The iPhone 17 and iPhone Air feature design improvements that should make the handsets more durable than their predecessors, with Apple focusing on this during the launch event a few weeks ago. The iPhone 17 Pros have aluminum unibody designs with the metal covering the camera plateau and extending on the back to improve heat dissipation (video below). The glass on the back is made of Ceramic Shield, while the front display has a Ceramic Shield 2 cover that’s three times more scratch-resistant than previous models. The iPhone Air also has Ceramic Shield 2 on the front, while the back is covered entirely by Ceramic Shield glass.
The real-time durability tests that appeared on social media in the past few days proved the new iPhones are more durable than before. The first iPhone 17 Pro Max drop test saw the handset survive several drops without damage to the front and back glass. Tests showed that the iPhone Air doesn’t bend, despite its ultra-thin design. However, these durability tests also showed that aluminum will scuff easily at the point of impact in drops. The iPhone 17 Pros also saw criticism for scratching easily.
This brings us to another stress test courtesy of YouTube channel PhoneBuff that pits Apple’s most expensive iPhone 17 variant against Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra in a more controlled drop test. Unlike other drop tests that involve a person dropping a handset, PhoneBuff’s tests always try to offer a more scientific approach and bring some order to the randomness of drop tests. The new test shows that, unfortunately, the iPhone 17 Pro Max won’t survive every type of impact, with both the front and back glass covers prone to breaking. The Galaxy S25 Ultra doesn’t do any better.
What’s a controlled drop test?
PhoneBuff uses a robot for smartphone drop tests to ensures the phone stays perfectly horizontal or vertical. The landing surface is also meant to replicate hard concrete. For the iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra drop test, the YouTuber created a custom mounting system. Then, PhoneBuff replaced the aging concrete paver with a sandpaper surface calibrated to match real sidewalks, similar to what Corning uses in lab testing.
PhoneBuff proceeded to drop the two phones from a height of 1 m (3.3 feet) in three scenarios. First, the phones were dropped on the back, and the rear glass cracked on both devices, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra also suffering damage to the glass covering some of the cameras. The second test was a corner drop, where the iPhone 17 Pro Max saw heavy scuffing and denting. The aluminum frame, while durable, took a significant hit, but the screen did not shatter. The third test had both phones landing on the front, and both screens cracked. The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s display crack caused lens flaring on the selfie camera.
PhoneBuff repeated the test by dropping the phones on the back, corner, and screen from 1.5 m (4.9 feet), which exacerbated the damage from the previous drops. The phones still worked, but the front and back glass covers shattered even worse. Interestingly, the second corner drop on the iPhone 17 Pro Max broke the main camera’s focus. The conclusion is that you’ll need protective gear for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, including screen covers and cases, to reduce the risk of accidental damage.
