Comments on: Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Apple Over iPhone 4 Glass Durability

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:10:59 +0000

The claims of higher stiffness and hardness don’t have anything to do with the glass panels fracturing. I’m not either in favor or against Mr. Jobs, but I am an engineer and I can tell you that Apple’s statement (at least the one at the top of this page) doesn’t have to do with the screen breaking. Stiffness is a measure of the resistance of the material to elastic deformation when submitted to static loads. In plain English, it measures how long it stretches if you pull on the material -but without deforming the material permanently. Silicates are in general much more stiffer than polymers (plastics), so no lies from Apple about this.

Hardness is a different animal. Hardness is a measure of the materials resistance to local deformation. But that can mean resistance to surface scratching, denting, or similar deformations. Some common hardness tests ate Brinell, Rockwell, Mohs, and the Durometer hardness test. None of them (and in fact none of the hardness tests) are about fracture. The mechanics of fracture is the glass are very different from what the hardness measures. In plain English, Apple’s statements are about resistance to scratching (which is much higher for glasses than for polymers), and not about fracturing. No lies here either.

I realize this explanation will be rather complex for someone who wants to make money from Apple from the fact that he dropped his phone, but all I’m saying is that his argument won’t get far because Apple wasn’t even talking about the screen shattering. Stop dropping your phone. Glass breaks.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:51:13 +0000

I spoke to apple tech support, They admit that the glass shattering is a problem.

Bret, it has nothing to do with how far the phone falls. I went into the apple store,they also confirmed if the phone falls flush to a flat surface, the suction of the air may cause the glass to shatter. I was surprised apple did the right thing for me so I don’t have to switch to an android device, again they know this is a problem!

Bret why do you feel the need to defend apple when they themselves admit it’s a problem!

By: Bret

Bret — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:29:33 +0000

Dropped mine 5 feet up in Times Square. Landed flat on its back…. NO GLASS BROKE, NO SCRATCHES. If it had broken, I would have taken the blame for being an idiot and dropping my phone. I would have then had it replaced for $75 and would have been more careful in the future. For God’s sake… take some responsibility for the stupid things you do. If you can’t afford the replacement glass then you can’t afford an iPhone! Selling the phone and joining the bloodsuckers trying to get something for nothing will get you nothing..zero, zip, nada. Only the attorney will get money. The people will end up with a coupon for some apple product which you no longer want. checkmate.

By: Hubert Pereira

Hubert Pereira — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:16:08 +0000

My friend tends to drop almost everything that’s shiny, and have dropped his iPhone 4 at least three dozen times. He was selling it to buy an iPad, and the bloke who bought the dropped phone, put it into an inspection that even Apple Quality Control would not have. There were simply no signs, and I say Kudos Apple!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:33:10 +0000

Forgot to mention the phone was in an incase w/ screen protector. The shattering is caused by the vibration.

By: mykeljon

mykeljon — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:14:05 +0000

A class action suit based on the fact that glass breaks!!! DUH! Newsflash. Glass is breakable! How about a counter suit based on the fact that some people drop things! All iPhones and iPods have glass screens. Putting a glass back on the iPhone 4 does not make the screen more fragile. iPhones are not toys and should not be treated as such.

By: Charles Lindauer

Charles Lindauer — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 18:13:58 +0000

I dropped my iPhone 4 from 3ess than 3 feet onto a wood floor, and the glass on the front chipped at the top. The edge of the glass is raised from the steel band, and the edge of any glass, no matter how hard, is fragile. Glass is brittle, and the edge is the most easily damaged part of a piece of glass. The design is flawed, in that there is no edge protection for the front or back glass.

The glass is tough and very scratch resistant, but the edges are vulnerable.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:50:53 +0000

BTW, if you don’t think broken(shattered) iphone glass is a problem just google broken iphone glass….you’ll see howm many companies are now making a business out of replacing the glass on the 4, you will not find this to be the case with prior generations.

And Alex before you make your snarky comments, how about doing some research to see if this is a problem.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:42:39 +0000

I am on my 3rd generation iphone. I currentyly have the 4. I had my iphone on a chair, it fell about 2 feet onto a tile floor landing flush, it was such an innocuous drop,I was shocked to see the screen shattered. It’s insane that I now have jagged glass for a screen from such a small drop. I did some research on what Steve Jobs said regarding the glass being so strong, yes it strong because it’s supposedly very hard to bend! Who bends their phone?!?!
I can have the glass replaced for $150, which I will not do. I have loved the iphone OS, but this incident is obsurd. I will be buying the Mototrola Atrix and hope to be part of this class-action lawsuit against apple.

By: EsKaY

EsKaY — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:27:03 +0000

I have no idea what you guys are talking about ! I got my iPhone 4 on the day it came out, I’ve dropped it 3 major times .. On tiles, when landed on it’s face .. On a metal table leg, and on the road .. Yet my glass does not even have hairline scratches .. My steal band does have a Tiny dent .. And scars from the stupid apple bumper .. But other than that .. It’s good as new ! Ps the 3 times I dropped the phone, it did not have any casing on it

By: Alex Jordan

Alex Jordan — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:02:23 +0000

There’s your problem right there. You’re under the impression that this was all Saint Jobs’ doing. He heads up a company with smart people underneath him. He didn’t engineer that glass, so your frustration should be aimed at the appropriate party.

By: Chill843

Chill843 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:58:31 +0000

I agree with your last statement. I’ve owned every iphone variation since the original. And I have 3 kids that like to play games and take pics. But never have I had an issue with breakage on any of them( as far as the glass is concerned). And my iphone 4 is no different. People should realize that these phones are not indestructible. And the more your children or clumsy parents use the device, or any device for that matter. The higher the probability it will suffer some kind of damage. The bottom line for me is, the phone is not made to be dropped. So when that happens, although mishaps do occur, and no matter how tough the material is supposed to be. Be more careful with your $600-$700 devices. You have no one to blame but yourself. Because no matter how hard you try to convince someone that apple uses false advertising, there are people out there who have gone through similar events… ie dropping, throwing etc… And have not had the same results that you have. Stop dropping your phones people!!! And when you do, take responsibility for you or your kids actions. And on that note, if you know your child is pruned to throwing things like most kids are… Wait until they are old enough and stable enough to use it before you drop it in their hands and go fry some chicken!!

By: Mat Pancha

Mat Pancha — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:41:52 +0000

Strongly disagree with you final statements Alex. Steve Jobs spent quite a bit of time iscussing how strong the glass was and kept citing the helicopter grade glass example. I’ve been using up Apple Care like crazy for similar glass breakages from normal usages. Children use these phones too, and the truth is my 3GS with non-helicopter grade glass was much more durable.

There is no hypothetical, there is simply Steve Jobs’ claims when the iPhone 4 was unveiled.