Marques Brownlee reveals inside look at how Apple tests iPhone durability

YouTuber Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) visited several Apple labs to see for himself how Apple checks iPhone durability. He also talked to Apple’s head of hardware engineering to learn why iPhones are hard to repair.

MKBHD shared a series of posts on X/Twitter showing the steps and machinery Apple uses to test an iPhone’s durability before it hits the market. The YouTuber first showed how Apple water tests devices for IP ratings.

There’s a whole room of machines for water and ingress testing. MKBHD explained the testing happens in four levels. At the first level, a drip tray simulates rain with no real pressure (IPX4). Level 2 uses a sustained, low-pressure jet spray from any angle (IPX5). Level 3 involves a high-pressure spray from a literal firehose (IPX6).

Finally, at Level 4, the phone is locked underwater with added pressure to simulate depth for an extended time (IPX8).

For drop tests, Apple uses industrial robots to simulate hundreds of different drop angles onto different materials. “They hit it [iPhone] with some ultra bright lights and a high-speed camera to watch them back in incredibly slow motion. You can literally see the titanium frame wobble on ground impact,” said the YouTuber.

Further, MKBHD showed a machine that shakes the iPhone at computer-controlled frequencies to test how the phone will hold up in real-world scenarios like riding a bike, traveling on the subway, and more.

MKBHD also talked to John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, about why iPhones are hard to repair. Ternus told the YouTuber that Apple is focusing on making the iPhone a “product that never fails” instead of a product that isn’t “super reliable but super easy to repair”.

However, Ternus highlighted that Apple is working on making iPhone repairs smoother by enabling the use of used parts.