There have been increasing reports from owners of the new iPhone 6 that the handsets are becoming misshapen when carried in trouser pockets.
Apple has not yet responded to the claims that began circulating on Macrumours a few days ago. Reporters from the Independent, the Washington Post, India Today, and the Sydney Morning Herald have written that their phones have warped too.
Thousands of tweets under the hashtag #Bentgate have circulated about the issue.
Apple is marketing both the iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 + as the thinnest smartphones they have released, both less then 0.76cm thick.
Russell Holly, mobile phone analyst for Geek.com, said that while he was researching the issue he discovered that it had happened to him too.
“I set my phone glass down on a flat surface and noticed the phone wobbled slightly when I pressed on the top right and bottom left corners,” he told the BBC.
“I had already taken many photos of this phone for my work at Geek.com and could find no evidence of this warping when the phone was initially removed from the box. Like many of the other reports, I have never dropped the phone or abused it in any way.
“The phone sat in my front pocket for a couple of hours the day before while I drove around town to run a few errands, but there’s no way that should have caused any damage to the phone.
“This seems like a serious issue that Apple needs to at the absolute least be warning consumers about. Having spent quite a bit of time with many different smartphones, the severity of this issue is unique.”
For now the advice from industry experts is to avoid storing your iPhone in your pockets, though they are unclear about where else you can carry them on you. It is unclear yet whether Apple will be providing refunds or replacements for the damaged handsets.