Miraculously, the tablet still works after the bend test

Nov 1, 2014 11:50 GMT  ·  By

Don’t expect the next generation of iDevices to be any slimmer than the ones currently being sold today. But if Apple indeed wants to go even thinner with its upcoming iPhones and iPads, they might require a stronger material than aluminum.

A new bend test, this time involving the iPad Air 2, is making waves on YouTube. Marvin macht’s video suggests that it’s so easy to bend Apple’s 9.7-inch tablet that you might need to carefully reconsider your travel storage scenarios.

More bendable than iPhone 6 Plus (apparently)

The one-minute video is similar in nature to the bend tests carried out by Unbox Therapy about a month ago, when the YouTube channel’s protagonist single-handedly caused a PR nightmare for the company headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. The tester, Marvin, clutches a new-generation iPad Air 2 with his huge hands and presses hard against the tablet’s display warping it close to a 90-degree angle, shattering the display and severely curving the thin aluminum enclosure.

Miraculously, the iPad’s screen was still showing some activity even after the device had been completely destroyed.

Intentional bending becomes a practice

Bend tests like the ones carried out by Unbox Therapy and now Marvin macht, as informative as they may seem, really don’t prove anything except that the laws of physics apply to an iDevice in the same way they do to pretty much anything in this universe. Any thin slab of aluminum can be bent without applying too much pressure, because of the malleability of the respective material.

The video clearly shows Marvin grasping the big iPad with just one hand. Big hands like that are usually strong too, which may provide an answer as to why he was able to bend it so fast. But these bend tests do tell us something: that things are about to change soon enough.

Apple is indeed on a quest to make its devices as slim as possible using the materials that provide a good ratio of feasibility, usability, and attractiveness. However, there are limits to what you can do with aluminum, so if the company decides to go even thinner next year or the year after that, they might have to choose a harder metal to work with.

Harder materials require more complex, and implicitly more expensive manufacturing techniques. Apple needs to juggle these aspects carefully without raising the tablet’s retail price in order to compensate itself, its manufacturing partners, as well as turn a profit for the company and its investors.