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In brief: The iPhone 16 series might offer few upgrades over its predecessor, but reviews of Apple's latest handsets have been positive. There have also been several durability tests carried out on the Pro models – with mostly good results. The devices stand up to a variety of punishments pretty well, though the thin bezels mean that dropping them can cause some big problems.
Starting with YouTube's favorite device-torture channel, JerryRigEverything, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is put through the usual durability tests by Zack Nelson.
Nelson begins by mocking Apple for the similarities between this year's iPhone and the iPhone 15, as well as the included USB-C cable only being able to transfer data at USB 2 speeds rather than the USB 3 speeds the phone is capable of handling.
The iPhone 16's Sapphire-plated camera control button is the single new hardware feature on the handsets. It starts showing scratches at level 5 (on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness) rather than 8 or 9, which would be the case for pure sapphire. Nelson posits that this is due to the microfracturing of the cutting process – a gem tester machine barely registers the button.
Onto the screen, which Apple says is twice as tough as the glass on any other smartphone, thanks to the new Ceramic Shield glass that is 50% tougher than the previous generation. But scratches still appear at level 6. "Glass is glass," Nelson notes.
The titanium exoskeleton scratches just as easily as anodized aluminum, but the OLED display shows little reaction to the flame test.
Finally, there's the bend test. The iPhone 15 Pro Max didn't fare very well in this section; the back glass completely shattered on the first bend. However, its successor survived a forceful bend with no damage. Overall, it's a pretty good result for the Apple handset.
One area where the Pro phones don't appear to excel is surviving drops. AppleTrack's video from Sam Kohl compares an iPhone 15 Pro against an iPhone 16 Pro (not a Max). Even a pocket-height drop shows damage on the 16 Pro's edge, with more damage appearing from a chest-height drop. The fourth drop onto the 16 Pro's edge not only cracks the display slightly, but it also refuses to turn on, likely the result of those thin bezels causing the edge-drop to impact the screen.
The 15 Pro lasts until drop number 11 (around 12-13 feet). The 16 Pro doesn't appear as damaged, even though the phone is essentially broken from that previous edge-facing drop.