iPhone 6S & iPhone 6S Plus Durability Tests Show Impressive Results

The all new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are built for durability, with a stronger aluminum enclosure that Apple describes as “made from the same grade used in the aerospace industry”, coupled with a glass screen that Apple says is the “most durable in the smartphone industry”. But is this just marketing speak, or are the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus actually tougher than ever?

We’ve gathered a few videos from around the web below which demonstrate just how durable the new iPhone is, and as you’ll see the results are pretty impressive, meaning the new iPhone 6s should hold quite well in various harsh situations.

iPhone 6S Handles Substantial Water Contact

If you’ve ever accidentally dunked your iPhone into water, you know the horrible feeling. But the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus is impressively tolerant to substantial water contact, and by substantial water contact we mean complete submersion in water. At least, that’s what a few demonstrative videos have shown, and one video demonstrates the iPhone 6S being submerged entirely in a bowl of water for an hour without an issue, whereas another video demonstrates the iPhone 6S Plus being sent into four feet under into a swimming pool, where it started having problems after a few minutes. Watch yourself to get an idea.

The iPhone-in-a-bowl of water submersion test (lasts an hour, impressively):

The iPhone-in-a-swimming pool submersion test (lasts just a couple of minutes before an issue develops):

Now, we certainly wouldn’t recommend you try this yourself with your own iPhone 6S, but as you can see in the video above, the iPhone appears to have no immediate issue despite being submerged in water. This is pretty cool, but until (assuming if ever) Apple starts advertising the iPhone as water resistant, it’s still good protocol to handle substantial water contact with an iPhone in the traditional manner of turning it off and letting the device completely dry to avoid any serious damage. Better safe than sorry.

In other words, no, that does not mean the new iPhone 6s is waterproof, if anything its somewhat water and liquid resistant if you act quickly. Maybe future iPhone models will have water resistance as an official feature though, who knows?

The iPhone 6S Plus Won’t Bend in Any Reasonable Situation

You may recall that when iPhone 6 Plus debuted, some users reported the phone was bending slightly after sitting on the device or placing it into a stress position. This appears to no longer be an issue, as the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus uses a stronger aluminum that apparently is extraordinarily difficult to bend, making it very unlikely to happen in any vaguely reasonable situation. The video below demonstrates that it takes two guys applying a substantial amount of force to cause the device to warp.

The lesson is pretty clear; if you’ve concerned about the iPhone 6S bending or warping, don’t be. This thing is tough, it’s not going to bend unless you do really muscle the thing in some outrageous situation.

iPhone 6s Survives Reasonable Drops

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus seem to survive reasonable drops onto hard surfaces fairly well. I discovered this myself when I dropped my brand new iPhone 6S Plus without a case onto a concrete floor about 10 minutes after I got it (dropping a brand new iPhone must be some new unknown unwritten law of physics). Typically a drop onto a hard surface would leave a pretty notable ding into the corner of an iPhone 6, but my new iPhone 6S Plus survived with just the finest mark in the corner instead, so the the metal is definitely harder and sturdier. Here’s a picture of it after it was dropped, as you can see there is basically no obvious evidence it suffered a fall onto concrete flooring:

I wouldn’t recommend intentionally dropping an iPhone, but a few enterprising individuals on YouTube have decided to do exactly that, in what are known as ‘drop tests’. As you can see the results are pretty good, and in some typical situations the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus survives reasonable drops without issue, but eventually the the screens do indeed shatter – they are made out of glass, after all.

Here’s a guy who intentionally dropped the iPhone 6S Plus face down from about ten feet high, which it managed to survive. The iPhone 6S regular model didn’t fare quite as well, however.

And another drop test:

So again, don’t try this yourself intentionally, but at least take some comfort in knowing the new iPhone 6s series is quite sturdy and able to handle reasonable use (or abuse) without much of an issue. This may actually be the most durable iPhone yet, but ultimately time and being in the hands of millions of users will be what determines that.