Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Dan Riccio, hit back at complaints that a number of 2018 iPad Pros arrived with customers bent. In a leaked email, he said that the device met high manufacturing standards and its flatness is “even tighter than previous generations.”
iPad Pro “Meets or Exceeds” Apple Standards
Users criticized Apple after it indicated to The Verge that it was normal that some iPad Pros arrived bent. Hitting back at the story, in an email seen by 9to5 Mac, Mr. Riccio said the 2018 iPad Pro met Apple’s design and manufacturing standards and that “every part of the manufacturing process is precisely measured and controlled. He wrote:
Its unibody design meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of decision and precision manufacturing.
Mr. Riccio also said that the device’s flatness had actually improved in this generation of iPad Pros:
Our current specification for iPad Pro Flatness is 400 microns which is even tighter than previous generations. This 400 micron variance is less than half a millimeter (or the width of fewer than 4 sheets of paper at most) and this level of flatness won’t change during normal use over the lifetime of the product.
He insisted that the slight variations had no bearing on how the device functioned. Mr. Riccio also commented that The Verge’s article had not included a company statement, which he said Apple would put out.
Wow – I’m really not sure what to make of Dan Riccio’s response. PR isn’t always Apple’s strong suit when they’re on the back foot. Considering the glacial pace at which Apple bring new hardware to the market these days (aside from the iPhone), you’d think any previous product design issues, like keyboards, thermal (MBP) or any product chassis design, would be well and truly resolved before shipping. On top of this, when you land customers with product price increases this year and presumably next year, it’s not unreasonable for any Apple customer to expect the premium level of product engineering and support they’re paying for.
Maybe this will turn out to be a storm in a tea cup, but still, not a great way to end the year for Apple. Will be interesting to see the official statement on the issue.