Apple executive reiterates company's support for iPad Pro 2018 design

The Apple iPad Pro 2018 initially caused a stir as it was one of the slimmest devices of this year, and also ditched the Lightning port in favor of a (slightly function-restricted) USB type C port. However, it is now making waves in the media for less salubrious reasons. It appears that the most recent iteration of this tablet line is exceptionally susceptible to bend tests. However, at a price of at least US$799, customers may have been prepared to treat it very carefully in any case.

Therefore, it may have been particularly off-putting when reports of the iPad Pro arriving fresh from a factory with a noticeable curvature in their aluminium unibody casings started to come in from irritated buyers. Apple's response was to brand this deviation from the level in the tablets 'normal'. Nevertheless, a user felt compelled to contact the company's CEO, Tim Cook, on the matter.

This individual did not get a reply from Cook directly. However, Dan Riccio, Apple's vice-president of hardware engineering, did get back to him. Riccio apparently asserted that the iPad Pro's design "meets or exceeds all of Apple's high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing". He went on to say that the tablet apparently has a flatness 'tolerance' of 400 microns (which he also kindly defined as 'less than half a millimeter' for the emailer), outside of which the iPad Pro would not bend further.

Therefore, apparently, a visible variation away from the horizontal in a brand-new iPad Pro 2018 is just to be expected, and will not change over the life of the product. However, several online bend tests may beg to differ.

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