iPad Will the new iPads have bending issues?

[gusping]

i'm definitely concerned. Previous iPPs have bent as you said, the iPad Air M1 feels horrible in hand (the rear of the iPad bends and contacts the screen), and in general Apple seems to cut more and more corners these days. Thankfully I have no intention of buying one until at least after WWDC. So other people can beta test it before me.

 

[MrMacintoshIII]

People on this forum don’t wanna hear that yes, Apple delivered bent iPads. It’s a fact, it happened. They’d rather act like it was your fault.

No way these new ones don’t have similar issues. Apple even said in the keynote that the new Pros are as strong as the old ones. What does that tell you?

I still plan to buy one. Look everyone: you can choose to spend money at a company that you also criticize! What a concept.

I mean… if my $2000 iPad Pro ships bent, I’m not accepting that within the 14 day no questions asked return period. I’m already on my second return because they shipped within seconds and didn’t let me cancel when I made a mistake on the engraving because it had already shipped. Now I have to return it at the store right when I pick it up!

I don’t care if it bends after the 14 days. I’m getting AppleCare and a Magic Keyboard case anyway.

 

[ric22]

And I love that for you, that's beautiful, hope you took lots of photos. That does not change the fact that plenty of people like and prefer these lighter tablets - especially the 13". Then there's people that add an MKB to double the weight, stops being fun pretty quickly.

I lug this thing to and from work every day, with lunch, batteries, a book or two, water bottle, etc in my backpack. I'll take whatever weight savings I can get. Not that I can't carry a heavier tablet, just that I don't want to. And that's fine. We're all allowed to have preferences.

We certainly are allowed our own preferences. 👍🏼 Apple seems to agree with you on having a device that is thin and light at the expense of possible battery life and durability. That's ok. I don't need to buy it- I'm happy enough having a MacBook with me every day. I'd be mad if they took away durability and battery life from those!

By the way, if you haven't ever done a big trip, I highly highly recommend it. Best thing I've ever done with my life. It impoverished me and probably held my career back for a bit, but man, it was awesome.

 

[ric22]

I mean… if my $2000 iPad Pro ships bent, I’m not accepting that within the 14 day no questions asked return period. I’m already on my second return because they shipped within seconds and didn’t let me cancel when I made a mistake on the engraving because it had already shipped. Now I have to return it at the store right when I pick it up!

I don’t care if it bends after the 14 days. I’m getting AppleCare and a Magic Keyboard case anyway.

AppleCare has kinda become mandatory, hasn't it!

 

[DeepSix]

Bending is good for those who prefer curved screens. Can always bend it back after.

 

[win11]

This will be like the iPhone 6 all over again

 

[turbineseaplane]

I miss the 9.7" iPad and iPad Pro ... built like tanks and they had super grabbable shapes with plenty of bezel for your hands to not be "on the screen".

Something about the 9.7" size and 4:3 ratio was "just right" ... they nailed that from the absolute start.

To this day, the 9.7" iPP from 2016 remains my favorite iPad of all time
A close 2nd is my current iPad Mini 5

 

[klasma]

Just imagine how much battery they could get in the new iPad if it were regular thickness.

Nobody wants to hold a two-pound iPad.

 

[klasma]

I know people that have "bent back" their existing iPad Pros, and think this is how they are intended to be treated. It bends from going in a backpack or from accidental squashing at home, then you forcefully bend it back into shape until it's flatish. The Guardian newspaper even published an article about it.

These are indeed very debendable devices.

 

[canadianpj]

Are we starting this nonsense already? Going back to the days of the iPhone 6 Plus where they bent if you purposely tried to bend them? This coming from someone who went to Disneyworld and kept it in a pocket, without a case on many roller coasters and amazingly, no bend.

I'm sure some YouTuber will bend it on purpose and make a huge clickbait story that Macrumors will jump on.

 

[Branaghan]

JerryRigEverything said back in Dec 12, 2022:

- The most recent iPAD Pro survived the bending test. Along with the MINI. The 10th gen., however, failed.

The problem is, the 10th had 7 mm, this new IPP has 5.3mm thickness. So there's something else making it easier to bend, a weak point in the center... ?

Note: the IPPs 11 from 2021 and 2022 had 5.9mm.

 

[mikethebigo]

Metal bends. It's gonna bend.

 

[ric22]

Are we starting this nonsense already? Going back to the days of the iPhone 6 Plus where they bent if you purposely tried to bend them? This coming from someone who went to Disneyworld and kept it in a pocket, without a case on many roller coasters and amazingly, no bend.

I'm sure some YouTuber will bend it on purpose and make a huge clickbait story that Macrumors will jump on.

If you read the posts, and then gave it an iota of consideration, you wouldn't equate people bending iPads by daring to put them in a backpack with deliberately trying to bend them with their hands.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@canadianpj

I'm totally lost here..

