Apple’s new iPhone Air, its thinnest model yet, passed bend tests, but still shatters when dropped, according to Allstate Protection Plans‘ latest Breakability Test. 

The independent evaluation used robotic testing equipment to evaluate how the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro withstand everyday accidents. The iPhone 17 lineup features Apple’s biggest physical redesign in years, including a new rectangular camera housing on iPhone Air and 17 Pro models, designed to accommodate more advanced camera systems and 4K video recording in the Pro models plus other major components in iPhone Air. 

With iPhone Air’s ultra-slim profile, Allstate Protection Plans set out to test whether the device would be vulnerable to both bending and breakage. Allstate Protection Plans’ Breakability Drop and Bend Tests of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air can be viewed here and includes the following results:

Drop test results: How the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro performed
Facing the Allstate Protection Plan’s DropBot, which drops devices 6 feet onto a sidewalk, both iPhones showed improved durability when dropped back-down but still suffered significant damage when dropped face-down.

  • Face-down drop tests (6 feet): Both iPhone Air and 17 Pro shattered after one face-down drop from 6 feet. While both models remained fully functional, the damaged Ceramic Shield 2 front displays were too sharp to use with bare hands. Both iPhones would need their front screens replaced to be usable again.
  • Back-down drop tests (6 feet): iPhone 17 Pro survived one back-down drop from 6 feet with only cosmetic damage, including minor scuffing on its camera housing and along frame edges. iPhone Air cracked across its rear panel after one back-down drop but was otherwise fully functional. These results are a big improvement from previous glass-back iPhone models, and most likely due to the new Ceramic Shield rear panels on iPhone Air and 17 Pro.

No Bendgate 2.0: iPhone Air survives the BendBot
iPhone Air’s slim design raised concerns of another Bendgate, which plagued iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge devices. But BendBot, which applies controlled pressure to measure breaking points, discovered bending isn’t an issue.

  • iPhone 17 Pro bent at 200 pounds of pressure and was fully functional after our bend test. iPhone Air bent at 190 pounds of pressure and was also fully functional after our test. Though both models bent at fewer pounds of pressure than iPhone 17 Pro Max (240 pounds), they were still well above industry standards for bend durability and the stresses most users would encounter in everyday use.
  • Though iPhone Air is 35% thinner (0.22-inch depth) than iPhone 17 Pro, it was nearly just as durable in our bend test. This may be due to added reinforcement from its rectangular camera housing and titanium frame.

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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today