iPhone 4 82% More Prone to Accidental Screen Damage

When the iPhone 4 hit the market this past summer, it became one of the best-looking smartphones out there, and also supposedly one of the most durable – despite having a glass casing. This glass, though, is strengthened with various chemicals, and it was Apple’s hope that there’d be less RMAs or product issues due to broken glass. Well, that doesn’t look to be the “case” at all.

According to SquareTrade, a company that offers third party warranties for such devices, has found that the iPhone 4 is actually twice as likely to be returned for glass repair than the older iPhone 3GS. The exact increase is 82%, and is based on a sample of over 20,000 iPhone 4s that were turned in for a repair with this company.

In addition, and probably as a result of the faulty glass, the iPhone 4 has seen an overall accident rate of 68% higher than the iPhone 3GS, and also according to the same company, 15.5% of iPhone 4 owners will likely have an accident within the first year of owning the phone. Whew… nearly 16 people for every 100! Doesn’t instill much faith, does it?

Apple’s iPhone 4, as heralded as it has been, seems to me to be the most problem-ridden device the company has put out in recent years. But, to Apple’s favor, its track record is still one that’s drool-worthy to most other companies.

We examined the accident claim rate reported by SquareTrade customers to supply some concrete data to the discussion. We looked at the accident claim rate for over 20,000 SquareTrade iPhone 4 warranty owners and compared this to the iPhone 3gs claim rate. Our data shows that iPhone 4 owners are reporting accidents 68% more frequently than iPhone 3gs owners. 4.7% of iPhone 4 owners reported an accident to SquareTrade in the first 4 months of ownership, almost 70% higher than iPhone 3gs owners, 2.8% of whom had an accident over the same time period.