“Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some of its 2018 iPad Pros are shipping with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis,” Chris Welch reports for The Verge. “But according to the company, this is a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process and shouldn’t worsen over time or negatively affect the flagship iPad’s performance in any practical way. Apple does not consider it to be a defect.”
“The bend is the result of a cooling process involving the iPad Pro’s metal and plastic components during manufacturing, according to Apple,” Welch reports. “Both sizes of the new iPad Pro can exhibit it.”
“Even if only cosmetic, the issue is out of character for Apple, which has rooted its reputation in manufacturing devices with best-in-industry fit and finish,” Welch reports. “Those who are annoyed by the bend shouldn’t have any trouble exchanging or returning their iPad Pro at the Apple Store or other retailers within the 14-day return window. But it’s not clear if swaps will be permitted outside that policy… Apple also says it has not seen a higher-than-normal return rate for the 2018 iPad Pro so far.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Any units with a bend out of the box should be exchangeable. Steve Jobs built Apple on quality industrial design inside and out. If you don’t have highly excellent fit and finish out of the box (read, straight lines, no bends), Apple failed you and the company should replace with a unit exhibiting the expected Apple-level of fit and finish that was established by Steve Jobs.
Any side effect of a manufacturing process that results in bent metal where the designer obviously intended a straight line is a flawed manufacturing process that should have been deemed unacceptable, rejected prior to volume manufacturing, and designed around once this cooling process issue presented itself during production testing.
You can bet your ass that if Apple Park’s door handles were in any way bent out of the box, Jony & Co. would have had them replaced for free by the door handle manufacturer while also extracting a compensatory damage fee after threatening to never work with them again.
Agree, but that was when Apple had standards with Jobs.
Now it’s the Tim Cook Shit Show and quality is no longer a necessity at Apple.
Premium products for premium customers at premium prices.
Your not a very good hypnotist and your talking points are totally FALSE.
Please tell us Apple Apologist how a defective manufacturing process, then releasing defective products, in this case the TOP of the line iPad Pro, to UNSUSPECTING customers is in any way, shape or form — “PREMIUM” ?!?!?!
Then the added irresponsibility to replace them FOR ONLY 14 DAYS, seven of them during the holiday season! Has every customer been notified by Apple? 14 days is TOTALLY UNREASONABLE, try 1-2 months.
My boss and his snowbird family fly to Florida for two weeks vacation every Christmas visiting retired parents and several of my friends also travel for the holidays skiing in Aspen, staying at Disney World, etc.
I can see it now on Christmas Day. Family Santa’s buy an iPad Pro and put it under the tree. Kid wide eyed eagerly opens it up, hey Mom, Dad — it’s bent! The clock is TICKING, you only have 14 days to exchange it for an unbent iPad.
Brought to you by the Apple supply chain QUALITY genius Tim Cook. Way to go! …
It was ironic you dumb fcuk.
“It was ironic you dumb fcuk.”
Not “dumb,” but admit I missed your irony and regret making it personal. Regardless, my post contained tidbits of information.
“Your” is Grammar Nazi click bait, a favorite pastime around here… 😆
And it’s you’re.
This is the beginning of the end of Apple, and this time there is no Steve Jobs to save it!
Apple is going down. The products updates are a joke, the lack of the products that complete the ecosystem like the airport base and the cinema display, the missing iPhone SE, etc..And most importantly the loyalty of the customers starting to crumble.
Merely prototypes and part of R&D for the upcoming foldable screen. They just didn’t quite get there.
Scott Forstall!
Wikipedia: “Forstall was very close to and referred to as a mini-Steve Jobs, so Jobs’ death left Forstall without a protector.
Forstall was also referred to as the CEO-in-waiting by Fortune magazine and the book Inside Apple (written by Adam Lashinsky), a profile that made him unpopular at Apple.”
Nuff said…
There is not one Apple product that is cheaply made.
U get a defective unit( happens to all once in a while, including Apple at Steves time ) exchange it right there and then .