What do you find "funny" (laugh emoji) about my post above?
(shown in image below also)

I really hate the laugh emoji -- you never can tell what the person actually means when they use it.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Ultra-thin M4 iPad Pro features new internal structure to improve stiffness and heat dissipation - 9to5Mac

The new iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest product ever, with the 13-inch model measuring at just 5.1mm thick (excluding camera...

9to5mac.com

 

[Webcat86]

JerryRigEverything said back in Dec 12, 2022:

- The most recent iPAD Pro survived the bending test. Along with the MINI. The 10th gen., however, failed.

The problem is, the 10th had 7 mm, this new IPP has 5.3mm thickness. So there's something else making it easier to bend, a weak point in the center... ?

Note: the IPPs 11 from 2021 and 2022 had 5.9mm.

Isn’t JR’s “bending test” grabbing it with both hands and trying to wring its neck?

I can’t quite work out the fascination with bending. I get it with phones - they live in your pocket and if they’re bending from normal motion there, that’s clearly a flaw. And if a tablet is bending just from being held, that’s a flaw. Beyond that, it feels like click bait.

Tablets don’t live in pockets. Accidents can happen to any device so “my fat aunt sat on it” doesn’t hold any water with me. When I fly with my iPad it’s in the Logitech case, in the laptop part of the backpack.

Normal usage for an iPad is being held, being docked, or stored in a case during some form of transit.

Who is out there squeezing their iPad like they found it cheating on them, as in JR’s “tests”?

It reminds me of a channel who does guitar “reviews.” He pushes them over, drops keys on them from height, spills various liquids on them. And it’s just asinine.

 

[ZombiePete]

Isn’t JR’s “bending test” grabbing it with both hands and trying to wring its neck?

He holds it from both ends and pushes at it from the middle with his thumbs. It’s extreme for holding it but probably not as bad as someone sitting on it, especially if they plop down on it. Its value as a test is relative to the concern that people have about bending in the first place.

I can’t quite work out the fascination with bending. I get it with phones - they live in your pocket and if they’re bending from normal motion there, that’s clearly a flaw. And if a tablet is bending just from being held, that’s a flaw. Beyond that, it feels like click bait.

I understand it. People want their expensive electronics to be durable under normal use cases, and the fear as Apple continues to make their devices thinner/lighter is that they’re going to sacrifice that durability for aesthetics. It’s not as if they haven’t done it before, so it causes anxiety for some people. I personally am not worried about it because I handle my electronics with care for the most part, and if **** happens I have AppleCare.

Also, Apple has a good track record with me for dealing with damaged products. My 2018 iPP screen cracked while I was traveling for work and they replaced it without charging me or using AC+ because there was no other obvious damage or stress on my tablet, so they chalked it up to defect. I am confident that they would do so again if my iPad bent but wasn’t otherwise obviously damaged.

BTW, my iPad was in a MKB at the time so I would have expected the extra rigidity to protect it from stress. Like I said, **** happens.

Tablets don’t live in pockets. Accidents can happen to any device so “my fat aunt sat on it” doesn’t hold any water with me. When I fly with my iPad it’s in the Logitech case, in the laptop part of the backpack.

Normal usage for an iPad is being held, being docked, or stored in a case during some form of transit.

Who is out there squeezing their iPad like they found it cheating on them, as in JR’s “tests”?

It reminds me of a channel who does guitar “reviews.” He pushes them over, drops keys on them from height, spills various liquids on them. And it’s just asinine.

Again, I think that most people worrying about this are more concerned about whether or not Apple is trading durability for thinness; whether it’s going to be as durable as the iPads they’re using to using day-to-day when they weren’t concerned about how thick their iPad was in the first place. It’s more about being frustrated by the tradeoff than being concerned that their iPads are going to shatter just from holding them. It’s hard to articulate that.

At the end of the day I’m looking forward to a thinner/lighter 13 and am not worried about it. But I do understand where some folks are coming from.

 

[ric22]

Isn’t JR’s “bending test” grabbing it with both hands and trying to wring its neck?

I can’t quite work out the fascination with bending. I get it with phones - they live in your pocket and if they’re bending from normal motion there, that’s clearly a flaw. And if a tablet is bending just from being held, that’s a flaw. Beyond that, it feels like click bait.

Tablets don’t live in pockets. Accidents can happen to any device so “my fat aunt sat on it” doesn’t hold any water with me. When I fly with my iPad it’s in the Logitech case, in the laptop part of the backpack.

Normal usage for an iPad is being held, being docked, or stored in a case during some form of transit.

Who is out there squeezing their iPad like they found it cheating on them, as in JR’s “tests”?

It reminds me of a channel who does guitar “reviews.” He pushes them over, drops keys on them from height, spills various liquids on them. And it’s just asinine.

I wouldn't be surprised if the average iPad that isn't just a sofa/bed consumption device is regularly taken outdoors in a backpack, probably is a slim bit of plastic or leather that protects it from drops but not really from bending. If people aren't carrying them in backpacks daily, why do we care about weight so much?!?!?

