Study: iPhone 4 screen cracks more likely than 3GS

First four months of use.

The iPhone 4 was more vulnerable to physical damage than its predecessor the 3GS, according to a study by iPhone warranty provider Squaretrade.

The company looked at the accident claims of about 20,000 iPhone 4 customers in their first four months of owning the new device.

It found that iPhone 4 owners were reporting accidents 68 percent more frequently than 3GS owners.

In real terms, that meant 4.7 percent of owners had reported a problem to Squaretrade compared to 2.8 percent of 3GS owners over the same time period, the study said.

"Of these iPhone 4 accidents, the vast majority involved a damaged screen," the company said.

"When we evaluated damaged screen reports, we found the iPhone 4 had 82 percent more broken screens than the iPhone 3GS reported in the first 4 months."

Squaretrade said the results still made iPhone superior to other consumer electronics devices.

"Despite this troubling increase [in the chance of damage], it's important to take the accident rate into perspective," the company said.

"Overall, the iPhone is still a very well constructed device, with a non-accident malfunction rate much lower than most other consumer electronics."