Apple is trying to solve complaints from customers over bent iPads—with a new support page that specifically addresses the concern.
Some 2018 iPad Pros were sold and shipped with “a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis,” The Verge reported in December. Now the tech giant has published a support page, also spotted by The Verge, that answers questions about this issue—one that Apple does not consider to be a defect in the product.
“The new straight edges and the presence of the antenna splits may make subtle deviations in flatness more visible only from certain viewing angles that are imperceptible during normal use. These small variances do not affect the strength of the enclosure or the function of the product and will not change over time through normal use,” Apple writes on the support page.
Apple’s jargon-laden explanation of the slightly curved devices outlines the manufacturing and cooling process for the new design of this generation of iPads Pros. In iPad Pro cellular models, bands or splits are added to the side of the iPad to allow parts of the device to function as cellular antennas. “For the first time ever on an iPad, these bands are manufactured using a process called co-molding,” Apple says. And that’s the process that’s leading to some consumers seeing a bent shape on their new iPads.
Apple has instructions on its support page for consumers who think their iPad Pro doesn’t meet the specifications outlined, but as long as the bend is below “400 microns of deviation,” it doesn’t seem to count as a problem.