The X is the most beautifuly crafted phone on the market.
So is the watch and the ipad pro .. i have them all.
Including iMacs.
Stock is down and suddenly all Apple product is trash.
Abdolute bull.
Lemming trolling Fad galore..
Irrational and false.
Give it a break …
Sadly, it’s not an isolated incident. Apple’s calling it “not a defect,” but rather normal/expected.
Settling for inferior service, product, marketing, experience is now happening regularly at Apple.
Trashing the whole Apple line up and calling it low quality is not only ignorant it is the epitome of trolling.
Sure there seem to be some ipad pros that are bent. … how extensive it is is not known to u or me or anyone outside of Apple .
But the problem is easily solved.. exchange.
I have one for a few months now….the thing is impeccable in built quality, esthetics and performance ! Absolutely!
And yes Apples response is as big a bullsh-t as people here trashing All Apple products and calling them low quality.
They are every bit as good quality as they ever have been. Steve or Tim time.
Except in Tim time they are manufacturing an order of magnitude more.
Jumping on board the troll wagon does not buy anyone any credit… if anything it paints one as ignorant or a paid basher or both.
Being objective will get one points !
It’s not so much that these defects occur occasionally, it’s that the report is claiming Apple deems this ‘normal’ (read within specs) now and allows it to be sold in the first place.
Yes Xennes.
I mentioned that in my post above:
“And yes Apples response is as big a bullsh-t as people here trashing All Apple products and calling them low quality.”
People, trolls and such… trashing apple irrationally across the board is the problem .
You seem to think that is normal and acceptable. Imagine what you would say if this were an MS surface.
I’ve come to expect trolls trashing Apple irrationally, but Apple’s own level of hubris in this debacle is all but unbelievable.
This post we are talking about one defective product Apple Apologist — NOT “trashing” ALL Apple products.
PC Apologist: “Sadly, it’s not an isolated incident. Apple.”
True, so true TOO many times under Cook. Spare us the absolutes…
“Talking about one product here” ….. Big Nope! some may.. but most bashers are not!
You should learn/make a point of reading threads more thoroughly and individual posts in their entirety (if u did not learn that in high school, let alone beyond ) … or u will sound like a ‘…..’
1-Yes some people are bashing All Apple products.. and Apple Everything….you just dont read or choose to selectively ignore.
2-No i dont Approve of Apples response, only if you had read what i wrote.
Since u don’t here is a direct quote from my post :
“And yes Apples response is as big a bullsh-t as people here trashing All Apple products and calling them low quality.”
And believe me, my comments are not just restricted to forums.. i make sure the right people also hear it.
3- U seem to believe that bashing makes u a critical thinker.. Nope… !
Objectivity will , not stampeding with the heard.
4- “…so true, Too many times under Cook …” ..wrong… this type of comment/attitude stems from worshiping Jobs not rationality…
Things went wrong under Jobs watch just as many times……..and just as many time he resorted to complete idiotic response to justify.
The label ‘Apple Arrogance’ did not fall out of the thin blue sky… and it started with Jobs and during his watch .
“Talking about one product here” ….. Big Nope! some may.. but most bashers are not!
“Big Nope” is not ABSOLUTE! You are confused.
The issue clueless Apple Apologist is something you choose to ignore no matter how many posts point it out to YOU.
That is classic TONE DEAFNESS, just like Apple, and IGNORANCE on your part LACKING CRITICAL THINKING.
Recap: Product quality hardware and software under Cook has gone off the cliff in a manner of speaking.
If you don’t see it by now, you never will…
Who’s in charge!!!
Apple need some spy all the way on their product chain. There is no way a bent unit is acceptable…
Agreed, but it’s not just process. Compare the new iPad pro with the 9.7″ iPad pro and you’ll immediately see the decline in build quality. For example, press on the new screen and there is LCD “flow” distortion. That hasn’t been true on Apple displays (try it with a MacBook Pro) for years. Here’s hoping next year’s iPads are worth buying.
