The new Apple TV has finally been released, and it comes with a cool new remote with a touchscreen, Lightning charging and a beautiful glass design. Unfortunately, that latter item is a bit of an issue, as Redditor /u/right2pandaarms found out over the weekend when his Apple TV remote shattered.
According to the Redditor, the damage sustained (pictured to the right) was caused by a two foot drop, albeit onto a tile floor. The guy’s roommate had the remote on his lap while sitting on the couch, and an inopportune movement had the remote fall to the floor. The remote still works, but it looks “like it got run over by a car.”
While most remotes aren’t as slippery or fragile as the Apple TV remote, it’s still a bit alarming just how easily broken it is. If you have a hard floor (wood, tile, concrete), then it could make sense to invest in a protective case for the remote if you want to keep it in one piece. GearZap are selling a Griffin Survivor Case for the remote, which should do just that. It’s also possible to use Apple’s wrist strap, but that’s really intended for playing games; no one wants a remote strapped to their wrist for their entire binge of House of Cards.
What do you think of the new remote’s fragility? Is this a reasonable trade-off for the cool design, or do Apple’s engineers need to go back to the drawing board? Let us know in the comments below, or write to us on Twitter or Facebook if you prefer.