Report: iPhone 4 "more prone to physical damage"

It may just be me, but iPhone 4 seems more prone to dropping due to surfaces with less friction, but it also seems more durable. Over 24 months, I never dropped my 3G or 3GS, but the 4 has flown out of my hand or slid off a slightly angled surface (armrest, pant leg, etc.) 12-36 inches and onto a hard surface (wood, concrete, tile), more than a dozen times. Aside from a very difficult-to-find scuff on the back edge of the antenna band, no discernable damage. Otoh, the accident-free 3G and 3GS appear quite worn with pocket-induced scuffs and cracks, and their fit has loosened with time (wiggling glass, deformable back, loose switch, etc).

This post seems to suggest that hardness and durability is the same thing (see paragraph 3). Hardness and durability (or resistance to shattering) are 2 very different properties. In fact, with most materials as you increase hardness you also make the material more brittle and subject to cracking when exposed to a shock.

Company that sells extended warranties says, "you need an extended warranty." There's a shock.

Who ever wrote that report can't read a graph or interpret his own numbers... and everyone else repeats the same drivel...

3GS owners had broken screens in 76% of reported damage. iPhone 4 owners reported broken screens in 82% of cases. That is an increase of **6%** not 82%!! If you want to be really anal about it, the "6" is 7.89% of the 76, so there was a 7.89% increase in the distribution.

Taking the 70% increase in overall damage and adding the 7.89% increase on the 76% you get a 10.2% overall increase (either -> 7.89 * .76 * 1.7 or (1.7 * 100 * 82) - (1.7 * 100 * 76))

With 10.2% increase in broken glass when there is 100% increase in glass that can be broken, I think the new glass is doing quite well.

On my 3g, I really liked the cozip case at amazon. It was a nice middle ground between the naked phone which actually slipped out of my pocket a few times, and the neoprene cases that you can't get out of your pocket before the phone stops ringing. Just a slightly tacky feel to it.

I believe it was this one http://goo.gl/bugh

I haven't found one I like as much for my 4g, but I'm thinking about a bumper. Certainly not a $29 bumper, but a bumper.

With twice as much glass to break, and glass that cracks "at least as often" as the old glass, shouldn't iPhone 4 users be reporting at least 100% more cracked glass than iPhone 3GS users? The numbers here don't support the statements being made.

SquareTrader barely offers more than the standard AppleCare warranty. Meanwhile, this company actually provides FULL INSURANCE for the iPhone 4, at a CHEAPER PRICE than SquareTrader, and even covers it for THEFT OR LOSS, too: http://www.worthavegroup.com/

Took my 3Gs out of the case this morning and wiped it down. It really is a beautiful thing! Not a scratch or smudge on it.

Speck Pixel Skin HD. The fit is precise, low profile, and covers the back piece of glass. It's not grippy rubber, so it slides in your pocket easiliy, and it's not hard plastic, so it has shock absorption if you drop it. Best case ever.

This was non-news when TUAW reported it 5 days ago:

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/15/are-higher-iphone-4-accident-rates-really-something-to-worry-abo/