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Bendgate Pro? Apple's new iPad is easily bent out of shape

A famous bend-tester finds that Apple's new tablet can be easily snapped in two. Should buyers be worried?
Written by Chris Matyszczyk, Contributing Writer
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Flexible. (Screenshot by ZDNet)

In recent years, new devices have been a little straight-laced.

There was a time, you see, when the most important thing about a new phone was whether it could be easily bent.

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The iPhone 6 Plus, for example, was the subject of the famous Bendgate. Initial tests by instant examiners showed that it wasn't wise to put the phone in your back pocket and sit on it.

Now, though, we may have a new, warped Apple problem.

Famed tester Zach Nelson, aka Jerry Rig Everything, got hold of the new iPad Pro and bent it completely out of shape.

"The iPad Pro doesn't have any of that structural integrity stuff," says Nelson in his usual, inflexibly deadpan mode.

He adds that it's like "tinfoil wrapped around mashed potatoes."

Well, it's quite thin. And, when things are quite thin they're often quite bendable and easily mashed.

What's perhaps a little surprising, though, is how easily this new iPad Pro bends and breaks. It doesn't seem as if Nelson exerts too much energy to achieve his destructive ends.

It is, of course, often entertaining when the first thing people want to do with a new product is attempt to destroy it.

It's also, though, a wily reminder that when manufacturers try to give customers what they (think they) want, a few compromises might just occur along the way.

Ultimately, when you buy an extremely useful, extremely thin, and extremely light device, it's worth being extremely responsible in the way you look after it.

Many people -- dare I even suggest, most people -- aren't.

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Phones are thrown into pockets and end up stuffed with lint.

Tablets are thrown into bags and their survival depends on what else is in the bag, how hard the bag is thrown, what sort of surface it strikes when the throwing is complete, and whether the bag is ever used as a cushion to sit on or as a goalpost for an impromptu game of soccer.

Of course, this just might contribute a little to Apple's repair profits -- I'm sure they get shoved under "services."

With phones, most people display their lack of taste and wrap their phones in cases for added protection.

Though there are cases for the new iPad Pro, I'm not sure how much they can do to protect the entire structure.

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Yes, this means you're going to have to look after your new machine.

Can you cope with that?

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