It took TK pounds of pressure for TK to snap the iPhone Air.
Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images
YouTuber JerryRigEverything tried and failed to bend the iPhone Air with his hands.
When he used a machine to break the iPhone Air, it took 216 pounds of pressure to snap the device.
The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest phone yet, and execs have been challenging interviewers to bend it.
When Zack Nelson — a.k.a. YouTube’s JerryRigEverything — tried to bend the iPhone Air, it hurt his fingers.
Apple wants to prove that its thinnest phone is durable. The company’s execs challenged interviewers to try to bend the phone. Apple said the device “exceeds Apple’s stringent bend strength requirements” and is “more durable than any previous iPhone,” in a release when it unveiled the device.
Nelson has amassed over 9 million followers for poking, prodding, and scratching various devices. He recently tested the iPhone Air and was surprised by how much pressure it could withstand. He posted a video of the experiment titled, “iPhone Air Durability test — I AM SHOCKED.”
Putting the iPhone Air on its side, Nelson tried bending it from both directions. Bending from the back caused “freaking nothing,” he said. Bending from the front, Nelson found a bit of “curvature,” but the phone’s titanium build caused it to return to “straight as it was coming out of the box a few minutes ago.”
The iPhone Air has a titanium frame, like most of Apple’s phones since the iPhone 15. The iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, which dropped the same day as the iPhone Air, revert to aluminum frames.
“The iPhone Air has no business being this indestructible,” Nelson said. “Both my thumbs now hurt, along with my pride. The iPhone Air 100% passes my durability test.”
To quantify the pressure under which the iPhone Air would break, Nelson placed the phone underneath two bars and then pulled up with a device that measured force.
At 171 pounds of pressure, he heard a crack, but the screen stayed intact. At 216 pounds, the phone snapped, though the back glass stayed intact.
That’s a lot more force than the iPhone 6 could handle. Some users found they could bend it with human force, leading to the company’s BendGate controversy in 2014.
That 216 pounds of force that snapped the iPhone Air was applied to one point in the center of the phone, and not across the device’s surface area, Nelson said. So no, you probably won’t bend your iPhone Air by sitting on it.
At the time, I lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and had applied for a Master’s degree in journalism after years of being disillusioned, working in an advertising agency. I made little money and struggled with how long my workdays were and how little time I had for myself. I also felt like I needed a new challenge, and not only changing careers but moving to a new country could provide that for me. The letter welcomed me into the class of 2011, and I had to reread it about 20 times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
It’s been 15 years since I moved to the US. Throughout my time here, I have had seven different immigration statuses in the US, including six years with an H-1B visa, before becoming an American citizen.
It was an arduous process that consumed my time, energy, and money, and it wasn’t until I finally had my American passport in hand that I felt I could stop thinking about my immigration history.
I came to get my Master’s degree at an Ivy League school
My initial plan was to move to New York City for the 10-month-long journalism program. I had left a boyfriend, a cat, and a fully furnished apartment back home, along with my entire family. Through Columbia University, I was given an F-1 student visa that allowed me to enter the US legally for the duration of my program.
I remember how out of place I felt during my first weeks of school. I was one of a handful of South Americans who had been accepted into the incredibly competitive program, and unlike many other students, I had no journalism experience. What I did have was a lot of experience in social media and making things go viral. English is also not my first language, and at first, I struggled with communicating 24/7 in it. Sure, I could read a book and watch a movie with no problem, but actually living in the US was a heightened experience.
The author graduated from Columbia University.
Courtesy of the author
Before graduating, Columbia University held a job fair. International students were warned that it’d be hard to get hired because sponsoring visas was expensive for employers. I went with little to no hope, and to my surprise, a television network hired me right there and then. When I raised my concerns about being on a visa, they let me know that they’d be applying for my H-1B right away.
I was on an H-1B visa for 6 years
The company that hired me had its own legal team in-house that was incredibly well-versed in work visas. They handled the whole laborious process for me, and I was approved within months.
The one catch was that if I wanted or needed to change employers, a new company had to re-sponsor me. I felt somewhat tied to that job, especially because every time I applied to a new role, I would get asked the same question, “Will you need sponsoring in the future?” which almost immediately meant a rejection was coming my way.
The author changed jobs during her H-1B visa.
Courtesy of the author
I worked at that job for two years of my three-year max before needing to have my H-1B visa renewed. When I found another role at a different company that was more interesting to me, I applied, disclosing that I had a work visa that needed to be transferred and eventually renewed. Being trilingual — I am fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English — played in my favor because they were looking for someone to explore taking the company into Latin America.
While it was nerve-racking because there’s always a chance that your visa will be denied, the initial transfer and following renewal process went smoothly. I had to travel to Argentina often to get my visa restamped with my new employer’s name on it and undergo extensive interviews to ensure I was still the best candidate for that specific job.
Even though I’d go to Argentina often for visa-related issues, I still missed out on big family and friend events, such as my nephew’s birth and my best friend’s wedding. While my visa was being renewed, I couldn’t leave the US. It sucked, but losing my ability to stay legally in the US would’ve sucked more.
My husband sponsored my green card
Because the H-1B visa is a “double intent” visa, I was allowed to apply for a green card or permanent residency. This could be done either through my employer or through marriage.
Right before I was about to hit my maximum of six years on an H-1B, my employer let me know that they were not moving forward with my green card application because it was too expensive. I needed to either move back to Argentina and continue working for them from there or find a new job that would sponsor me.
When I found out, I was already engaged to my now-husband, and we decided to apply for a green card through marriage. He became my sponsor, and we had to prove through extensive paperwork and interviews that we were, in fact, lawfully and truthfully married. We filed about six months after getting married because that’s how long it took us to gather all the supporting documents we needed.