I remember when flat-screen cinema displays came out. if there were 4 defect pixels out of more than 1 million (in the display), it was considered unacceptable and you could walk into an Apple Store and pickup a new one.
I don’t believe the job is “spy”. It’s called “quality control”.
Bull.. i have one,
The picture shows more than a slight bend.
How slight is slight?
Fix it.
They don’t consider it a defect because it’s another Tim Cook product… Apple has even lowered their own expectations about Cook internally.
Apple is in serious trouble this time. Now most everyone can see what I saw about Cook 7-years ago: Greed, Laziness, and abject Incompetence. They should have fired this guy in 2011.
There is not one Apple product that is cheaply made.
U get a defective unit( happens to all once in a while, including Apple at Steves time ) exchange it right there and then .
The X is the most beautifuly crafted phone on the market.
So is the watch and the ipad pro .. i have them all.
Including iMacs.
Stock is down and suddenly all Apple product is trash.
Abdolute bull.
Lemming trolling Fad galore..
Irrational and false.
Give it a break …
@Yojimbo007
Spoken like a true Tim Cook apologist. Please spit Cook’s nutsack out your inarticulate mouth, bitch.
Lol… spocken like a true Troll.
Very intelligent indeed ..
If its the likes of you who see Apple as a low quality product.. then i absolutely rest my case
A bent product is not low quality but it is defective. And not worthy of being Apple.
For those who dont read post in their entirety and choose to be selective.
Direct from my post above:
“And yes Apples response is as big a bullsh-t as people here trashing All Apple products and calling them low quality.”
Dude, you have TOTALLY lost all CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS regarding Apple! Another in a long list of Apple Apologists that can’t call it straight up and only make EXCUSES.
Very SAD….
Haha.. there you go again …
On the conterary mr ‘perpetual basher’
No sir.. its just that i am not stampeding blindly along with the heard .
You and alike are the ones resorting to heard mentality and have completely lost rationality and objectivity…. yet u point the finger at me… what a joke. Silly !
Am i out of my league again Goe .. lol
Spare me the BS … maybe u should reconsider your Perpetual Bashing habits instead….
As for your other comments here .. i suggest that you read posts in their entirety .. like every line.. not just two lines and imagine the rest as u like them to be..
And read contents of a thread more thoroughly.. and remember all instead of being selective.
And consider ones’ post history.. not just the last post or what suits u.
Lots of comments you make are at total disconnect !
Best of luck
Laugh all you want BLIND Apple Apologist.
I REPEAT Dude, you have TOTALLY lost all CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS regarding Apple!
Another in a long list of Apple Apologists bloviated posts that are long on opinion and short on facts.
Make an effort to learn how to spell and post a complete sentence. Your grammar needs attention, as well Jimbo…
Cheaply built luxury product with a premium price, eh?
It’s totally not Apple-like. Profit first mentality seems to be running deep in Apple, and it’s so unsightly.
Perhaps Sir Jony would personally reimburse this from his undeserved treasure chest. Tim Cook too, of course.
What a petty company has you become, Apple? How low do you go?
Very disappointed and disillusioned.
There is not one Apple product that is cheaply made.
U get a defective unit( happens to all once in a while, including Apple at Steves time ) exchange it right there and then .
The X is the most beautifuly crafted phone on the market.
So is the watch and the ipad pro .. i have them all.
Including iMacs.
Stock is down and suddenly all Apple product is trash.
Abdolute bull.
Lemming trolling Fad galore..
Irrational and false.
Give it a break …
“Give it a break …”
Take your OWN ADVICE Apple Apologist..,
You are going too far. Most people here, even if they might be turning against Apple, do not appear irrational or false to me.
It only helps Apple when people freely speak about what they think are the faults of Apple (which have been happening too often in recent years). That is not bashing. That is often called constructive criticism, rather than the blind defense of what’s obviously wrong about recent behaviors of Apple. When people stopped criticizing, that’s the sign people are giving up, and that’s the end of Apple Empire.
