The iPad (2022) launched in October with a redesigned body and Apple’s A14 Bionic SoC. The new tablet is the first entry-level iPad to feature a USB Type-C port. The iPad (2022) has now passed JerryRigEverything’s durability test and appears to have survived most of it – with the exception of the bend test. The tablet’s display picked up scratches on levels 6 to 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It has also been subjected to flames with negligible damage to the display. However, the new 10th generation iPad didn’t fare well in the infamous bend test.
Zack Nelson, on his popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, put the latest iPad (2022) through a series of durability tests. The scratch resistance of the display and the housing, its structure and the resistance of the screen to direct flames were tested.
The ten-minute video starts with the unboxing of the new iPad. It shows the handset’s retail packaging – a white rectangular box – which includes a 20W charger, USB Type-C cable, documentation and the pink color variant of the tablet.
The youtuber starts the scratch test and the new iPad’s 10.9-inch glass display shows scratches from 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 glass starts to scratch at level 6, which Nelson says is “fairly standard.” The paint on the aluminum frame scrapes off with a knife. However, the keys don’t scratch that easily. Nelson says the device has more metal on the opposite side of the camera. Scratches in this area don’t seem to damage the fingerprint scanner.
Next came a burn test where the flame was held directly on the screen and surprisingly nothing happened even after 15 seconds of direct flame. The pixels of the Liquid Retina display showed a black tint and recovered after some time, as the video shows.
For the final structural strength test, the YouTuber doesn’t need much force to break the iPad. The structural problems of the iPad were highlighted in the bend test, as the front glass cracked at the surface level and showed itself to be unresponsive. It didn’t survive the pressure exerted when Nelson tried to flex the screen. According to Nelson, the three gold pads running along the side, less material and less structure are the biggest weak points of the device.
Nelson then rips off the iPad and reveals the inside of the iPad. He notes that “this iPad looks pretty repairable.”
Apple publishes the newly designed Base model iPad in shades of silver, blue, yellow and pink this October. The 10th generation iPad has a starting price of Rs. 44,900 in India. It’s powered by Apple’s A14 Bionic SoC, has a USB Type-C connector, and works with the first-generation Apple Pencil.
