A serious flaw found in the new iPhone 17

New mandatory strength tests introduced in the European Union have revealed one drawback of the flagship iPhone 17.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to GSMArena, despite improvements in battery, Apple smartphones significantly lag behind competitors in drop resistance

Thus, the new European labeling system assigns durability and repairability classes to devices. According to standardized test results, the iPhone 17 Pro Max received a "Class B" rating. This means it is guaranteed to withstand 180 drops. Although this is twice as good as last year's iPhone 16 Pro Max (90 drops, Class C), the result still falls short of competitors.

For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL flagships received the highest Class A, withstanding 270 drops each. This suggests that during everyday use, Apple's flagship will be more susceptible to damage. The thin iPhone Air showed a similar result to the Pro Max - Class B (180 drops).

In terms of repairability, the iPhone 17 is also far from being a leader. The phone was assigned Class C - the same as Samsung, but worse than Pixel (Class B). However, in battery tests, the iPhone 17 Pro Max performed excellently: Class A for energy efficiency and impressive 53 hours of battery life, outperforming competitors. But there's a nuance: the iPhone battery is designed for only 1,000 charging cycles, while Samsung's battery is designed for 2,000 cycles, indicating twice the service life.

Apple itself disagrees with the EU testing methodology and has previously voiced sharp criticism. In Cupertino, they claim that the definitions of drop and shake tests are ambiguous, their results are difficult to reproduce, and a sample of five devices is too small for an objective assessment (Apple insists on a minimum of 30 units).