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Apple made one change to the next iPhone and it completely solved the bending problem

iphone 6s bend test vs iphone 6
The iPhone 6S will be much stronger than the iPhone 6. Unbox Therapy/YouTube

It looks like the iPhone 6S is going to be much stronger than the iPhone 6.

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When people started receiving their iPhones last year, some discovered that they would bend under a certain amount of pressure.

Some even found that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would bend from the pressure of being in pockets of particularly tight pants.

The issue would come to be called "Bendgate," and Apple eventually acknowledged the problem by saying very few customers complained about it, but would replace bent iPhones anyway.

iphone 6s vs iphone 6 bend test
The iPhone 6 is the gray one of the left. The 6S is the gold one on the right. Unbox Therapy/YouTube

Lewis Hilsenteger from the site Unbox Therapy got his hands on the casing for the next iPhone, the so-called iPhone 6S, and subjected it to a rigorous bend test. He found that the new model will be able to withstand a lot more pressure than the current iPhone 6 thanks to one change: Apple now uses a stronger aluminum alloy. In fact, the iPhones 6S casing could withstand up to 80 pounds of pressure. That's nearly three times as much pressure than the iPhone 6 casing. 

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iphone 6s bend test
Unbox Therapy/YouTube

Using a special gun that finds out what things are made of by shooting X-rays into them, Hilsenteger found that the iPhone 6S casing contains a little less aluminum than the iPhone 6 casing, but it has a little more zinc, which supposedly strengthens the metal.

x ray gun iphone 6s casing bend test
Unbox Therapy/YouTube

To get a clear reading with the X-ray gun, Lewis had to sand a small section of each casing's anodized layer of aluminum, which gives the iPhone's back a matte texture. He found that the 6S casing had a much thicker layer of anodization, which also adds strength.

iphone 6s bend test sanding annodized aluminum
Unbox Therapy/YouTube

It turns out that the iPhone 6S casing is made of "7000-series" aluminum, which Hilsenteger says is much stronger than the "6000-series" aluminum that's used in the iPhone 6. But it also turns out that 7000-series aluminum is much more expensive than the 6000-series, and Lewis claims it could ramp up Apple's production costs of the iPhone 6S up to five times as what it was before.

There's no word on the iPhone 6S pricing yet, so we don't know whether or not the stronger new casing will result in more expensive iPhones. But at least there's hope that the next iPhone will be much harder to bend.

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You can watch the full video here:

Apple
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