Don’t Bend Your iPad Pro, You Knucklehead

Remember the “bendgate” controversy? “Bendghazi” is admittedly a better name, but a little tasteless. Apple’s iPhone 6 bending issues resulted in customers walking into Apple stores and bending iPhone 6 devices, which is absolutely hysterical. Seriously, I’m in hysterics all over again. That was over four years ago, but we just found out earlier this year that Apple knew that the phone might have bending issues. Bendgate was a headache and a half for the company, and now they’re being hit with the lazier, boring sequel starring the iPad Pro.

The new iPad Pro is having similar issues, with reports coming in that carrying the tablet around in a backpack is liable to bend it. Then YouTube channel JerryRigEverything put the tablet through a bend test, where it proceeded to give rather easily before cracking and ending up pretty destroyed. It’s not a great look, but in Apple’s defense, don’t bend your tablet.

If the tablets are indeed bending while being carried around, that’s a serious issue that Apple needs to address. As far as bend tests go, they don’t make as much sense for tablets as they do for phones. The iPhone 6 bending issues were a much bigger deal because phones are handled with a lot less care than tablets. A tablet is going to be handled with the same delicacy as a laptop or at least it should be.

Yes, it does seem to bend rather easily, probably easier than it should. And if the iPad Pro units continue to bend with everyday use, Apple has a problem on their hands, but they shouldn’t be held to standards that don’t necessarily apply to the product at hand. Don’t bend your tablet, ever. Nobody is driving their car into a lake to do a “water test,” or throwing their Nintendo Switch as hard as they can as a “boomerang test” to see if it comes back. Testing durability is one thing, and this isn’t a dig at JerryRigEverything, which is a quality channel that offers some pretty great content. This is simply me saying that it’s not out of line for Apple to ask consumers to exercise some caution and be gentle with a tablet computer.