BTW, from the production engineering viewpoint, this looks to me a pressure bending, i.e., something pressed it a bit harder after assembling while still in a box and it bent when it is not supposed to. Apple’s explanation (I do not know who at what level gave such an explanation) is strange. The aluminum enclosure could be heat treated “pre-production”, but any of these electronic devices obviously do not go through a post-production heat treatment (which often create deformation that requires annealing etc) for an obvious reason. Even if something might have happened during the production (assembling), this degree of bending is indefensible. If any commonsense level of QC has been applied, this is a typical defect that had to be easily picked up during the pre-shipment QC inspections (if it ever applied, that is).
Therefore it is cheaply made, and more accurately, cheaply designed too.
Absolutely KenT
Im all for objective criticism… its nothing but constructive.
Years back when i started criticizing Apple..i was one of the very very few……and i was reacted to pretty violently and rudlly…..
Regardless of how i tried to explain that acceptance of mediocracy is not the Apple/Jobs way …..the fanboys never stoped the ridicule and insults.
But that did not and has stoped me.
I say it as i see it.. i dont stampede along with the herds .
That said,
Rational criticism is not the issue at hand here.
There is just way too much Blanket bashing and misrepresentations of reality, exaggerations and rumormongering by the disgruntled perpetual complainers, Trolls and possibly paid posters.
I have no respect for that attitude.
Give credit where its due and criticizes when its due.
This heard frenzy is just too much.
And yes.. i do believe Apple products are the best built computing devices out there.. but nothing is perfect and they have their occasional issues.
Nothing has changed since Steves time but one very critical thing:
Apple has grown to a behemoth.. going from selling 10-20 million units of product to 200 million plus and 1.3 billion user base..
So naturally the exposure is much more spread out and the noise about any individual problem is much much louder…..
Thats not to be confused with Apple having worse products today.
It was a premium product at premium prices , still is.. ……it had issues, still does. Always will.
It is this frenzy that is irrational and out if control .
Excellent!
But, with due respect (I have nothing personal against you), your post sounds a bit overblown flowery rhetoric to defend Apple. I’ve been here for only a few years (I think) but I sense that most people here seem to be fairly mature, serious Apple fans, and hold fairly balanced views be it for or against Apple. As for me, I was not at all critical of Apple then, lurking here and learning a lot of views that are difficult to find in any other typical fanboy sites. I only started criticizing Apple (that I loved so much since 1986) after the launch of the iPhone X and the subsequent overhyping. Apple looked desperate but those opinions were few and far between at the time, and I was bashed. Fast forward to the present, many people have indeed been complaining. A lot of things have been exposed and highlighted the way Apple (or the current management) is doing (in a negative way). Not overly divinizing SJ, he was quite different from the current management. He was just as ruthless in pursuing the profit, but his core was with consumers (customers). He eagerly wanted to please customers and wanted to praise himself when it was accomplished, i.e., he was proud when his customers were pleased and enthusiastic. He was also just as punishing if Apple made mistakes or displeased customers. The current management does appear to be overly profit oriented with a typical bean counter mentality and it shows and people feel it. Seams are opening up and Apple looks as if they are scrambling to put them back together. It was not quite like it a little more than a year ago. So, people here, particularly with their money at stake, have more than legitimate concerns.
Your handle name is Yojimbo, which means a paid bodyguard or bouncer. You are not policing the free flow of opinions here, are you? :-))
Your posts always look overly protective of Apple. Sure, different opinions, which is totally fine. But I wish you tone down your seemingly blind criticizing of people who are not quite happy with Apple now. Their opinions sound quite legitimate to me. The stock price is rapidly going down now that makes people even more irritating. Let them (us) let out the steam off our chest freely (and thanks to MDN for providing the excellent platform). Apple won’t explode and sink just because we bark at them.
