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Is the iPhone 6 Plus easy to bend? Video says yes

Laura Mandaro and Jessica Guynn
USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — If you notice your new iPhone is a little bent out of shape when you pull it out of your pocket, you may not be seeing things.

A man holds the new iPhone models in Munich.

Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which boast aluminum shells for lightness, apparently live up to that other characteristic of aluminum: malleability.

Reports of bent iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets are popping up on social media, and one product reviewer posted a video showing how far the larger frame can bend if one really, really tries.

On Twitter, it's being called #BendGate and #Bendghazi.

So far there has been no official response from Apple.

Russell Holly, 29, decided to examine his new, silver iPhone 6 after seeing online reports of bent iPhones.

He noticed it wobbled on a flat surface. Then he compared it to the other iPhone 6 he bought. The bend was unmistakable. His confidence in the iPhone shaken, the mobile editor for Geek.com returned the phone.

"Smartphones are not invulnerable objects," he said. "I've dropped more than my fair share of them, and I have seen other smartphones become damaged when people sit on them or worse."

But, said the father of three: "As an iPhone owner, this is a deal-breaker for me. I can't own a device that I have to treat with such extreme care."

Lewis Hilsenteger, the creator of a YouTube review show called Unbox Therapy, said he noticed a slight bend to his iPhone 6 Plus frame after carrying around the phone in his pocket for a few days.

In a clip, he proceeds to worsen the effect by applying pressure with his thumbs and fingers on the 5.5-inch frame. And yes, it bends after some exertion. The weakness was more pronounced near the buttons.

"Bottom line here is it's an aluminum phone, it is going to bend if you apply enough pressure, like I just did. Will this happen in your front pocket? That probably depends on how tight your pants are," Hilsenteger says in the video, which had 8.3 million views one day after it first published.

Modest grumbling about the new device from Apple, famed for its innovative, elegant designs, has been building since the phone went on sale in stores on Friday. Opening weekend sales of the two new phones topped 10 million, a record.

Websites devoted to Apple products hosted comments and pictures by new owners complaining of slight but noticeable changes to the frame.

TechCrunch noted that a similar complaint surfaced in the early days of the 5 and 5s launches, and several tech journalists pointed out that hunting for the "first flaw" in an Apple product launch had become a tired part of the Apple product cycle. First the rumor, then the launch, then hyperfocus on small problems — dubbed the "gates," as in "antenna-gate" and now "BendGate."

But analysts dismissed talk of "BendGate."

"I think it's a gross overreaction. The reality is that, yes, the phones do bend under pressure. But so would any other phone," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said. "It's just the physics of what they are trying to accomplish."

Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin says he thinks the problems are isolated.

He says he has been carrying his iPhone 6 Plus in the pocket of his tight jeans for a week without any bending.

"Apple has proven anytime there is a problem, they move quickly to correct it. That will be the case here," he said.

Apple shares (AAPL) ended Wednesday's session down nearly 1%, lagging a 1% rise in the Nasdaq Composite Index. The company also pulled its iOS 8.0.1 update after reports of problems including cellphone connections and TouchID capability.

Apple's stock is still up over 3% since Sept. 8, the day before it unveiled its new iPhones and mobile operating system, and introduced its Apple Watch.

And then there was the humorous side. Besides the disgruntlement of some Apple enthusiasts who had fought lines and crashing Web browsers to be among the first to buy the phones, which start at close to $300 (with contract) for the iPhone 6 Plus, the apparent glitch also provided fodder for Twitter's finest stand-ups.

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