Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have been the subject of many complaints regarding a spontaneously cracking camera glass. Reports circulating on Reddit and Google’s own Pixel support forums over the winter show frustrated customers claiming that their Pixel’s camera lens shatters — seemingly for no discernable reason.
The reports go back to November, shortly after the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro became available, but have been increasing in the interim. Affected users speak of skepticism by customer agents because “it just broke on its own” isn’t really a convincing argument most times. The users also claim to be using protective cases and don’t recall dropping their phones. However, repeated occurrences are cause for concern, and Samsung was subject to a class-action lawsuit over something similar for its Galaxy S20 in 2021.
“I’m flying to the parents’ house today for Thanksgiving. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to scan my boarding pass, and what do I see? Cracked camera glass over the ultrawide side of the lens (so much so that [the] glass is actually flaking off). A nice TSA lady gave me a piece of tape to prevent further flaking,” one fuming user reported, “I’m running a case, haven’t dropped the phone once, and it was literally fine 30 minutes ago. I’m quite pissed considering I don’t know what I did to crack it.”
A hypothesis has emerged, linking the glass breakage to temperature changes that occur in the winter. As users are more likely to move from a warm indoor environment to a cold outdoor environment, the metal contracts and expands in response to ambient temperature. This, the hypothesis goes, would result in the glass shattering for no apparent reason.
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro had problems with temperature as well, albeit on the other scale and unrelated to the fully glass camera bar. Some users reported, and I experienced, poor performance during the summer. These issues ranged from intense overheating to severe battery drainage to total system shutdown. Though beautifully designed, Google’s Pixels handle extreme temperatures with far less grace than most other equivalently priced smartphones.
Google has always had issues with quality control on its Pixel line, and despite the great leaps it’s made in design and camera technology, those problems have persisted with the Pixel 7 Pro. We’ve reached out to Google for comment on this and will update this story if a response is forthcoming.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.