Most excellent post, KenT. Sums up all the key sentiments around here fermenting slowly for years. The gentle, yet spot on admonishment of Número uno fanboy Jimbo is poignant. Particularly, mention of the mindless cheerleading but more importantly, the acknowledgement he is stalking everyone critical of Apple. BLIND support of Apple is NEVER helpful, not now and not ever. Too obvious under beancounter Cook the ship is heading in the wrong direction and needs a serious course correction. Apple owner since 1983…
Wow. Unbelievable Apple thinks this is acceptable. Heads are gonna roll somewhere, but unfortunately the wrong ones.
C’mon, gives Tim Cook a break, he’s out trying to save humanity by banning hate speech, who cares about a bent iPad!
Its the Brave New World, if you are politically correct, then anything you do MUST be accepted.
It is sad when Apple can’t manage its core hardware businesses but chooses instead to attempt to sell garbage like Carpool Karaoke. Pro customers, the few that have remained with Apple, are fully justified in aiming hate speech at Pipeline Cook and clueless Ive and dumbass Schiller.
“Apple does not consider it to be a defect”
Samsung and others are going to rake Apple over the coals over this, and Apple will deserve it!
Under pressure, Apple will do the right thing. But it will be too late to undo the PR damage.
Premium product at premium prices? Wow. Nobody wanted thinner. They want reliable, durable, trustworthy products. Way to let them down, Cookie.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CA_rA-gZF_Fe2dRhBsKTsH8kLRA=/0x0:4032×3024/920×0/filters:focal(0x0:4032×3024):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13639202/macrumors.jpeg
Apple customer since 1988. The new Apple mantra is: if we did it, then it must have been correct, therefore any evidence to the contrary must by definition be incorrect, therefore because we can do no wrong, we did no wrong. in an endless circle. The operating system is still the best, and the hardware certainly is the prettiest, but its not what it was.
There is not one Apple product that is cheaply made.
U get a defective unit( happens to all once in a while, including Apple at Steves time ) exchange it right there and then .
The X is the most beautifuly crafted phone on the market.
So is the watch and the ipad pro .. i have them all.
Including iMacs.
Stock is down and suddenly all Apple product is trash.
Abdolute bull.
Lemming trolling Fad galore..
Irrational and false.
Give it a break …
The truth is somewhere inbetween junk and see-nothing fanboyism from yojimbo.
Apple has publicly taken the position that a bent iPad is not a flaw. Somehow both in product development tests and in production, nobody at Apple or Foxconn decided that a bent iPad is a problem.
Thanks for nothing Jony, you’re well past the point of diminishing returns on making Apple products thin.
The broken record is BACK.
“Give it a break …”
Take your OWN ADVICE Apple Apologist..,
I assumed the counter bend was to counter the natural pull of the glass screen side. It’s like those metal beams used to build bridges, they have a built-in opposite bend to counter the forces of gravity.
With such a long piece of metal, I just assumed that the curve was a natural counter to the opposite pull of the glass.
As any chemist will tell you, glass is a very slow moving liquid. If the metal ‘counter’ bend was intentional you can expect that the bend being displayed in the image will become more pronounced over time as the glass ‘flows’ into the new position.
Another pipeline Tim oversight that he is trying to minimise.
For the costs of these new 3rd gen iPad Pro models, NO ONE is going to accept sub-par manufacturing of these.
If an Apple customer gets a bent iPad Pro they are going to reject it/return it and scrutinize this issue until the iPad Pro customer/user gets a flawlessly manufactured iPad Pro unit.
Apple customers aren’t going to put up wth defectively, sub standard manufactured and expensive iPad Pros.
No one!
This is iPhone 6S “Bendgate” all over, once again.
My new 12.9 is perfect. I’d take it back if it was bent. Wow!
Dammit. this article bent me out of shape!
One of the few honest articles I’ve seen here at MDN. Kudos for being willing to put aside the filter and critique this company for their loyalty to self and lack of loyalty to customer base.
Apple is really “bending” the rules here, pun intended…