Apple recently confirmed that some 2018 iPad Pro units were bending straight out of the box. However, instead of apologizing and admitting that it made a mistake, the company is stubbornly saying this is normal.
This naturally got a lot of customers riled up, many of whom paid thousands of dollars for a slightly crooked product. One of them decided to email Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking him how exactly this bend is not a manufacturing issue. Cook didn’t reply, but Dan Riccio, Apple’s VP of hardware engineering, did.
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As verified by MacRumors, Riccio starts out by stating that it was planning on releasing an official company statement on the matter. So far, it’s only made some comments to The Verge. We’re not sure what it’s going to include in this new statement, but don’t hold your breath for an apology or a confession.
The rest of the email is devoted to talking about Apple’s production standards. Riccio claims the 2018 iPad Pro’s unibody design “meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing.” The company’s specification for flatness is up to 400 microns, about less than half a millimeter.
Also Read: Microsoft Surface Pro 6 defeats iPad Pro in bend test
Going by photos floating around on the web, it sure doesn’t look like the 2018 iPad Pro has a curve of less than half a millimeter. Riccio insists that this level of flatness is tighter than previous iPads and won’t alter in any way during normal use. He also notes that these slight variations won’t affect the function of the device.
Apple can’t know this for sure though. As seen in a durability test video by JerryRigEverything, the 2018 iPad Pro is structurally weak and can easily be snapped into two. The tablet is inherently delicate and problems could arise from normal usage like slipping it into a backpack. You’ll just have to be extra careful not to put it in any danger.