Apple Addresses 2018 iPad Pro 'Bending' Controversy, Says Subtle Deviations May Be More Visible Due to New Design

[truthertech]

[QUOTE="truthertech, post: 26971577, member: 1034762”] More importantly, you are misstating Apple's position (why is that?), by saying you only have 14 days to return it, when they have reminded everyone in the press release and web site that you are covered for a year.

They haven’t said that at all. Perhaps you can provide a quote.

Numerous people have already posted in this very conversation that they have had issues returning post 14 days. You have to argue with them about “misuse” such as putting it in a rucksack etc.

As Apple are not designating this a design fault, unless the bend is less than the 400 microns tolerance, they are not obligated to replace in that first year.

Looking at how malleable it is , I can’t see how anyone’s new iPad Pro won’t end up as bent as a boomerang after a year or two.

Apple’s problem is that they are just too arrogant to admit any fault here. They are not the company they used to be.[/QUOTE]



Bingo!

"If you believe your new iPad Pro does not meet the specifications described in this article, please contact Apple Support. Apple offers a 14-day return policy for products purchased directly from Apple. Apple also provides up to a one-year warranty on our products and will cover damage if it has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship."

 

[6749974]

Have mine. It was never moved off the desk where I unpacked it, and was definitely not handled carelessly.

In before someone accuses you of using a reflective surface and blowing your bend way out of proportion.

 

[lambertjohn]

if you open the iPad box and it's bent, you have 14 days to return it for a full refund.

i've had a $5k MacBook Pro that I returned on the 13th day and got a refund. literally no questions were asked when I returned it at the Genius Bar.

You're right, I've returned tons of stuff to Apple, and never once have I been given a hard time about it. They're always cheerful and helpful.

 

[x-evil-x]

Do people actually think it's possible to manufacture a product without microscopic bends?

Every product is designed with a tolerance metric. There is no such thing as a product designed with zero tolerance. This includes ultra fancy luxury products (smaller tolerances) to crappy products (large tolerance levels).

You do know that your Macbook Pro, Macs, iPhones, etc.. all have these same tolerance levels, right?

Your BMW's and Teslas also have bends in them.

While that may be true some of these images of iPads not sitting on a table flush because they have a bend is just not acceptable. The weakness of the frame should be addressed in a future releAse probably October for the second gen of these new shape iPads.
Same thing happened to the 6 and 6+ phones. Some would arrive slightly too bent or bend while sitting down in your pants. They reinforced the frame on the 6s and up phones.
Apple should of seen this coming because they had the issue in the passed. The whole frame of these iPads seem super weak. If you can bend something with your hands easily it needs to be reinforced.

 

[0388631]

Shouldn't take much force to bend it by hand and shatter the glass. The movement towards thinness while not adding structural integrity due to weight savings is showing its true colors.

 

[x-evil-x]

I still don't understand how another bendgate could even happen at Apple. Cheap, cheap, cheap. They could even use titanium without rising the price and they would still make a lot of money.

They should of done testing on the frames just like the 6 series phones. This should of never happened.
Wouldn’t be hard to have cross reinforcement inside the frame for added strength.

 

[furi0usbee]

 

[truthertech]

I just wonder what this does with secondhand value... i would never buy anything that was bent...

Since you don't own one, and are never going to buy one, the good thing is you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Do users bear any responsibility on how they handle their iPad after 14 days? If so, how much?

I'm certain I can easily bend my 2017 MBP if I tried, or did something stupid like accidentally sitting on it, etc.

Does Apple bear any responsibility on how they produce their iPad? Or will you just attack every user like others did with the iPhone 6 Plus fiasco?

I can tell you from experience that the iP6+ would bend from normal use due to warping caused by a structural flaw which caused the case to twist when it became hot. This was corrected with the iP6S+. Expect to see a similar change to the iPad's design and manufacture with next year's revision. No one should buy this iPad unless they are willing to accept a product which bends and will fail as a result of that bend.

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

Hmm this is interesting.

1. Not sure why Apple has to issue this guidance now. I feel like this whole issue blows over every time and no one really cares except when they bring it up.
2. What's the real failure rate on these iPads anyway? Aside from a few social media posts, it seems like everyone here who goes to check out iPads in the stores including myself always find none. Maybe store units are super AAA grade ones versus the ones we are getting?
3. Super disingenuous of MacRumors to include a photo of a unit that's not bent out of box but one that's bent after use.
4. We need to separate structural integrity and weakness from out of box issues which more likely indicate non-conforming escapes coming out of the factory.

Tolerances do exist, and are what define everything from the function, durability, and cost of all products. When we produce performance products of machined aerospace alloys and composites for consumer market, the widest tolerance we hold is .003” and that’s just a form tolerance, purely aesthetic. Critical tolerances are .0002-.0004. Not being able to hold many hundreds of times that, means Apple & Foxconn never actually set a tolerance for that, or they’re not QAing conformance. There would be no reason to even specify a tolerance this great. You might as well put “just wing it” on your drawing. Either way, their non answers indicate they just don’t care to spend the time & money producing a consistent product here, in the thousand dollar plus “pro” tablet market...

