The iPhone 17 series has a lot to offer users, including an apparent boost to durability. However, saying a phone is more resistant to scratches and bends isn’t the same as actually showing it.
Thankfully, we have gotten a pretty good look at just how durable the phones are, with Apple releasing a series of videos showcasing the phones’ durability. These include the iPhone 17 Pro being dropped from various heights, the screen of the iPhone 17 being scratched, and a lot of pressure being put on the iPhone Air.
These videos don’t go into full detail regarding the durability. Instead, they aim to give us a general idea of how tough the new iPhones are. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at the videos and see what they can tell us.
iPhone 17 Air bend test
Personally, I have one major concern when it comes to really thin phones, mainly that they’re going to bend too easily. This isn’t exactly unfounded. I’m sure most of us remember the “bendgate” incident with the iPhone 6. Well, it looks like Apple wants to put those concerns to rest with this video.
Here we can see Apple showcasing just how resistant the iPhone Air is to bending by having a machine simulate 130 pounds of pressure on the middle of the phone (the most common place a phone will bend.)
The iPhone Air in the video springs back remarkably well and doesn’t show any lasting curve from the experience, which you can see from how it sits on a flat surface.
Unlike the other videos, we do have some hands-on experience with the iPhone Air’s resistance. Tom’s Guide’s Global Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonaur attempted to bend the iPhone Air during a live interview and found it to be a very tough device.
iPhone 17 Scratch test
One of the big announcements during Apple’s event was that all of its phones feature the new Ceramic Shield 2 display glass. This material is, according to Apple, 3x more resistant to scratches than the Ceramic Shield 1 on iPhone 16 series.
In the video, we see the iPhone 17 screen being rubbed with what is likely a mineral tip that aims to showcase just how resistant the display is. Apple has stated that all of the debris left after the machine stops is residue from the surface material of the tip machine. This is pretty evident in the video since, when the screen is wiped, there’s no visible damage to the iPhone 17’s display.
At a glance, this would indicate that the phone is certainly resistant to scratches, but considering we don’t know what the hardness of the tip used was, we can’t confirm the 3x statement just yet.
iPhone 17 Pro drop test
Scratches may be common, but there’s nothing more annoying (and potentially damaging) than dropping your phone. Depending on the material you drop it on, you could get a cracked screen, dented display or worse.
That’s what Apple’s next test wants to showcase, as we see a robot drop an iPhone 17 Pro onto different materials from varying heights. The iPhone 17 Pros in the video do seem to perform very well with each drop. I can see that the phones bounce, which isn’t uncommon, but importantly, I’m not seeing any noticeable cracks or damage to the body of the phone or screen.
Considering what happened to the iPhone 16 Pro Max during the all-state tests, it certainly looks like a durability improvement. However, it is worth noting that labs tend to lack the different environmental variables that exist in the real world — all of which affect how well your phone survives a drop.
So just how durable are they?
There’s no doubt that the tests shown are impressive, but we also can’t deny that labs don’t always represent the chaos of the real world.
Having watched these through, I can say that the iPhone 17 series appears to be very durable at a glance, and should manage daily wear and tear, plus the odd drop, with no issue.
Considering that buying a new iPhone certainly isn’t cheap, it’s still important to take the right steps to protect your new phone. We have a series of guides to make sure your phone lasts for as long as possible, but the best advice we can give is to invest in a case for your new iPhone 17 series phone as soon as possible.
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