Apple Admits 2018 iPad Pro Bends, Cites Manufacturing Side Effect

Apple said that the slight bend is simply a side effect of the manufacturing process.

Apple said that the slight bend is a side effect of the manufacturing process.

(Photo: The Quint)

It was reported in November 2018 that Apple's new iPad Pro either has a manufacturing defect or the new iPad Pro's build quality is so bad that even mild misuse may bend the device's body. Apple has now confirmed to The Verge that it is indeed shipping some of the 2018 iPad Pros with a very slight bend in the aluminium chassis, calling it a side effect of the manufacturing process.

The company, however, said that it doesn’t consider this a defect, it’s simply a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process and shouldn’t affect the device’s performance in any practical way.

According to Apple, the bend is a result of the cooling process of the iPad Pro’s metal and plastic components during manufacturing and can happen with both sizes of the iPad Pro.

This response from Apple comes after scores of reports with people pointing out the slight bend on their iPads and wondering if it’s a manufacturing defect or if they've been misusing their devices.

A user noticed his iPad was bent after a couple of weeks and thought it was because he keeps it in his backpack. That, we now know, is not the case.

While some reported that their iPads were bent as they used to be kept in their backpacks, other iPads came with the defect even after repeated replacements. The issue was reported more frequently by people using the LTE version, as a lot of users pointed out that the iPad bends due to the antenna lines that break the iPad’s flat aluminium sides.

A user even showed, with a scale, that the iPad bends from the point the antenna breaks up the aluminium panel.

The whole issue picked up after a video from famous tech YouTuber JerryRigEverything showed that the new iPad Pro can be bent quite effortlessly.

The Verge reported that the way Apple has handled this issue, it does not seem as big a problem as the Bendgate issue in the iPhone 6 series. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus buyers claimed the phones bent too easily. Later, many owners had issues with so-called ‘touch disease’ when the phones would stop responding to touches. Apple at the time denied these problems were widespread. However, documents revealed this year suggest that not only was Apple aware, but it was actively working on engineering changes to mitigate the issues.

(With inputs from The Verge.)