iPhone 16 Pro Max Shows Minimal Flex in Latest Durability Test, Reports Indicate Apple Using Lower-Quality Sapphire for Camera Button

The iPhone 16 series was released worldwide on September 20, and even though Apple did not bring a radical design shift to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, it has incorporated various internal changes that have addressed the complaints present in last year’s models. One area where the company maintains a solid consistency is build quality, as you will find out soon in the latest durability test, where the top-end iPhone 16 Pro Max barely flexes an inch when stressed from both sides. It is definitely an improvement over the M4 iPad Pro lineup, with Apple’s 11-inch and 13-inch tablets snapping fairly easily.

The thicker logic board and new battery metal cover likely helped improve the rigidity of the iPhone 16 Pro Max

Shortly after the official launch of the new models, Zach, who runs the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, got his hands on Apple’s most premium offering for the year, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, in Desert Titanium. While he mocks the trillion-dollar firm for keeping things the same design-wise and slapping on a new model number, he does point out some key new features, starting with the Camera Control addition. This particular button shows visible marks when being scratched with a level 7 pick from the Mohs scale of hardware, indicating the use of sapphire.

However, the content creator points out that the button does not use pure sapphire, likely due to the imperfections caused when cutting out the shape. A dedicated tool is also used to determine if the sapphire used is pure, but the machine barely detects it. The remainder of the iPhone 16 Pro Max employs the use of titanium and glass, with the titanium part scratching just like anodized aluminum. While the scratch and burn tests can make for some exciting content, the majority of readers will likely skip to the bend test.

Sadly, those who wanted to point fingers at Apple for taking shortcuts and not using high-quality materials will be disappointed to learn that the iPhone 16 Pro Max barely flexes an inch, whether the handset is bent from the front side or the back. In a previous teardown video, we learned that the smaller iPhone 16 Pro features a thicker logic board with a metal cover present on the battery.

We believe that these two changes allow the iPhone 16 Pro Max to flaunt its durability, but it will be interesting to see what makes the flagship ‘tanky’ when we take a closer look at its internals. Naturally, that will be a discussion for another time.