Edit: I've never owned a hard shell case for a phone, laptop or tablet, across 4 decades of life, to zero ill effect, but now it's essential I must?!?

 

[Webcat86]

People want their expensive electronics to be durable under normal use cases, and the fear as Apple continues to make their devices thinner/lighter is that they’re going to sacrifice that durability for aesthetics.

That part, I completely understand. But they aren’t normal use cases - that’s my issue with the test. Not that people shouldn’t have any concerns but putting it through any sort of extreme load becomes irrelevant to daily use.

I wouldn't be surprised if the average iPad that isn't just a sofa/bed consumption device is regularly taken outdoors in a backpack, probably is a slim bit of plastic or leather that protects it from drops but not really from bending.

I very rarely see iPads not in some sort of case. But I didn’t say it shouldn’t go in a backpack - I fly with mine in a backpack.

If people aren't carrying them in backpacks daily, why do we care about weight so much?!?!?

I doubt anyone is concerned about the difference of grams when carrying something over their shoulder. Weight is more practical for actual usage - reading articles or books, drawing, note taking etc

Edit: I've never owned a hard shell case for a phone, laptop or tablet, across 4 decades of life, to zero ill effect, but now it's essential I must?!?

No it isn’t. At least, we have nothing solid to suggest it.

 

[ric22]

Ultra-thin M4 iPad Pro features new internal structure to improve stiffness and heat dissipation - 9to5Mac

The new iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest product ever, with the 13-inch model measuring at just 5.1mm thick (excluding camera...

9to5mac.com

A rigid internal "rib" can only be a good thing. I hope it's not just making up for the reduction in thickness, considering the last ones also struggled with things like backpacks.

 

[ric22]

I very rarely see iPads not in some sort of case. But I didn’t say it shouldn’t go in a backpack - I fly with mine in a backpack.

A hardshell case or just one that protects from scratches and drops?

I doubt anyone is concerned about the difference of grams when carrying something over their shoulder.

Carrying weight was described in this thread by someone else as the primary reason they wanted lighter iPads.

The 11" Pro is already only 2/3 the weight of the old 9.7" iPads, which I never found vaguely heavy in any scenario. Those things were built like tanks and had no durability problems.

 

[Webcat86]

A hardshell case or just one that protects from scratches and drops?

Mine lives in a Logitech combo case (the one with a keyboard). Ones I see from others, typically the fold-up ones, sometimes a hardshell but that's quite rare.

Carrying weight was described in this thread by someone else as the primary reason they wanted lighter iPads.

Of course, I think they also mentioned about weight being cumulative with multiple items so it all helps. But most people's issues with weight on handheld devices will be more about hand fatigue.

 

[ric22]

No it isn’t. At least, we have nothing solid to suggest it.

There's tons of material on the internet about "bending back" bent iPad Pros, and how people have to treat newer iPads differently to how they treated their old ones as they are inherently more fragile. Knocking another 20% or so off the thickness is concerning for obvious reasons. Physics 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[Branaghan]

Isn’t JR’s “bending test” grabbing it with both hands and trying to wring its neck?

I can’t quite work out the fascination with bending. I get it with phones - they live in your pocket and if they’re bending from normal motion there, that’s clearly a flaw. And if a tablet is bending just from being held, that’s a flaw. Beyond that, it feels like click bait.

Tablets don’t live in pockets. Accidents can happen to any device so “my fat aunt sat on it” doesn’t hold any water with me. When I fly with my iPad it’s in the Logitech case, in the laptop part of the backpack.

Normal usage for an iPad is being held, being docked, or stored in a case during some form of transit.

Who is out there squeezing their iPad like they found it cheating on them, as in JR’s “tests”?

It reminds me of a channel who does guitar “reviews.” He pushes them over, drops keys on them from height, spills various liquids on them. And it’s just asinine.

This is just one way of finding out which device bends easily: stressing to the point of breaking.

But the "bendgate" is not about that; it has been said (by multiple accounts) buyers didn't do anything remotely close to what JR posts in his channel and still had this issue.

And yet, when you confront Apple...

"Was it in a backpack?"

Are you supposed to never carry this device with you?

You know what's funny? That we never heard about this kind of complaint BEFORE. Maybe it would be a better idea for Apple to not act like utter idiots and stop caring about how thin these tablets are? If this is their main concern when it comes to improving their stuff, you know we are in deep s---. 😑

 

[Webcat86]

There's tons of material on the internet about "bending back" bent iPad Pros, and how people have to treat newer iPads differently to how they treated their old ones as they are inherently more fragile. Knocking another 20% of so off the thickness is concerning for obvious reasons. Physics 🤷🏼‍♂️

Those are the previous generation iPads, I'm talking about the upcoming ones.

I'm not saying they won't have any issues, I'm saying the extreme tests have little to no use to real-world considerations and we'll need to wait until we get our hands on them before we can truly tell how durable they are.