iPhone 13 Pro faces hefty hammer in brutal durability test

By Trevor Mogg September 27, 2021

Another new iPhone means another brutal durability test from device-destroying YouTuber TechRax.

The star of this particular video is the iPhone 13 Pro, which, like the iPhone 12 Pro, includes a tough Ceramic Shield display, stainless steel sides, and a glass back.

Apple claims its Ceramic Shield display, developed by New York-based Corning, offers an improved drop performance by a factor of four compared to previous versions of the handset.

As TechRax likes to do things a little differently, he decides to forgo the traditional drop test where you release the phone from a particular height to see how it deals with the impact.

Instead, his test involves hitting the display with a 3-pound hammer.

For sure, this is not a real-world scenario, as few people are likely to suddenly drop a hammer onto an iPhone display during the course of a typical day. But it does let you see just how much of a battering the iPhone’s Ceramic Shield display can take before it finally gives in.

TechRax, who according to his YouTube channel has been “smashing technology since 2011,” starts off with relatively gentle single impacts that see the hammer dropped onto the display from a height of several inches. The iPhone 13 Pro’s screen handles each impact comfortably, with no significant marks remaining on the glass.

The test then moves on to repetitive impacts with a little more weight behind them. It’s still the kind of thwack you’d expect your iPhone 13 Pro to be able to handle, although we certainly don’t advise you to give it a go.

With the display still intact, TechRax starts hitting the iPhone 13 Pro with more energy, but Apple’s latest phone takes the beating in its stride. “Wow, super durable, I mean they’re very decent-sized hits at this point,” TechRax comments.

A short while later, however, the phone’s screen finally cracks, and with additional blows, the screen loses power and starts to disintegrate. Not surprisingly, the glass back has also broken, despite not taking any direct hits.

Overall, the handset’s performance is impressive, and should instill confidence in any butter-fingered iPhone 13 owners, or folks with lots of hammers around the house.

Apple is clearly delighted with its partnership with Corning, investing nearly $500 million in the company over the last four years to help it expand its manufacturing capacity in the U.S. and drive research and development for new technologies geared toward durability and long-lasting product life.

For some of the craziest iPhone torture tests we’ve seen over the years, check out this carefully compiled collection on Digital Trends.

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