M1 iPad Pro Durability Test Ends With A Wrinkle

This year's 12.9-inch iPad Pro may be the most revolutionary Applet tablet ever since the company first introduced the iPad Pro line. It now runs on Apple's most powerful chip yet and has even switched out the plain backlit LCD for a Mini LED-backlit LCD. And as with anything that changes its formula, there might be some changes that have resulted in reducing the tablet's durability. That's what YouTuber Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything fame and infamy set out to find out, putting the largest iPad Pro to his rigorous tests.

iPads and Nelson haven't really gotten along together. Ever since the first time the iPhone 6 "bendgate" came out, the YouTuber has been quite critical of Apple's devices, especially the large ones. The iPad Pro from 2018 fared the worst, breaking easily in half due to some compromises in the tablet's structural integrity. Those were introduced, the YouTuber says, by the microphone hole and Apple Pencil charging area right in the middle of the slate, on opposite sides.

Those same details are present in the new 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro so Nelson was understandably apprehensive about the chances of the giant slate surviving. Before he got to that point, however, he did need to go through the other tests, including the mostly useless burn test. The good news is that the M1 iPad Pro survived with aplomb, with the display recovering after a few seconds.

The even better news is that the tablet survives the bend test as well, at least somewhat. Despite the suspected structural integrity compromises, the iPad Pro didn't break. Unfortunately, it did bend permanently and retained its curved shape. Bending it from the opposite direction only caused the screen to curve and wrinkle even more.

The iPad Pro at least remained functional all the way, for various definitions of "functional". It does mean that the tablet will survive an accidental encounter with someone's posterior but it won't be looking like the premium tablet it once was.