The following is a video from the YouTube channel, Unbox Therapy:

Unbox Therapy has received a shell like the one to be used for the iPhone 6s, Apple’s next generation iPhone, to be revealed next month. It would seem like Apple listened to the consumer backlash which they received after the release of the iPhone 6, after it was found that those phones bend a little too easily.

Last year, Unbox Therapy uploaded a video showing the host bending an iPhone 6 Plus with just his hands, and it gave with just a little bit of force. Afterwards, the host tried to bend the phone back, and the screen actually started to come off the device. Considering that the iPhone would set a person back over $600, I think that might be a problem.

That puts Apple and their engineers in quite a dilemma. Either they were incompetent and didn’t sufficiently design or test the iPhone 6, or they knew that they had manufactured a faulty product and they put it on the market anyway because they knew that people were going to buy it. Which is it? In either case, Apple doesn’t look very good.

It seems like they’re doing something about it this time. The case for the 6s looks like it will still be made of aluminum (which is probably Apple’s favorite metal), but at least the case is going to be thicker at some points to make it more durable. I know that if I spent over $600 on a smart phone, I’d want it to last at least two years.

In terms of value for dollar, the iPhone is probably Apple’s best device. Besides that, Apple doesn’t offer much in the way of value. This is particularly true for their MacBook line. MacBooks are not the finest computers out there. In terms of technical specs, MacBooks are behind the times by several years. When a person buys a MacBook, they’re buying the same components that make up a PC. There’s the same storage drive as what’s used by PCs, and the same CPUs that are made by Intel, even if they’re dated. And Apple still has the nerve to charge over $1000 for these things. A person could buy a new laptop as technically capable as a MacBook for about half as much.

So, when a person buys a MacBook, what are they spending so much money on? To be able to use Mac OS. And in the case of the newest Macbook, a single USB type C port, so you can brag about being one of the first to adopt the new USB standard.

I like USB type C, but having that being the only port on the device? And there’s only one? If MSI wasn’t also an early adopter of USB type C, there’d probably be far fewer people taking it seriously. Also, the USB type C port is how the system charges. Which is a cool feature of USB type C. However, because the MacBook has only one USB type C port, it can’t charge and have another USB device connected to it at the same time. So, those who like to use their computer to charge their phones might want to find a better solution than the new MacBook. Like plugging it into the wall. That’s been a thing for a while.

I compared the prices and technical specs of several PCs using Google shopping search, comparing them to the new MacBook. This is what I found:

The new MacBook, with it’s admittedly adequate (for now) 256 GB solid state drive, 8 GB of ram, and dinky 1.1 GHz CPU would set a person back $1,279.00. Think that’s a bargain? Read on.

I searched for laptops with comparable specs. Among what I found was this Dell Inspiron i15RV. It also sports a 256 GB solid state drive and a 1.4 GHz CPU. It would only set a person back $589.00. One might point out that it only has 4GB of ram, but an upgrade to 8GB would only set a person back about $60 and would be very easy for just about anyone to install.

To hammer the point home, I searched for laptops within $100 of the price listed for the new MacBook, and what I found is a laptop that can beat up the MacBook:

If you’re going to spend over a thousand dollars on a laptop, why not spend it well? This Acer Aspire V Nitro achieves 1.3 TB of storage with a solid state drive and a hard disk drive, has 16 GB of RAM, and has a 2.6 GHz CPU, more than twice as fast as the MacBook’s.

By the way, for those thinking of pointing this out: Yes, I know that there’s more to a processor than it’s clock speed. Still, it’s a valid question as to why Apple prefers processors with lower clock speeds in their computers.

I started on iPhones, and drifted to MacBooks. That might seem like drifting off topic, but it does help to be realistic when it comes to the quality of tech. Especially when it comes to Apple, who is famous for offering products that have an MSRP that is disproportionately greater than the cost of the components that went into it. I don’t hate Apple, and I think iPhone is one of the better smart phones on the market. However, not every Apple product is a great deal, and even when it comes to iPhone, it helps to do some research before going out and making a purchase.

UPDATE (8/19/2015): Unbox Therapy has uploaded a new video testing the iPhone 6s shell that they received. Here it is:

It would seem like Apple has taken the “bendgate” matter seriously, and has made a shell that is much harder to bend. So confident they were in their new shell, that they sent one to the man who bent their iPhone 6 with his bare hands, bringing much attention to it’s durability. Predictably, he put the new shell to the test. That won’t be the only thing to consider about the next iPhone, but this is still a pretty cool development.