iPhone 17 meets JerryRigEverything: Durability of the cheapest new iPhone tested

Following the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro (Max), the base iPhone 17 has now gone through the JerryRigEverything durability test (linked below). This is the cheapest phone in the lineup and is expected to sell more than the already popular iPhone 16, at least according to pre-order numbers. Fortunately, it passes the durability test with flying colors.

Along with the standard scratch testing tools, JerryRigEverything used more commonly found items to recreate real-world scuffs and scratching. Starting with the front of the iPhone 17, as expected, the ceramic shield does a great job at protecting the phone’s screen up to level seven of Mohs hardness scale. There was light smudging at level seven but no scratches or cracks. The back is more interesting however, since there is no ceramic shield with improved scratch resistance, unlike the iPhone Air and Pro models.

While the stainless-steel utility knife (level five hardness) with light scratching was unable to scuff the back, surprisingly, an aluminum piece with level three hardness was able to cause permanent marks. While this was intentional scratching, there have been several reports of the backs of display units of the new iPhones being scratched at the stores. Apple, however, denies those are scratches at all and calls them "material transfer." Coming back to the iPhone 17, the titanium rod (level six) also made permanent marks. On the other hand, a copper and nickel coin, a brass key, copper wire, 90% silver coin, and 90% gold coin did not cause any permanent marking.

Coming to the bend test, with full pressure, there was no cracking of the back or the front. The phone showed minimal flexing, proving that the aluminum frame and glass combination is durable enough to easily withstand bending from standard use. This was the same result with the rest of the lineup as well, including the iPhone Air that despite its thinness, can withstand a lot of force.