Thinner bezels, second-gen Ceramic Shield factor in iPhone 16 drop test results

Apple Track's Sam Kohl flew to Australia just to be the first to post a drop test between the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro. The former is the new Desert Titanium color and the latter is a new iPhone 15 Pro Max in Natural Titanium. Apple said that the new iPhone 16 Pro models have an improved Ceramic Shield that is 50%  tougher than the first-generation Ceramic Shield. Kohl says this claim led him to do this drop test by comparing how well the latest Pro model takes an impact to the display compared to last year's phone.    

Did the drop test back up Apple's claim? We will get to that later. The first drop was a pants pocket length drop on the side of the phones. Even though this wasn't much of a fall, the bottom of both phones suffered some cosmetic injuries in the form of small dents.  The next drop, from chest high on the sides of the phones also resulted in some damage to the bottom of the handsets, especially on the iPhone 16 Pro. Keep in mind that these phones are landing on concrete.

Next came the side drop from head height. Outside of more damage to the bottom, the rest of both iPhones looked good, especially the screens since they have yet to be tested. But even before any face-down drop was attempted, the fall from above head height turned the screen off of the iPhone 16 Pro (turning it into a brick) and left a crack on the bottom of the display.

So while the iPhone 15 Pro was still running after taking basically the same blows as the iPhone 16 Pro, it was the newer unit that was knocked out of commission. Kohl's theory, which does make sense, is that the 30% smaller bezels are leaving the display on the iPhone 16 Pro more vulnerable in the corners.

The chest-high back drop led both phones to shatter the rear glass in a corner producing the spider web crack that many of us are familiar with. The next test, the head-high back drop, did some serious damage to the iPhone 15 Pro while the iPhone 16 Pro held up better.

That takes us to the screen-down drops which are the ones that most iPhone users are interested in. From waist high, the iPhone 16 Pro had a large scratch alongside the side of the display. The iPhone 15 Pro had smaller damage in the upper corner but otherwise was okay. Amazingly, the iPhone 15 Pro had no problem with the waist-high screen-down drop while the iPhone 16 Pro saw the cracks on its display lengthen.

The 10th drop of the day was an above-the-head screen-down fall that saw the iPhone 16 Pro suffer a little more damage in the areas where it had previously cracked while the iPhone 15 Pro was still holding on. As Kohl noticed by this point, the corners appear to be the iPhone 16 Pro series' Achilles heel this year.

Looking to see how high the iPhone 15 Pro would have to fall to crack the screen, both phones were dropped from a much higher distance estimated to be 12-13 feet. That fall finally made the ceramic shield on the iPhone 15 Pro raise the white flag and surrender. Even though the iPhone 16 Pro display stopped working several drops ago, after that last test the screen on the new model held up better overall perhaps giving credence to Apple's statement that the new Ceramic Shield is 50% stronger than the previous generation which was used on the iPhone 15 Pro.

Looking to see how strong the Ceramic Shield is, both phones were dropped from an even higher distance. Once again, the iPhone 15 Pro screen shattered leaving sharp edges; while the iPhone 16 Pro display was also cracked, the damage was more confined to a specific area and was still smooth enough to run a finger across it. So even higher Sam went with the phones. And while the iPhone 16 Pro display took it on the chin with the next fall, it literally took it on the chin and the damage was contained there. 

Looking at both displays side-by-side, you really can see the difference in the Ceramic Screen protection for both phones. Outside of the early hit that stopped the display from working on the iPhone 16 Pro, the second-generation Ceramic Shield does appear to be stronger than the first-generation.

If there is one thing to learn from this test, it is that you should buy a case for your new iPhone 16 series model. In fact, any iPhone you use as your daily driver should be protected, I'm still going without one for my iPhone 15 Pro Max but after watching this video, that might change.