Does the iPad (2022) Survive JerryRigEverything’s Bend Test?

iPad (2022) was launched in October with a redesigned chassis and Apple’s A14 Bionic SoC. The new tablet is the first entry-level iPad model to feature a USB Type-C port. The iPad (2022) has now gone through JerryRigEverything’s durability test and it appears to have survived most of it — except the bend test. The display of the tablet picked up scratches at the 6 to 7 levels on the Mohs hardness scale. It was also put through flames that cause negligible damage to the display. However, the new iPad 10th generation did not fare well during the infamous bend test.

Zack Nelson, on his popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, put the latest iPad (2022) through a slew of durability tests. The test involved examining the scratch resistance of the display and body, its structure, and the screen’s durability under direct flames.

The ten-minute video starts with the unboxing of the new iPad. It shows the retail box of the handset — a white rectangular box — which includes a 20W charger, USB Type-C cable, documentation, and the Pink colour variant of the tablet.

The Youtuber starts with the scratch test and the new iPad’s 10.9-inch glass display starts showing  scratche at level five or six with deeper grooves at level 7. Nelson points out that sapphire glass gets scratched at levels 8 and 9. The free-floating pane of the glass starts scratching at level 6, which Nelson says is “pretty standard”. The paint on the aluminium frame scrapes off with a knife. However, the buttons don’t scratch easily. Nelson says that the device has more metal on the opposite side of the camera. Scratches in the area do not appear to damage the fingerprint scanner.

Next was a burn test where the flame was held directly at the screen and, surprisingly, nothing happens even after 15 seconds of direct flame. The pixels of the Liquid Retina display showed a black shade and recovered after some time, the video shows.

For the final structural rigidity test, it doesn’t take much force for the YouTuber to snap the iPad. The structural issues of the iPad were highlighted in the bend test as its front glass gets surface-level cracks and it was shown to become unresponsive. It didn’t survive the pressure applied when Nelson tried to bend the screen. According to Nelson, the three gold pads running along the side, less material and less structure are the major weak points of the device.

Nelson then tears down the iPad and shows the inner side of the iPad. He notes that “this iPad does look pretty repairable.”

Apple released the redesigned base model iPad in Silver, Blue, Yellow, and Pink shades in October this year. The 10th-generation iPad has a starting price of Rs. 44,900 in India. It is powered by Apple’s A14 Bionic SoC has a USB Type-C port and works with the first-gen Apple Pencil.