Skip to main content

iPhone 15 Pro Max durability test ends with big surprise

Zack Nelson of popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything has been at it again, subjecting yet another phone to the kind of durability test that will leave you wincing in horror.

Be gentle with Apples new Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max ... Yikes!

The latest device to get the Nelson treatment is the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the largest and most expensive iPhone that Apple started shipping last Friday.

After describing the brushed titanium and the etched back glass as “super cool,” Nelson takes his scratching tools to the Ceramic Shield of the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max and discovers that the display holds up well overall.

Next Nelson grabs his trusty box cutter, which he uses to scrape away at the selfie camera (first wince). Protected by the Ceramic Shield, it appears to stand up well.

After that, the box cutter is enthusiastically dragged down the side of the iPhone 15 Pro Max (second wince), which, hardly surprisingly, takes off the blue physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating, revealing the titanium frame beneath.

Later, as is customary with Nelson’s durability tests, a naked flame is put right up against the new iPhone’s display. After a long burn, the display remains impressively intact.

So far, so good. But things go badly wrong for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, as during Nelson’s unscientific stress test in which he uses his fingers and thumbs to bend the device, the back glass shatters, seemingly without too much effort (big wince).

“Yeah, I’m going to be honest, I did not see that one coming,” Nelson says, noting that he’s been doing bend tests for the last 11 years and most phones do not break, adding: “iPhones especially do not break, like ever.”

He goes on: “That snap was abnormally quick. Kind of stunned,” before pondering whether it had to do with the grade 5 titanium frame having nearly three times more tensile strength than aluminum or half the elasticity.

Notably, when Nelson performs the same bend test on the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro, the smaller device handles it just fine.

And just when you’re thinking that the iPhone 15 Pro Max has suffered enough, Nelson fires up a blow torch and directs it toward the mashed-up handset. Yes, it’s time to wince again.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
It looks like the iPhone 16 will get a big design upgrade
Someone holding the Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Following the release of the iPhone 15 Pro series, several early adopters reported overheating issues. Apple later confirmed that the problem was caused by a software bug in iOS 17, which affected some owners of the phones. The company quickly resolved the issue with the release of iOS 17.0.3 and never acknowledged that hardware played a role in the overheating. Fast-forward to the present, and it now looks like Apple plans to make hardware changes on the iPhone 16 that would make the 2024 handsets less likely to overheat.

According to Apple prototype collector Kosutami, Apple will make two changes to the next round of iPhones. On X, formerly Twitter, they note: "Apple is actively working on graphene thermal system of iPhone 16 Series to solve the heating problem existing before. And the battery of Pro series would change to metal shell, for the same reason."

Read more
How I use my Apple Watch and iPhone to manage my diabetes
iPhone 15 Pro showing One Drop app and kit.

It’s November, which means it’s Diabetes Awareness Month, with World Diabetes Day recently happening on November 14. According to data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study (AHMS) and Apple Women’s Health Study (AWHS), there are about 537 million adults worldwide who are currently living with diabetes, with that number potentially reaching 643 million by 2030. In the U.S. alone, about two out of five people will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and more than one in three adults have elevated glucose levels that put them in the pre-diabetes zone.

I was pre-diabetic since my college years (it runs in both sides of my family), but then my doctor officially diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes around early 2018. However, I was told that my case was more “mild” than others and that taking some medication — while also cutting out carbs and sweets, plus daily exercise — can help me keep it under control.

Read more
The iPhone is getting out of control
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro showing the screens.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro (left) and iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

When Apple launched the original iPhone in 2007, it was as easy as could be — it was just the iPhone. There was only one model, and when you said you wanted an iPhone, the sales rep would know which one you meant ... because that was all there was.

Read more