iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro Drop Test Videos Highlight Ceramic Shield Protection but Back Panel Still Crack-Prone

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro drop test videos are out and show the robustness of the Ceramic Shield front panel. Apple claims that the proprietary glass construction offers a fourfold increase in drop resistance. This was also noticed in the drop tests of both iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Separately, insurance company Allstate has claimed that the iPhone 12 emerged as the most durable smartphone it had ever tested. It conducted drop tests of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro to determine their fragility.

Technology channel PhoneBuff has released an over six-and-a-half-minute video on YouTube that covers the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro drop tests in multiple rounds. The video highlights that while the front panel of the two new iPhone models is protected by the Ceramic Shield glass, their rear panel carries a normal glass protection that doesn't resist shattering.

The back of the iPhone 12 is more prone to damage than that of the iPhone 12 Pro, the drop test video suggests. It could be due to the fact that the iPhone 12 Pro has a stainless steel frame, whereas the iPhone 12 comes with an aluminium covering.

However, the corner drop featured in the video shows that the stainless steel chassis of the iPhone 12 Pro results in a bit worse corner scuffs over those surface on the iPhone 12. Both iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, nevertheless, performed almost identical in the front dropping on a concrete surface, with no visible cracks on the screen.

The video also includes a “bonus round” in which the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are dropped from under 1.5 metres on a steel surface for as many as 10 times. It also features a “bonus bonus round” where both phones are dropped from the same 1.5-metre height but on a concrete surface. After concluding the two rigorous rounds, the narrator says in the video that the screens on both phones remained unaffected. The iPhone 12, however, got some cracks at the back.

In addition to the drop test video posted by PhoneBuff, insurance company Allstate conducted its drop tests of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. That testing also included face-down, back-down, and side-down tests, as noted by 9to5Mac. Allstate also made a video of the tests that were concluded with a result showing the durability of the iPhone 12 series. The company said that the Ceramic Shield front was a huge improvement, though some cracks and scuffed edges surfaced.

Allstate also underlined that the flat side design of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro might also help improve drop durability. Further, while the PhoneBuff video showed iPhone 12 Pro remain intact during various drops, Allstate found that the iPhone 12 Pro shattered with cracks on the wide camera when dropped on its back.

“At $279 for screen repairs and up to $549 for other repairs, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro owners should treat them with the same care they would give expensive cameras,” the company noted in the video.

Are iPhone 12 mini, HomePod mini the Perfect Apple Devices for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.