The iPhone 6 once attracted extensive interest due to its novel sapphire crystal screen. This feature contributed to the smartphone’s robustness, considerably different from preceding iPhone models. YouTube user Marques Brownlee demonstrated this in a video, pushing the screen’s resilience by bending and scratching it, with no visible effect.
At the time, it was anticipated that this highly robust screen would address a common problem for iPhone users – the fragility of the phones when dropped. Regardless of its startling thinness—described by Brownlee as “paper thin”—it was remarkably resilient under usual conditions, including drops on the floor.
Moreover, the iPhone 6 was ahead of its time regarding visual display quality. Views from the video revealed minimal color distortion, indicating that the screen rendered images in remarkably high quality.
Yet, there were debates surrounding the iPhone’s screen size. The video exhibited a 4.7-inch screen panel, notably smaller than the screens on popular “phablet” models like Samsung’s Galaxy S5 or Note 3 back then. To offer a competitive edge, Apple was suggested to introduce a larger screen, but the visuals or information about a more prominent iPhone 6 model were sparse.
Regardless of minor drawbacks, the iPhone 6’s durability and quality generally garnered favorable responses.
Following are more details and images from Brownlee’s iPhone 6 durability test.
Light edits were made in 2025 to improve clarity and relevance.