Show anyone the ultra-thin iPhone Air and they’ll have two concerns: durability and battery life. Such worries first appeared during the iPhone 17 rumor season. Thankfully, though, the iPhone Air gets all-day battery life and an exclusive MagSafe accessory for an additional boost when you need it. As for durability worries, Apple tossed an iPhone Air across the room to a reporter so they could attempt to bend it during an interview. That should have been enough to allay any durability concerns. However, real-life tests are always better, and now that the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air have reached consumers, those tests are possible.
On Friday, iPhone Air battery tests showed that the ultra-thin handset can offer decent battery life. But the iPhone Air durability test that many longtime iPhone users have been waiting for came only on Saturday, when well-known YouTuber JerryRigEverything put the device through his usual durability test, which includes a bend test. The iPhone Air survived the durability tests mostly unscathed. JerryRigEverything then employed a different test to see exactly how much force would be required to bend the iPhone Air. Despite being subjected to extreme force, the iPhone Air survived until 215-216 pounds (97-98kg) of force was applied. Impressively, the iPhone Air continued to function even after it snapped, and the battery remained intact.
Will the iPhone Air break if it’s in your back pocket and you sit on it?
The YouTuber attempted to bend the iPhone from both the front and the back before using external tools to apply more force. As you can see in the video, the iPhone bends slightly but returns to its normal shape. iFixit’s teardown suggests that the titanium frame gives the phone elasticity, while the arrangement of the internals gives it structural integrity. Still, some people might be worried about sitting on the iPhone Air accidentally, while the handset is in their back pockets, or placed on a couch or bed. What if one weighs more than 215 pounds? Will that be enough to bend the iPhone Air in one of those instances? The answer is a solid no, with JerryRigEverything addressing the matter in their video.
Sitting on the iPhone Air would not concentrate a person’s entire weight on a single point, which is what the YouTuber did to bend the handset. A person’s weight is distributed across the entire surface, so the handset is less likely to bend permanently. The clip also shows the YouTuber attempting to scratch the display, which is another usual test for the JerryRigEverything channel. Unlike older iPhones and Android devices, the Ceramic Shield 2 screen doesn’t scratch at level 6 on the Mohs scale. Scratches at level 7 are barely visible as well, indicating that the new iPhones have some of the most scratch-resistant displays on the market.