You're right tolerances exist but .001" tolerances are pretty tough to hold and moreover it's highly dependent on the feature you're talking about. Parallelism and flatness features typically aren't that tightly controlled, especially over a large surface area like a MacBook or iPad. .001" for lengths and widths and feature slots obviously make sense as those can be precision machined features. And finally, tolerances vary depending on the size. Microprocessors obviously have ridiculous nanometer tolerances or even less when we talk about some of the smallest features. Auto parts, while also cosmetic are typically much larger in size so probably have looser tolerances; when you consider people complaining about panel gaps in their Teslas and even for other cars, that tells you we're likely dealing with more than 400 microns of tolerance.

If your argument is that the 400 microns that Apple has come out to say as their spec is too large, then maybe that's something these blog sites should investigate further. What does an iPad look like bent at 400 microns? Is that visually perceptible? Is that beyond what we call acceptable? I think it would've been more honest had MacRumors secured a photo of what's at the tolerance spec limit and then reported on that.

 

[smorrissey]

That's a BAD APPLE!

 

[furi0usbee]

That's a BAD APPLE!

Yeah, that was great! The carved apples added a nice touch too.

 

[John William]

Are you kidding me !!!! This is outrageous...
No way this is acceptable coming from Apple !!!!

 

[dazz87]

No way would I drop this much money on a fragile device....... I would wait another year till they get it right........

 

[radus]

Apple will never bend iOS to meet your unique needs.

We will wait and see.
They are more depend from our money then we depend from them.

 

[srego]

I love Apple since the first Macintosh I in 1986
I have seen the ups and downs of the company and its products, and in this case I see the lack of attitude of a "Steve Jobs", wake up Tim ... A product with these characteristics would never have been marketed in a prime brand, nor with these prices.
We have prime prices on products, prime profit margins on products,
but the products do not seem to be so prime.
There are alternatives in the world and Apple is feeling the drain of Apple users for other brands. It is embodied in the latest reports from Apple.

 

[groovyd]

Is the main article photo claimed to be a shipped product bend? If not it is highly misleading. It should at least show a 400 micron bent ipad for reference (ie. if yours looks worse then this it's covered).

 

[nzcatfood]

Pre-bent or not, given this year's ridiculous pricing and the ease with which it can be bent catastrophically, I think not.

 

[Williesleg]

Translation:
We screwed up. Like we did on our laptop keyboards.
It's too expensive to fix.
Buy more apps and tunes!

Love,
Tim "the supply chain wizard" Cook

 

[ani4ani]

Show me an iPad with a “bend” under 400 microns.

The story says they’ll replace iPads out of that spec.

Next, show me the data on how many iPads are bent over 400 microns.
[doublepost=1546704513][/doublepost]
They will replace iPads out of tolerance. Stop freaking out.

You see if Apple really had a tolerance of 400 micron (supposedly implemented before the scandal rather than dreamt up after), then no one would receive a product above that, because they would have been rejected by QC and never put into the supply chain. Why do Apple need to offer replacements, or don’t they work to their own tolerances?

Btw, 400 micron or 1:15 across an iPad is a very poor tolerance to start with. For example a spirit level costinga few pounds would be absolutely useless made to that tolerance.

 

[srego]

Tolerances do exist, and are what define everything from the function, durability, and cost of all products. When we produce performance products of machined aerospace alloys and composites for consumer market, the widest tolerance we hold is .003” and that’s just a form tolerance, purely aesthetic. Critical tolerances are .0002-.0004. Not being able to hold many hundreds of times that, means Apple & Foxconn never actually set a tolerance for that, or they’re not QAing conformance. There would be no reason to even specify a tolerance this great. You might as well put “just wing it” on your drawing. Either way, their non answers indicate they just don’t care to spend the time & money producing a consistent product here, in the thousand dollar plus “pro” tablet market...

In a product like this there must be rigor as close to zero as possible.
With such a flexibility it seems to have been designed with a brush ...

 

[simonmet]

Why?

Apple has delivered an astonishingly honest statement that outline the processes involved, and explains why this isn’t a real issue.
They’ve even gone one step further and said they will help customers who feel there is an issue with their own iPad pros that requires further investigation.

Help? What help did they promise? That they’ll open a support ticket in which they suggest it’s been bent through misuse? Technically Apple doesn’t have to accept products they deem are damaged within 14 days either, though I’m not suggesting that has or is likely to happen for minor bends.

Whether it’s bent from the factory or bends over time is almost irrelevant. Both will increase the likelihood of a broken screen or other internal problems down the track. You can be sure as hell that Apple won’t offer a replacement for a unit whose screen has cracked or shattered due to structural problems with the device.

This is a non-apology, but it’s worse than that. It’s Apple doubling down on the “you’re looking at it wrong” arrogant user-blaming. I can’t see this kind of user-hostile legalistic response helping their stick price either. How is the user supposed to have confidence in this product?

A statement saying they will replace bend iPads within the warranty perriod is what is needed , for them to stand by their Honest statements that this is the best iPad made .

Nailed it. I think Apple have refused to offer that because they know they effed up and it’s a dud build quality.

 

[Agit21]

Class action lawsuit INCOMING (hopefully)

 

[dennislaska]

Apple was more interested in getting all their new innovation in their new Apple campus than in their customers products.

Boring designs and little new innovation and higher prices = downward stock pressure.

 

[L-Viz]

It is like in Matrix. It is not the spoon that bends, but the room.