APPLE TESTED 30,000 IPHONE 6 UNITS ------------------------------------------------ Apples answer today, both in a statement and now in these testing facilities, is that the iPhone 6 is tough. Its made with steel / titanium inserts designed to reinforce potential stress points, a special blend of aluminum Apple formulated itself, and ion-strengthened glass. But more important, Apple says, is that the iPhone 6 has been put through hundreds of tests, as well as tested in the pockets of thousands of Apple employees before consumers ever get their hands on it. Whats the exact number of devices Apple went through before it was done? About 15,000 for each the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, according to the company. The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are the most tested, Dan Riccio, Apples senior vice president of hardware engineering, told us today. As we add more and more features, we have to find out a way to break them before customers do. Some of the testing I saw today was what can be considered torture tests, but it also puts the phones through the regular stresses that they might undergo in the wild. That includes being sat on in pockets — and being bent. The idea is to give the phones a lifetime of testing, but without spending a lifetime doing it. The machines that do this methodically set various pads and pressures on the phones over and over again with only a small hiss of air and a dull thunk noise. I saw a similar setup in Microsofts headquarters in Redmond when the company was introducing the Xbox One, with controllers being tapped maniacally by machines. Apple was mum on how much the new iPhones can actually take, something it considers a trade secret. It pointed only to 25 kilograms, the amount of weight Apple puts on top of the iPhones screen to test it for the bends. Next to a machine that does this thousands of times is a small set of weights: this isnt actually the full amount of weight the phone can take Riccio says, just what it can handle while being capable of bouncing back to its original form. Even so, there are limits. The bottom line is that if you use enough force to bend an iPhone, or any phone, its going to deform, Riccio says. Discover ---------- Along with that three-point test, theres whats known as a sit test, which simulates the stresses iPhones undergo while in pockets. And not just any pockets, either. Theres a test for when people sit on a soft surface, when the iPhone is sat on, as well as what Apple considers the worst-case scenario, which is when it goes into the rear pocket of skinny jeans and sits on a hard surface — at an angle. One other test I was shown tested torsion, or when the phone is twisted (see the top image). Apple showed us an iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, along with a MacBook Air that was being twisted from one end to the other. This will go on thousands of times, Riccio said, with the company keeping track for failure. These are just a small portion of the facilities that Apple uses, Riccio says. The company does some here, but also at a much larger scale in China where its products go through some of the last steps before entering full-scale production. The last time Apple let the media this deep into the fold was in 2010 for the iPhone 4. Shortly after its release, users discovered that gripping it tightly reduced the signal strength. After holding a press conference, Apple took a small group of press to visit the black lab where it tests its cell phone radios in anechoic chambers. This time around, there are no free cases for people, or even a press conference. Apples just telling people with a phone thats bent to take it into one of its stores to have it looked at. As we expected, it’s extremely rare to happen in real world use, Apples senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller told us. In this case, as in many things, we tell customers that if you think somethings occurred that shouldnt have with your device, go to AppleCare, go to the Genius Bar, and let them take a look at it. And well see if your product is having an experience it shouldnt have, and is covered under warranty.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 05:11:24 +0000
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