Bad day for Apple: ‘Bendgate’ and ‘brickgate’ spoil new iPhone launch

Apple’s record breaking iPhone 6 sales have been marred by two high-profile fails, as users flock to social media to complain about bent phones and a software update that renders their devices unable to make calls.


bendgate.jpg
A week on from the launch of the larger sized iPhone 6 Plus, buyers discovered their phones can bend when placed in back pockets in a scandal dubbed ‘Bendgate’.
The name harks back to 2010’s “antennagate” issue when iPhone 4 users reported a design flaw that caused dropped calls.
The bendable-phone situation might prove particularly troubling for those who wear skinny jeans, according to reports on Facebook and Twitter. The phrase “Your pants are too tight for your phone” has already received hundreds of mentions.
Several members of the public have posted photos to the MacRumors site that appear to show the problem. A reporter for the Geek.com news site also reported his phone had warped.
Other mobiles have bent in the past, but the scale of the problem indicates that Apple’s boast of making the thinnest phablet yet, combined with a more heat sesitive alumiium frame may have resulted in a phone thats more prone to warp under pressure than rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Note range.
Insurer Square Trade had declared the new iPhones “more durable” than their predecessors after carrying out tests, but did not carry out “bendability” checks.
YouTube show Unbox Therapy’s own stress test – which involved an unusual amount of pressure being applied – suggested that the iPhone 6 Plus was easier to bend than the plastic-coated Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
The video has already been viewed 20 million times:

A number of brands were also quick to get in on the conversation, with Kit Kat (a partner with rival Android) coming up with a smart spoof tweet withing hours of the story erupting on Twitter:


Heineken was slightly more sympathetic:


Meanwhile rival Samsung had two quick responses:


While LG pointed out that it’s phones are supposed to flex:


Brickgate sparks wave of complaints
Apple has so far declined to comment on the bending-phone reports. However, the firm has announced that it is investigating reports of an issue with an update of its iOS 8 operating system and in the meantime had pulled the version designated 8.0.1.
Users who had installed iOS 8.0.1 on the iPhone 6 models also complained it had caused problems for the handsets’ Touch ID fingerprint facility, dubbing the issue ‘brickgate’ (essentially turning the device into a useless object).
The update had been released less than a week after the phones had gone on sale in order to fix other issues.
Apple said it was working on a new version.
“We have a workaround for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who lost cellular service and Touch ID functionality today after updating to iOS 8.0.1,” it said.
“Affected users can reinstall iOS 8 through iTunes. We apologise for the great inconvenience experienced by users, and are working around the clock to prepare iOS 8.0.2 with a fix for the issue, and will release it as soon as it is ready in the next few days.”
The company has also published a support document that lists the steps affected users can take to revert their devices to the previous version of the operating system.
Social media snowball effect amplifies problem
Brandwatch, a company that tracks and analyzes data from social media sites, said only a small number of people tweeted about the “bend” in the days leading up to Sept. 22. But after the release of the YouTube video, which had racked up over 6 million views by midday Wednesday, Twitter mentions of the “bend” had skyrocketed to 75,000.
Tweets are flying about the “bend in your pocket,” the challenge of wearing “tight pants,” and that the iPhone 6 Plus bends “with bare hands,” said Brandwatch spokeswoman Dinah Alobeid.
Another key topic, she said, is a comparison with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone, which has nearly 4,500 mentions.
View some of the best Twitter responses below:


Apple spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but at least one rival smartphone maker jumped at the chance to weigh in.
“I would challenge you guys to bend our Passport,” John Chen, Blackberry’s chief executive officer, said on Wednesday at an event in Toronto to unveil its newest phone.
On Monday, Apple said it had shipped 10 million units of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus since it began selling the phone on Friday.
Apple stock edged down 89 cents, or 0.87 percent to $101.75 on the Nasdaq.
Watch this Bloomberg video discussing the issues here: