I did this all the time with my iPhone 3, 4 and 5 without any issues which is why it developed into a habit. The fact that I can't do that with the iPhone 6 is a surprise and disappointment.
You're wrong. I also do this all the time and if my phone broke I'd be outraged because every phone built before the iphone 6 can handle that kind of stress.
My ex-wife always sat with her 3 in her back jeans pocket because fashion designers refuse to put sensible front pockets on women's jeans. The 3's case began to crack at the top around the power button after a while. And this is a girl sitting on her phone - not some 200lbs guy.
And I certainly wouldn't sit on my nexus 5 or the SGS4 that it replaced.
Eh. I (until recently) weighed around 220lbs. I would not have been surprised if any phone I sat on [0] broke or was otherwise damaged. Especially with the way that anything in a back pocket gets flexed. It's not just the weight placed on it, it's the tension from conforming to the shape of your body along with the pants. I guess if I had no ass, or weighed much less, or like some coworkers wear pants so low that the back pocket is actually behind the thigh it might not be a big deal.
[0] This also depends on the seat. My couch at home is very cushy, it'd be hard to break it there. But my kitchen table chair is little more than a slat of wood cut to a comfortable shape.
I'm 185 pounds, and I'm absolutely confident that if I ever placed any of my iPhones in my back jeans pocket and sat on it, it would be destroyed in under a month.
It has a glass screen, that alone should make it obvious that you shouldn't sit on it.
Older iphones were recently rated by Consumer Report to be about twice as resistant to bending from pressure and might well have endured this with ease. Also, the gorilla glass screen may have been less scratch resistant (though more than good enough), but it is less prone to shattering too.
So once people may have fixed certain expectations about the durability of an iPhone. But those will have to be revised with the new models.
When did durability stop being a factor used to assess a phone's quality? As someone who is somewhat accident prone (and who doesn't want to spend too much time fretting about protecting my phone), it's something I care about.
Granted, I don't this should be as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be, but I think the discussion should go beyond chastising owners for putting their phones in the wrong pocket. That's not much better than saying "you're holding it wrong."
If the back pocket is "not supported", that's fine, but when support is pulled on anything that people use, (however obscure or unwise its use may be), there's going to be friction.
Durability should be an important part of assessing a phone's quality. I think the issue here, is where do we drawn the dividing line on what's "reasonable" and "unreasonable" performance in that category.
I think it's reasonable to ask for phones that are water proof and shock proof. That is, a phone should be able to handle a dunk in the swimming pool, and should certainly be able to handle being dropped on a sidewalk. Both of those are every day events that happen to everyone. Until phones get to the point at which they can routinely handle both (neither of which any iPhone has ever been able to do), they come up lacking.
In addition, a phone should certainly not deform that much if it sits in a reasonable pocket.
On the flip side - I'm not expecting my phone to handle 200 pounds of force by me sitting on it on a hard surface repeatedly, particularly if there is hard edge/corner involved (which greatly increases the PSI the device has to handle). I also absolutely do not expect a phone to not deform if someone tries to bend it. People can bend freaking rebar, and I'm not expecting a phone to be structurally stronger than rebar.
That isn't to say you shouldn't be proud of your device if it can handle that amount of stress - I think it's definitely an advantage, it just isn't what I would consider the "minimum bar of performance for a smartphone."
But not enough to buy a smaller, more durable phone? One with a thick, rubber or plastic exterior case? No? I didn't think so.
I only just recently upgraded from an old feature phone to a Moto G. One of the major reasons I selected it was its relative cost versus other phones, and thus less worrying on my part about it (also, it was the cheapest phone Republic Wireless was offering). While that's not specifically buying based on durability, it's the same idea of being concerned about how much money you've sunk versus how easily it will break.
Even still, I don't go sitting on it (or, if I discover I'm sitting on it, I immediately cease the sitting action). I'm not arguing Apple should refund these people for their bent phones or anything, and I agree that people should take personal responsibility for their actions. I'm just fine with the potential lack of durability being discussed, which is the issue stevewepay originally mentioned.
EDIT: Upon further thinking, I agree that my comparison to "you're holding it wrong" is somewhat mistaken. While the grip one uses on a phone doesn't have any common-sense effects, putting a phone in your back pocket and sitting on it should have clear potential consequences, even if phones of the past typically had the durability to withstand it.
Well - the issue isn't that it's a good idea to sit on a iPhone, the issue is that this iPhone seems to be less durable than previous iPhones, where nearly every other model was an upgrade in terms of durability.
I'd be surprised if most jeans for women have back pockets that could comfortably fit an iPhone 6. They're generally design additions rather than serious pockets.
> I'd be surprised if most jeans for women have back pockets that could comfortably fit an iPhone 6.
The rear pocket in women's jeans might be able to accept an iPhone 6, but only if the woman's rear isn't present at the same time.
It's interesting that "cargo" pockets, located on the side of the pants at mid-hip height, are popular right now, because that's a much better and safer place for a phone than the back pockets.
The thing with back pockets is that the phone can stick up out of the pocket and stay in there. So the amount of pocket you need for that to work is reduced.
Membership in the group of people who wear pants with non-functional pockets is elective. That said, I think we all know what the original poster actually meant, and this subthread isn’t illuminating anything.
I keep my phone in my front pocket 90% of the time. However, there's been a number of times where I've been distracted, and have slipped it in my back pocket just before sitting on it, such as finishing a conversation just before getting into the car or working on something that may get my front wet, like gardening. It's a nice adrenaline rush feeling it under me all of a sudden, but, thankfully, I've never inflicted damage like that.
Keys and change go in front pockets and tend to scratch phone... Phones fit in back pockets and I've never damaged one that way in many generations of iPhones (and also Android phones).
He didn't say it was normal. We stick things in our pockets and forget about them. It happens.
This is where the marketing concept of "life-proof" comes from. Shit happens. Day-to-day consumer devices are going to get bumped, dropped, damp, sat on, etc. If the iPhone can't handle those things, the answer isn't "Be more careful you idiots", the answer is people will (presumably) stop buying them.
"life-proof", as in "sitting down on a hard chair with your 6 inch smartphone in your back jeans pocket", conflicts with the clear and unmistakable consumer preference for "big and thin".
In FantasyLand, engineers could create phones with 8 inch displays that were still somehow useable with one hand, and you could run over them with your car ("life-proof" - oopsies!) and they'd be ok. In the meantime, put your money where your mouth is and buy a smaller, more durable phone like an iPhone 5.
Well, I put my money where my mouth is and bought a Moto G. It's smaller and quite durable for a smartphone. Acceptable?
"life-proof" is kind of a silly term, I agree. But as much as you might want to mock people who do not baby their smartphone like a delicate glass flower, they are most of the market.
To say you can't or shouldn't put your phone in your pocket is ridiculous. It is quite possibly the most common use case for a phone, and the design should take that into account. Full stop.
The RDS is strong here, my friend.
I've accidentally sat down with my Nexus 5 in my back pocket before and it's been fine. Sometimes you leave your phone in your back pocket and forget about it.