If you're one of the (likely very) few people who has bent their brand new iPhone, you could be in luck: Apple might replace it at the Genius Bar.
The Next Web contacted an Apple support representative online and asked if a bent phone falls under Apple's warranty. The employee said that if the iPhone passes what's called a "Visual Mechanical Inspection," then the specialist -- called a Genius, in Apple parlance -- could choose to replace it.
"That is 100 percent up to the Genius you speak with at the store," the specialist wrote, according to The Next Web. If it doesn't pass the inspection, the representative wrote, then you'll have to buy a new one.
The rep added that Apple is "looking into this with an insane amount of detail."
Click over to The Next Web to see portions of the actual chat.
The bent iPhone 6 Plus has received a lot of media attention thanks in large part to the viral video of a man bending it with his bare hands. (It got more than 20 million views in 48 hours.) However, it's not actually likely that this problem is really affecting a lot of people.
Please don't try to do this with your iPhone.
Ty Shay, the chief marketing officer of SquareTrade, a company that sells insurance for mobile devices, told The Huffington Post that as of Wednesday evening, the company hasn't received any claims for bent phones.
"We've had dozens of accidental claims, but they're all from accidental screen damage or water immersions," Shay told HuffPost. "I think you're much much more likely to break your phone by dropping it or with water than having it bend."
Still, Apple could do without all of the negative attention -- the media and Twitterverse have dubbed it "bendgate" -- focused on its new phone. Making matters worse for the company, Apple on Wednesday had to pull the latest update to iOS 8, its new mobile operating system, after people reported problems with cell signals and the fingerprint sensor.
The iPhone 6, which went on sale in the U.S. last Friday, starts at $299 with a two-year contract, or $749 without. Apple did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The reports threaten to overshadow the news that the company had another record-breaking opening weekend, selling over 10 million new iPhones in the first three days the new models were on sale.
It's also too soon to determine whether or not "bendgate" is going to actually be an issue for Apple, like the antenna on the iPhone 4 was in 2010. Four years ago, Steve Jobs had to hold an emergency press conference to defend what at the time was the latest iPhone, after customers reported dropped calls and lost cellular signals when they held their phones in a certain way. Apple gave out free cases and issued an update to the phone's software in response.
And Cult of Mac's Buster Hein reminds us that although the iPhone 6 Plus is getting a lot of attention, other smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 4S, 5 and 5S, have been reported to bend.
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