Apple Showcases Rigorous Stress Tests iPhones Undergo Before They Reach Shelves
Photo 300600765 © Vladislavs Zaharovs | Dreamstime.com
With smartphones having taken root in our daily lives, resilience is a necessity people take into consideration before making the splurge on one. Apple has pulled back the veil on how it meets—nay, exceeds—this benchmark by giving tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, widely known as MKBHD, a rare tour of its top-secret durability testing labs.
Guided by John Ternus, Apple’s chief of hardware, Brownlee was given a behind-the-scenes look at the intesnsive testing every iPhone undergoes to ensure it can withstand everyday wear and tear.
I recently got to visit some Apple labs where they durability test new iPhones before they come out, and learned a few things (🧵THREAD)
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 29, 2024
#1: Have you actually seen how they water test phones for IP ratings? (video) pic.twitter.com/Qh3hfmlmdn
The trip kicked off with a close-up look at the water ingress test. Here, an iPhone is blasted with water from 13 jets in a 360-degree shower setup, mimicking a range of very possible real-world scenarios, from a light drizzle to a high-pressure spray, to make sure the device’s water resistance can withstand them.
#2: There's an entire room of machines for water and ingress testing
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 29, 2024
Level 1: A drip tray simulating rain, no real pressure. IPX4
Level 2: A sustained, low-pressure jet spray from any angle. IPX5
Level 3: High pressure spray from a literal firehose. IPX6
Level 4: Locking the… pic.twitter.com/5R38I6QVmW
The iPhone is also subjected to underwater pressure tests, replicating conditions if it were dropped into deep water.
New devices undergo a drop test from the unyielding hands of industrial robots, which repeatedly release the iPhones from various heights and angles. This process ensures they can endure the impacts of accidental drops, a common occurrence in daily life.
#3: Apparently Apple has also bought and programmed and industrial robot to be their own drop test machine - to simulate hundreds of different drop angles onto different materials
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 29, 2024
Then they hit it with some ultra bright lights and a high speed camera to watch them back in… pic.twitter.com/EsNJbVQrbO
Brownlee was also shown iPhones being shaken as though they were on a moving motorcycle or train.
#4 Ok this one was hard to capture on camera - it's literally shaking everything at computer-controlled frequencies. They can program in the frequency of a certain motorcycle engine or subway car to simulate how well a device will hold up to sustained exposure to that frequency… pic.twitter.com/K981NzQhhk
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) May 29, 2024
This intriguing peek into the tech giant’s rigorous procedures highlights the lengths to which the company goes to ensure that its iPhones remain reliable companions, capable of handling whatever life throws at them, and not just pricey paperweights. It’s also living proof as to why Apple diehards will likely always stay as such.
[via Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, Dexerto, cover photo 300600765 © Vladislavs Zaharovs | Dreamstime.com]
