The iPhone 16’s New Ceramic Shield Is Still No Match for Pavement
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Four years ago, Apple debuted a new glass formulation on the iPhone 12, dubbed Ceramic Shield, and this year, it’s upping the game with an even stronger version in the iPhone 16 lineup that it claims is twice as durable and 50% tougher than the original.
The first Ceramic Shield naturally prompted folks to run the usual series of drop tests to see how Apple’s claims held up, and the consensus was that Ceramic Shield was the real deal, although it didn’t make the iPhone indestructible, of course.
With Apple making even bolder claims about the glass on this year’s iPhone 16 models, everyone from bloggers to professional insurance underwriters is once again putting them through duress to see how they stand up to abuse. Chief among these is Allstate Protection Plans, which runs Breakability Tests every year so it can do the math to set the insurance premiums for its plans.
Allstate notes that it uses robots to “drop, bend, dunk, and fold devices for destruction” and doesn’t stop until it breaks the device, no matter how much effort it takes. After all, the goal here isn’t to prove a device is unbreakable but to see precisely where its breaking point is.
How the iPhone 16 Fared
First, the good news. Allstate didn’t even bother subjecting the iPhone 16 to the DunkBot, which immerses phones in water to see how they survive. That’s because recent iPhone models have survived so well since the iPhone 11 passed the test with flying colors in 2019 that the company has retired the test entirely for Apple’s smartphones.
Apple’s IP68 dust and water resistance rating certifies all recent iPhone models (since the iPhone 12) for submersion six meters of water for 30 minutes; the iPhone 11 was only rated for two meters for the same time, while the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max were rated for four. Allstate’s 2019 tests showed the iPhone 11 surviving after being submerged by the DunkBot for 30 minutes in five feet of water — well above Apple’s published specs at the time.
Unfortunately, the iPhone 16 Pro Max didn’t survive the company’s DropBot, but then again, no smartphone ever has.
Allstate Protection Plans ran both front-down and back-down drop tests and discovered that in both cases, the iPhone 16 Pro Max shattered after only one drop on the pavement from six feet. In the case of the front-down drop, the iPhone’s screen became unusable, although it’s likely the device was still internally functional as haptic responses could be felt.
After one face-down drop on a sidewalk from six feet, iPhone 16 Pro Max shattered across its display and suffered scuffing along its titanium frame. Upon impact, the display went black, then flickered white for approximately two minutes, before finally going permanently black. This rendered the device unusable. However, haptic responses could still be felt when pressing the power and camera buttons, so it’s possible the device could be saved with repair. Allstate Protection Plans
However, it’s clear that a screen replacement would have been necessary, which, for that model, costs $369 outright or $29 with AppleCare+ coverage (a compelling reason to pay for Apple’s protection plans — or invest in a good case).
Unsurprisingly, the iPhone 16 Pro Max did better in the back-down drop test, with nothing more than shattered glass. The device remained fully functional, and even the camera was unaffected, unlike last year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, Allstate noted that it “was not safe to handle with bare hands due to raised and loose glass.” Back glass repairs are less expensive at $199 since it’s just glass and not an entire display, but that’s still pricey without AppleCare+.