The author married her husband in New York City.
Courtesy of Gigi Gatewood
My green card was approved in 2018, months after the birth of our first child and a year and a half after we first applied. This card allowed me to live in the US legally and work for any employer without needing sponsorship anymore.
It felt freeing. I stopped working full time as a journalist and decided to freelance for companies like Netflix and Sundance. This also meant that I wasn’t questioned about my work every time I entered the US because nothing on my passport or green card was tied to an employer. And while a green card can always be removed by USCIS, it did feel like a more stable step in my immigration journey than having an H-1B.
The author had three children in the US.
Courtesy of the author
While on my green card through marriage, I still was not allowed to vote, nor get divorced from my spouse, or I’d lose my legal status.
In 2021, I became an American citizen
After four years on my green card and having had two more children, I decided to apply for American citizenship. I wanted to have the same passport as my children. As an immigrant, my mind would always jump to the worst-case scenario, and I worried about Argentina being put on a travel ban list, for example. Every time we traveled, my husband and kids went through one line at the border, and I went through another, and I always panicked that we would get separated.
The process of applying for citizenship was the easiest in my over a decadelong experience with visas. It took me about two months from applying to becoming a naturalized citizen. I had to take an English test and a civics test, and that was it.
I became an American citizen in 2021.
Courtesy of Conz Preti
While my intention when I first came to the US was not to stay forever — and that is still the case — I’m grateful that I was able to navigate the gruesome and sometimes incredibly discouraging US immigration system. I don’t take it for granted. And more importantly, I’m relieved that I don’t have to spend more time or money on never-ending applications.
The Meta CEO has an extensive collection of watches, ranging from a flashy yellow-gold Rolex to a simple $120 Casio. Zuckerberg also has at least two timepieces from Swiss watchmaker Greubel Forsey, one of which is a prototype containing the watchmaker’s new complication.
Speaking with Drip, Zuckerberg flashed his Nano Foudroyante, a watch with a reported retail price of 465,000 francs — roughly $585,000 in today’s dollars.
“They said that if I wanted, I could get one of the early ones that they made,” Zuckerberg said. “I’m more of a work-in-progress, builder type of person, so I actually just asked them if I could get the prototype.”
“I don’t know if they normally do that, but they figured out how to do that for me,” he added.
The Nano Foudroyante is Greubel Forsey’s 10th “Fundamental Invention,” and was limited to only 22 timepieces in its release.
In watchmaking, a “foudroyante” denotes a subdial that measures fractions of a second. For Greubel Forsey, this means that one hand completes one revolution per second, dividing the second into six distinct beats. You can see the complication up close in the video below.
The company also says the watch is more energy efficient. While a traditional foudroyante consumes 30 microjoules per jump, the Nano Foudroyante consumes only 16 nanojoules, according to Greubel Forsey.
Zuckerberg owns at least one other Greubel Forsey watch: a $900,000 Hand Made 1. Zuckerberg wore the timepiece in his video announcing the end of Meta’s US fact-checking partnerships.
Unlike competitors Apple and Google, Meta has not released a smartwatch to compete for wrist space with traditional timepieces. The company’s hardware push has looked up toward the eyes, where Meta has released a variety of smart glasses, including the new $800 Ray-Ban Display Glasses.
The company is launching a wrist device alongside the glasses, though it doesn’t tell the time.
When Zuckerberg announced the new AI glasses on stage, both of his wrists were occupied: one with his watch, the other with Meta’s neural band, which controls the glasses.
Controversial COP29 speech: While hosting the COP29 climate conference in November 2024, Aliyev declared oil and gas a “gift from God,” defending fossil fuels and accusing Western nations of hypocrisy for their dependency on his country’s energy while criticizing its environmental record. His remarks drew strong condemnation from climate advocates and contrasted sharply with the conference’s official goals. Corruption and personal enrichment: Investigations like the Pandora Papers and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have revealed that Aliyev’s family and associates have secretly amassed vast wealth through offshore networks and control over lucrative industries, including the country’s oil and gas sectors. These schemes have allegedly siphoned billions from state coffers for personal gain. Influence peddling (“Caviar diplomacy”): The Azerbaijani government has used its oil wealth for extensive lobbying, including a scheme known as “caviar diplomacy.” This involved using slush funds to pay off European politicians and deflect international criticism of human rights abuses. Use of energy as a geopolitical tool: Azerbaijan’s role as a major gas supplier to Europe has strengthened its geopolitical position, allowing the Aliyev regime to leverage its energy resources while facing limited consequences for its authoritarian practices. [1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
“Hypocrisy” in governance and human rights
Stifling dissent: The Aliyev regime is widely criticized for suppressing free speech and silencing critics, including journalists, activists, and opposition figures.
Independent journalists, such as those from Abzas Media who investigated corruption, have faced arrest and politically motivated charges. .Amnesty International has highlighted an escalating crackdown on freedom of expression ahead of recent elections, with the government harassing the families of state critics Rigged elections: Aliyev’s rise to power in 2003 was marred by irregularities, and a 2009 referendum eliminated presidential term limits, effectively allowing him to rule indefinitely. His wife was appointed Vice President, consolidating power within the family.
.Ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh:Following Azerbaijan’s offensive to retake the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled their homes. Human Rights Watch characterized the displacement as ethnic cleansing, which occurred despite international warnings Response to international criticism: Aliyev has rejected international criticism of his human rights record as a form of “political hypocrisy.” When U.S. lawmakers called for the release of political prisoners, Aliyev called their appeal “disgusting”. [2, 4, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17] AI responses may include mistakes. [1] aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/1…
