice, no damage.
Someone should do a massive drop test between iPhone 3G S and the new Android phone to help me decide which to buy.
Pricey but the videos will get millions of views for whoever makes them.
The MacBook is incredibly slippery, and I’m a bit nervous about using it in bed because there’s a feeling it’s going to slide off and break.
I did buy a colcasac bag for it and have been religiously putting it away in that when it’s not in use. I damaged my last lappy by not being careful enough.
Wolfie!
I already scratched the screen w/in the first 24hrs.
I’ve been using mine for 6 months with a broken screen.
As I’ve already blogged, my favorite part of the whole deal was the lame AT&T rep…
“I don’t believe it. I’ve never heard of the screen breaking on one of these; they’re practically indestructible.”
Whatever.
http://gundy.or...13/iphone-fail/
iDumb
I feel no guilt whatsoever about using a case.
I fail to understand why Apple can’t rubberise the backs of these devices. I’ve tried using mine without a case for a few weeks and came close to dropping it many times, as opposed to when it was in a case.
My kid dropped my wife’s last week, but I think she used to to break her fall
– result:
http://www.flic...ljj/3640779003/
The stats don’t take into consideration that the iPhone is probabaly used for far greater periods of time (being more useful than the other phones) so therefore will have more chance of having accidents.
Also, I think people should keep in mind that when you somehow break your iPhone, you’re more likely to report it.
Break a cheap Nokia or the likes? Get a new front (if possible) or toss it away and get a new one (if not). Break your iPhone? Now that’s a more expensive fuck-up.
T-Mobile (iPhone provider in .nl) offers you a reasonable insurance: 6 euros/month (IIRC) and you’re safe.
The real question is how many people have been murdered with the iphone as the weapon.. or the blue mic.. that thing is huge…
The 3.0 firmware is very stable in browsing. No comparison to the 2.x crashing.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned here was the lack of any little hole for a tethering rope. Almost every phone I’ve owned in the last few years let me put one so when I was holding it, it couldn’t slip. Apple should have added a tiiny hole that would let us do that and I’m sure millions of iPhones would have been spared an awful cracked screen that way.
Here’s TC:::
MG: omgz apple added a serif to the iphone font **drool**@@@pant!!@@@****wet****
Jason/Eric: Here’s some real opinion backed up with facts and logic.
MG: well you know, i…..holy shit! cut copy paste dude…duuuude…fuck…
conclusion: apple may be a damn solid company, but it’s (loyal) users are mouth breathing retards.
Its, not it’s. Retard.
I realize that when dropped the right way the iPhone can break but I can’t help but think that there are some really clumsy people on this thread. Maybe that accidental warranty would be of good use to some people.
I think it would be a great idea if they had used the matte back that was rumored and which was FCC approved.
The curious thing in this report is that in comparison, they only talked about phones with small screens and keyboards. What about the numerous other phones that now have large touchscreens.
I had my share of bad experiences with the iPhone, including the iCrack. Read more about it here – http://tushneem...rfect-is-apple/
oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I did not have to drop my iPhone for the iCrack to appear. It was a manufacturing defect that surfaced months after I bought it. So keep checking on your iphones even if you don’t drop them.
And di Apple replace it immediately at no charge?? Yes they did.
Have my 3G for almost a year now, absolutely no problems. The day I got it, also bought a rubber sleeve and screen guard. Dropped a couple of times, no scratches, no cracks.
I lost my two mobile phone while bending over and to start pulling my pants out in toilet, now I bind it with a rope to my belt. Lol
Wanted to share my iPhone’s cracked story too
http://www.twitpic.com/86cls
the facts i am happy to know about, as the user of iphone!
The iPhone’s weakness is the positioning of the Home button and ear piece. I broke mine recently as I caught the top of the handset and it just shattered!
I have a hard Griffin case around mine and it doesnt effect the look or feel of the phone. I take care not to drop it but it would have to be a pretty hard drop to damage the case. Iphones get a bad press as if you do smash it then its a pretty big purchase. If you dropped a Nokia you wouldnt think twice and would just replace it.
I also cracked the glass of my iphone 3g. T-Mobile Germany told me it costs 299€ to repair it. My only reaction on this statement was that i started laughing out that guy and ordered a new glassfront on Amazon for about 42€.
