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The iPhone Air bends in JerryRigEverything's test — but thankfully, it’s not "Bendgate 2.0"

The iPhone Air faced Zack Nelson’s notorious bend test—and survived. The phone held up remarkably well even during extreme tests, putting Bendgate 2.0 fears to rest.

At just 5.6mm, the iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest phone yet, and naturally, smartphone enthusiasts wanted to know if it would bend just as easily as the infamous iPhone 6 Plus. Zack Nelson, better known as JerryRigEverything, has put the phone through his trademark torture test -- and the results confirm the iPhone Air is indeed one tough cookie.

Ceramic Shield 2 is impressive; anti-reflective coating, not so much...Zack started off the much-awaited iPhone Air durability video with his usual scratch test, where Apple's new Ceramic Shield 2 showed surprising resilience. Typical smartphone glass starts scratching at a level 6 on the Mohs scale of hardness, but Zack’s picks barely left marks even at 7. “Apple ruined my line,” he joked, noting that Corning’s new Ceramic Shield 2 is a big improvement over last year’s iPhone 16 lineup, even besting the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s Gorilla Armor 2, which showed visible scratches at a level 6 when it was put to the same test earlier this year.

Where the iPhone Air failed to impress was in its ability to fight off screen reflections. While Apple claims that its latest iPhones come with a new “Apple-designed coating for improved anti-reflection,” it didn’t do as well a job at reducing glare under bright lights when compared with Samsung's two-year-old Galaxy S24 Ultra.

It takes 216 pounds to bend the iPhone Air...Unlike the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, the Air uses a grade 5 titanium frame, which the company says is far less likely to bend under pressure—titanium is twice as rigid as aluminum and 60% more elastic. That elasticity turned out to be crucial when Zack attempted the notorious bend test. Pushing with both thumbs from the back on the first attempt, the phone barely budged. He then tried bending it from the front, and while there was some visible curvature this time, the Air snapped back "as straight as it was coming out of the box a few minutes ago."

Still not satisfied, Zack decided to kick things up a notch. Using a crane scale in his garage, he applied direct pressure in the center of the iPhone Air until it finally gave way. The iPhone Air endured up to 216 pounds (~98kg) of force before its front glass finally cracked and the titanium frame flexed past the point of recovery. Surprisingly, the back glass came out unscathed, and the phone was still powered on and usable in the end. This should finally put "Bendgate 2.0" fears to rest. At the very least, common mishaps—like accidentally sitting on your phone—are unlikely to cause catastrophic damage to the iPhone Air. As Zack puts it, “your pants pockets would rip off before the Air would.”

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