Past iPads have not always fared well in bend tests – something about the size and the metal build combo doesn’t really make them as durable as most phones in that way.
Apple’s recently outed its new flagship tablets for 2021, and if you were wondering just how the bigger one of those two would do in a traditional scratch, burn, and bend test, well, here’s your answer. Zack from JerryRigEverything is at it again, this time testing the iPad Pro 12.9 with the M1 chipset and the first ever mini-LED LCD display in a tablet.
How will that screen take the abuse? Well, for starters, it’s still covered by glass like any other screen on a mobile device, so predictably it scratches at level 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, with deeper grooves at level 7. So far so good.
But how will the mini-LEDs react to the flame? Turns out the pixels turn black after about 17 seconds, and then recover after the heat is removed. That is in fact incredibly similar to how traditional LCD panels behave.
The aluminum back scratches when subjected to a blade, and you can try and ‘draw’ an elephant on it if you want. Finally, the bend test – spoiler alert, the screen flexes out of the frame when the tablet is bent from the back. And it remains bent. Bending from the other side there’s less flex and much less give. After another try from the back, the device doesn’t break per se, but it does stay bent, so maybe don’t sit on your brand new $1,100 tablet.