Then i watched the repair video on youtube and replaced the glassfront on my own. Was a kind of hassle but now everything is okay again and works perfect.
cheers, Darko
i think perhaps, maybe, a larger fraction of iphone users treat their phones not so well ??
“Wrapping up the iPhone in a case can help matters, but I always feel sort of guilty doing it.”
LOL…best line ever. Or perhaps my mind is too far in the gutter….
Storm does well when dropped. Ive dropped mine on a driveway, wood floors, carpet, tile. One minor scratch and no broken screen. But not all drops are equal so perhaps I got lucky.
I love the iPhone, but I drop my Blackberry all the time, and it still runs great.
If I spent a lot of time nerdling around with my sexy iPhone….and then broke it……I’d be pissed. And depressed. And broke for that matter.
And, unfortunately, the solutions seems to be, make the iPhones….cheaper. Polycarbonates are very flexible, and plastic screen are almost indestructible.
But then would it still be an iPhone?
I think my old phone is close to the winner in damage here. Still works after about 20 months of it being cracked like this http://twitpic.com/7sv4h I’ve even dropped it small puddles face down several times with the exposed circuitry and it has never failed.
Oh, and I broke it less than a month after getting it when I went over the handlebars on my bike, landing on pavement.
I had my original iPhone screen crack a few weeks out but I was drinking and dropped it on concrete they fixed it for free. My 3G screen never cracked since I put it day one into a incase rubber/silicone case and I dropped it many many times. My 3GS is in the same case now and two days ago I was playing iGolf and it slipped out of my hand hit the wall then hit the ceiling and not a scratch or crack on it. WTF are you people doing with your phones??
I wonder what a screen size to accident occurrence ratio chart would look like…
Now I have a really good reason to tell people why I’m not in the market for an iPhone. I’d destroy it. I’m hard on phones (I drop them all the time), so it would never work for me. I’m amazed that some people buy their kids these things.
2G was amazingly solid, 3G a lot less
I bought a holster-style case for my iPhone from Otter Box. It is a bit bulky, but definitely worth it for the accident prone iPhone user.
I dropped my iphone 3G into a bathtub and a couple of days later recharged it and everything still worked. I’ve also droped it several times on concrete and still works great.
The iSplinter app simulates exactly the same problem and was rejected by Apple several times. What a coincidence
http://i.docume...t.m05.de/?p=598
I dropped my iphone from my 9th story apartment, and it came out unscathed. So my vote is for iphone is awesome.
Can the iPhone screen crack or break.. yes. Is it hard to do… somewhat. Little story… I got my 2G phone the first week it was out… and was happy to show it to anyone who asked, but then I was getting lots of comments from people about how they heard it was too fragile. I got so sick of that one night at a party, I said “Oh yeah watch this” and threw the phone about 6 feet into the air and let it smash down on the CONCRETE floor… the whole party just stopped and looked at me like I was nuts (it had no case btw)… The woman next to me whose husband had been gripping about the fragility quickly picked it up.. not a scratch (luckily I admit) she just looked at here husband and said “I’m getting one tomorrow”. So this became my standard demo (although I stayed away from concrete after that) I threw it across a bar, slid it down some stairs, and even threw it across a grass field.. nothing… people were amazed (as was I) that it didn’t fall apart… then one night I was getting into my car and I had the phone in a sport coat pocket and the pocket got slammed in the door of my car.. bango… big crack.. BUT it still worked fine… so yes it can crack but overall I must say I am very happy with the durability.. and yes I use a case now
No slap shots?
Even hiding it’s slick design, the protective ’skins’ does make a wonderful job saving the iPhone from break when you drop it.
I really doubt that apple will incorporate any kind of protective rubber on the iPhone’s corner.
Now, the ’skins’ manufactures have a lot to improove their product’s as far as design.
I dropped my iPod Touch once (once!) and the glass looks like Fight Club.
I’ve dropped my Motorola smart phone over 100 times and it sometimes just has some scratches.
iPhone is made for you to have to upgrade it.
