I know that it might look like a medieval torture device, but what you see here is the gTool: Panel Press. It’s a specially designed tool created for the sole purpose of straightening out bent iPhones. No I’m not kidding. Shortly after the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus became available, we started hearing about them bending from being sat on while carried in back pants pockets. iPhones have aluminum back casings that are not designed to withstand 100’s of pounds of pressure which can happen when you sit down on the phone. The Panel Press can straighten out the frame by applying force in the opposite direction. If you need to unbend your iPhone, this tool will help, but it’s going to set you back a whopping $299.99! My advice is to NOT carry your phone in your back pocket and if you do, don’t sit down on it. There you go, $299.99 saved, crisis averted, you’re welcome. For more info visit gTool.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
I see this more for the various Verizon, ATT, and Sprint shops that can “repair bent” phones.
But I’d like to know if putting the phone in a sturdy cased can fit in a jeans back pocket as well as prevent bending.
@Sandee maybe a case with a steel frame would help.
@Doug You missed a year, we’ve been around for 17 😉
Posts like this are one more reason that I love this site, and have for 16 years.
I find it interesting that the phone in the device is apparently an iPhone 5 since it has square edges and the power button is on top. Somebody had to wok hard to bend that one.
@Julie – “iPhones have aluminum back casings that are not designed to withstand 100’s of pounds of pressure which can happen when you sit down on the phone.”
Technically, pressure is force/area, so “100’s of pounds of pressure” doesn’t make any sense. Do you mean 100’s of pounds of force apply to the whole face of the phone, or do you mean per square inch? I guess the latter. When one sits on the phone, the pressure applied can be very different depending on the supporting surface. My guess is that a 200 lbs person sitting with both feet off the ground would exert about 100 lbs of force on one butt. If all that force somehow was able to concentrate on 1 square inch of the phone, the amount of pressure would be 100 lbs/square inch. But that is a big “if”: I don’t know how I can concentrate half my weight on one square inch.
Perhaps if I were to slam my butt down on one side I could.
Can we fave posts? This would be on my top three! 😀
This is like April fools material haha. But in all seriousness even if you attempt to straighten out a bent iPhone it will likely never return to its original shape, but rather multiple tiny bendings. Would not recommend.
Viewing this with my engineer’s eye, the mechanism is not correct for unbending a phone. If the phone is bent into a “U” shape, to unbend there should be a support UNDER the middle and a support on TOP of each end to push down.
Also consider Truffol’s correct remark above, that it’s highly unlikely that the phone will unbend at the exact location where it bent, leading to a phone with multiple tiny bends.
Brian,
I think you are right – they would need more of a 3-point bend device, with a center loading area pressing the bent part of the iPhone and two supporting areas on the opposite side.