Bendgate is back.
Apple has confirmed on Wednesday that some of the company’s new iPad Pro devices are shipping slightly bent out of the box. Apple customers first started noticing the issue with their iPad Pro devices, reporting the issues online. The company confirmed the allegations to The Verge, claiming that the issue is not, in fact, a defect.
The slight bent on the brand new iPad Pro devices is apparently caused during the cooling process of the device, according to Apple. Both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch devices are affected by the issue, and it’s more likely to affect the iPad Pro with LTE because of the external antenna lines.
It seems like the issue is affecting both brand new iPad Pros and regular devices. Some users are noticing the bend happening gradually as they use the device more in normal conditions, and some are receiving the bent iPad Pros directly out of the box.
Apple continues to claim the issue is not a defect, despite the fact that it requested The Verge’s Chris Welch to send his bent iPad Pro unit for its engineering team to review. So yes, it is a defect. Apple is just trying to avoid another bendgate.
Apple’s 2018 iPad Pro was a major step forward for the company’s iPad Pro line. But this incident could really affect the company’s reputation, considering the fact that Apple continues to boast its premium hardware quality. The bent is more than just a defect, it’s an obvious design and manufacturing problem that Apple will likely start accepting eventually, possibly even providing free replacements to affected customers.