The Bend: Apple and the iPhone 6

On Friday, the most popular phone in the world has a problem that fits in a pocket, and the problem is the pocket. Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus, the largest phone the company has ever made, is bending, and the bending has become the story of the week. The reports started days after the launch, a video showed the phone bending under pressure, and the company responded that the problem was extremely rare. The bend is the September 2014 story, and the story is the lesson: the product is defined by the failure that the customers can see, not the success that the engineers measured.

The Bend is the subject of this article: how the reports started, why the phone could bend, how Apple responded, and what the episode says about the trade-offs at the heart of every engineering decision. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus went on sale on Friday, September 19, and the bend reports began within days. This is the story of the bend, and the story is about the moment the thinnest phone met the tightest jeans.

1. The Launch

The launch was the biggest in Apple's history, and the size was the setup. The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus went on sale on Friday, September 19, and the pre-orders had broken records, and the lines wrapped around the stores. The new phones were bigger than anything Apple had made, the answer to the large screens of the Android rivals, and the size was the story of the launch. The phones were the most anticipated products of the year, and the anticipation was the pressure.

The launch went perfectly, and the perfection was the platform for the fall. The reviewers praised the phones, the customers bought them in record numbers, and the company looked unstoppable. The phone that was the largest Apple had ever made was also the thinnest, a combination that the engineers had achieved with aluminum and care. The launch was the triumph, and the triumph was the setup for the bend.

2. The Reports

The reports began within days, and the reports were the first cracks. Owners of the iPhone 6 Plus began posting about phones that had bent, and the bends were in the same place: near the volume buttons, where the aluminum case was thinnest. The reports came from owners who had carried the phone in their pockets, who had sat down with the phone in a tight pair of jeans, and who had found the phone curved when they took it out. The reports were the beginning, and the beginning was the doubt.

The reports multiplied, and the multiplication was the media cycle. The news sites picked up the story, the forum threads grew, and the phrase "bendgate" was born, the name that turned the reports into a phenomenon. The reports were the evidence, and the evidence was the story. The reports were the first test of the phone, and the test was the pocket.

3. The Video

The video was the moment the story exploded, and the moment was the demonstration. A technology channel called Unbox Therapy posted a video on Tuesday, September 23, showing the iPhone 6 Plus bending under the pressure of two hands. The video was simple: a man held the phone, applied pressure with his thumbs, and the aluminum case bent. The video was the proof that the bend was possible, and the proof was the viral hit.

The video was also the simplification of the story. The man in the video was applying more force than a pocket would apply, and the comparison was lost in the sharing, and the video became the image of the failure. The engineers would argue about the forces, and the customers would see the bend, and the seeing was the story. The video was the demonstration, and the demonstration was the damage.

4. The Response

The response came from the company, and the response was the counterargument. Apple said on Thursday, September 25, that with normal use, a bend in an iPhone was extremely rare, and that in the first six days of sale, a total of nine customers had contacted the company with a bent aluminum case. The company said the phones were rigorously tested, including bending tests, and that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were designed to survive the demands of daily life. The response was the defense, and the defense was the data.

The response was also the strategy, and the strategy was the small number. Nine customers out of millions, the company argued, was the definition of rare, and the rarity was the reassurance. The company offered to replace the bent phones, and the replacement was the goodwill. The response was the argument, and the argument was the beginning of the management of the story.

5. The Trade-Off

The trade-off was the engineering reality, and the reality was the lesson. The iPhone 6 Plus was the thinnest large phone Apple had ever made, and the thinness was the achievement, and the thinness was also the weakness. The aluminum case was a thin shell around a large surface, and the thin shell could bend under the right pressure. The engineers had chosen thinness and lightness, and the choices had consequences, and the consequences were the bend.

The trade-off was the story that the engineers understood and the customers did not. Every design is a set of choices, and every choice gives something up, and the trade-offs are invisible until they fail. The phone that was the thinnest was the phone that could bend, and the phone that was the most beautiful was the phone that was the most fragile. The trade-off was the engineering, and the engineering was the story.

6. The Competition

The competition was the fuel of the story, and the fuel was the mockery. Samsung, the rival that Apple had beaten with the large screen, posted advertisements mocking the bend, and the mockery was the marketing. The other phone makers joined in, and the social media filled with jokes, and the jokes were the amplification. The competition turned the engineering issue into a brand war, and the brand war was the context.

The competition also showed the double edge of the rivalry. The same companies that mocked the bend had their own weaknesses, their own failures, their own issues, and the mockery was the pot calling the kettle black. The customers who watched the war were the winners of the spectacle, and the spectacle was the entertainment. The competition was the noise, and the noise was the story.

7. The Lesson

The lesson of the bend was about the gap between the measurement and the perception, and the gap was the crisis. The engineers had tested the phone, had measured the forces, had decided the design was sound, and the measurements did not matter when the customer saw the video. The product was defined by the failure that the customers could see, not the success that the engineers measured, and the seeing was the truth.

The lesson was also about the response to the failure. Apple had the choice: dismiss the reports, mock the concern, or take the reports seriously, and the company chose the measured response, the data, the small number, the replacement. The response did not end the story, and the response limited the damage, and the limiting was the leadership. The lesson was the response, and the response was the management of the narrative.

8. The Future

The future of the story would be the test, and the test would be the sales. The customers would decide whether the bend was the deal breaker, and the sales would tell the story, and the story would be the verdict. The phone would keep selling, and the bend would fade, and the fading would be the pattern of the media cycle. The future was the next launch, and the next launch was the chance to prove the lesson was learned.

The future was also the lesson in the making. The company that had launched the biggest product of the year had spent the week defending it, and the defense was the price of the attention. The bend was the September 2014 story, and the story is the lesson: the product is defined by the failure that the customers can see, not the success that the engineers measured. The phone bent, and the story bent with it, and the bending was the reminder that every design is a trade-off, and every trade-off is a risk. The engineers who design the next phone will read the coverage and adjust the calculations, and the adjustment is the progress. The customers who kept the phones in their pockets will watch the next launch, and the watching is the attention. The bend was the lesson, and the lesson was the design. The story will be taught in the design schools as the case of the unseen trade-off, and the case is the lesson. The engineers who choose the thickness of the case, the strength of the alloy, and the weight of the device are making the choices that the customers will test, and the testing is the feedback. The bend was the reminder that the product is a set of promises, and the promises are only as strong as the weakest of the choices.

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