The iPad Pro curves less than other models, but it shows more

By now all those who are minimally interested in the world of technology, or even without being, will know the "bendgate" of the iPad Pro. Apple's new tablet with laptop aspirations is at the center of criticism because some users have noticed that its units are slightly curved.. And the explanation that Apple gave at the time could not be less reassuring: it is not a failure, it is something normal that does not alter its operation.

Now the company has published information about the manufacturing process of the device, in great detail, and has also explained why this problem of the curvature of some models, ensuring that its quality control process is very demanding, even more so than with other iPad models, but that by the design of this iPad Pro any slight curvature is more noticeable.

To offer a good cellular operation on the sides of the iPad there are vertical bands that "break" the structure so that it can function as an antenna. For the first time on iPads, these bands are manufactured using a procedure called "co-molding." This procedure is carried out at high temperatures and in it the plastic is injected into tiny channels carved in the aluminum, and the plastic is fixed to the micro-pores of the aluminum. After the plastic cools down, the entire structure is finished by very precise controls ending with a perfectly integrated plastic and aluminum structure.

The new straight edges and lines of the antennas can cause slight curvatures to be more apparent from certain viewing angles that are otherwise negligible during normal use. These small variations do not affect the strength of the structure or the operation of the device and will not change over time.

Apple ensures that this described procedure allows the new iPad Pro have minimal deviations of no more than 400 microns (about four sheets of paper). This allowed deviation is less than in other devices, but can be appreciated more than in previous models by the design of this iPad Pro.

So far I share a large part of the explanation that Apple has given and that I have summarized here, since these days we have been able to see some photos of iPad Pro of concerned users in which not all of us agreed on whether the iPad was bent or no, a sign that the deviation, if any, would be minimal. But we've all been able to see some iPad Pro images bent much more than 400 microns ... and those iPads shouldn't have passed that demanding quality control that Apple is talking about.