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The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

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Stop biting into Apple for the iPhone 6

The new iPhone is surprisingly sturdy, secure and is worth considering despite criticism.

Fanfare erupted in Silicon Valley last month when Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 6.

However, by the time the latest version of Apple’s popular cellphone was released to the public, widespread enthusiasm had turned into scathing criticism.

There are two particular critiques of the iPhone 6 that deserve a response: the new phone’s durability and its security.

Shortly after the new iPhones appeared on the market, videos that depicted people bending their iPhones circulated on social media and news websites. This has created the false notion that the new phones are not durable and that they are, therefore, a waste of money.

The reality, however, is that the iPhone 6 will not bend during ordinary use. In fact, body builders are among the only people who are actually able to bend these devices without the use of tools. Although Apple sold 10 million iPhones during the product’s launch weekend, only a few people complained to the company regarding bent phones. This further supports the fact that the iPhones are more durable than their critics suggest.

Unless you actively try to bend your phone or you possess the physical capabilities to perform this feat, you probably won’t be deforming your iPhone anytime soon.

Though the complaints about the iPhone’s durability have come from regular Apple critics, other criticisms originated with the United States government.

Both the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have argued that the new iPhones are encrypted with a complicated code that is too long for the government to conveniently crack. In fact, according to FBI Director James Comey, it will take “more than five and a half years to try all combinations of a six-character alphanumeric passcode with lowercase letters and numbers.”

Senior officials have also claimed that these complicated codes will benefit criminals and terrorists.

There are two problems with these cynical predictions, though.

First, regardless of how difficult it is to decrypt the iPhone’s security codes, police still obtain plenty of data that doesn’t require time-consuming translations, such as call histories, email logs and geolocation information.

Second, it seems like the government brought this problem on itself. While I personally defend the right for the NSA to protect our security by analyzing metadata to track down potential terrorists, other consumers may feel more comfortable buying technology with tighter encryptions, especially in the wake of the Snowden controversy.

I readily admit that Apple is not a perfect company, but it seems like critics are being needlessly harsh. Perhaps they expect too much from Steve Jobs’s successor. Regardless of why these complaints arose, it’s time we gave Apple a break.

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