I knew Apple’s track record when it comes to this….easy to break devices that have you hooked to them like crack are awesome for sales. Hey if 20% of these *&346ers are getting broken, how many went out and got a replacement? Or wanted to get a new one the next year.
I’m sorry, but the study on this is REALLY frustrating because it did not ask that simple follow up question.
Anyways, I bought a speck case that 1.5x the size of my iPhone, but it manages to last through all of the drops. Hey, its also nice that when I get pissed off at this POS device I can throw it against the wall w/o issue. Speck Rocks.
That is pretty surprising. I’ve dropped my iPhone a good distance & pretty violently a couple times (including some flinging). Then again, I have a flip-case for it so the screen is protected & don’t have to take it out of the case to use the phone (like some of the poorly designed ones do). So, getting a good case for it probably helps out a lot.
I dropped my I-phone several times before it actually cracked. Fell flat on its face. Fortunately, it works fine, but the crack is pretty big. Also, I had a rubber protective cover on my phone, but it wore out, and the phone cracked before I had a chance to replace the cover.
Apple is lying when they say they can’t replace the screen. A friend of mine cracked his screen shortly after buying it. He went to the Mac store, and an unusually friendly rep replaced it for him for free.
I wonder if you cracked it, if you could buy the insurance, and then go into the store and claim that it happened after you bought your insurance.
No one is going to believe that you actually own an iPhone if you refer to it as an ‘I-phone’.
One thing the post didn’t mention… while using a phone that’s slick on both sides, you have to perform gestures that loosen your grip. I’ve always wondered why they gave up the rubber backing of the 2G. Was it harder to slide into a pocket? *shrugs
The iPhone 3G has quickly become our number one Consumer Electronics repair here at TechRestore – screens particularly. We do a $99 flat-rate repair that includes parts, installation and shipping – wait, that sounds like a commercial -sorry.
Anyway, we see hundreds of them in for repair each week and we don’t think that will change with the 3G S.
See our favorite broken screen photo at http://gadgetgore.com
Thanks-
I don’t understand people’s reluctance to put a case on the iPhone. Me, I went for a clear case because I wanted the white iPhone, and so I wanted to make sure the white showed through. In addition, this case has two pieces, a clear, rubberized back piece, plus a clip with a belt clip on it that can attach to the back while using the phone, or can flip around to the front of the phone to protect the face when it isn’t in use. This case is the Marware Sidewinder Deluxe.
http://www.marw...for-iPhone-3G_3
I have dropped my phone a number of times already – I’m clumsy.
Hard telling how many more it would be if it didn’t have the case on it. But with the case – not a scratch on the phone.
And considering I have seen a number of people complaining they would like phones in colors other than black and white, I’m surprised people wouldn’t want some of the hardened cases in colors. Even if the case doesn’t cover the screen, it actually helps protect the screen somewhat by protecting the phone overall, cushioning the sides. If protected by a case that doesn’t cover the screen, it’s likely the only way the screen will get broken is if the screen takes a direct hit on a rock or some other hard, sharp surface.
There is also a thing called a Personal Articles Policy (PAP) offered by conventional insurance companies like State Farm, etc. Usually used for things like furs, artwork, jewelry or other expensive items. It’s not a rider on a homeowner’s policy, it’s a stand-alone policy and, at least in the case of State Farm, you don’t even have to be an existing customer. The PAP for my new 16GB 3GS cost $30 a year to be covered for the full replacement value ($599) and there are no restrictions on filing a claim. Lose it, drop it, run over it, having it stolen, any loss is completely covered. Insuring these things is really a no-brainer, especially considering the policy cost vs replacement cost.
in other news, 20% of iPhone users are adolescents.
maybe its time for a company to produce rubber type case for iphone.
There are plenty of Rubber cases out there for the iPhone already, some as priced up to $50! They can take a runover by a car. The issue is, the iPhone is so much more useful than the other phones and therefore in people’s hand much more frequently. It is passed from person to person much more than other phones because it is just plain cool! And $77 for two years for insurance is far cheaper than the $5 per month insurance coverage for the other products (Blackberry et al) provided through the carriers (let’s see… $5 x 24 months = $120 for two years of coverage). Do you drive your car, another item you love and need as much as your iPhone, without insurance????