iPad Pro broke again. What is the best tablet?

[The_DR]

Hey Guys,

 

I have a problem. I'm looking for a Tablet PC. It has to be durable and reliable. Currently I have an Apple iPad Pro 11" with the M1 Processor. But... it's the second time, the device broke. The first time, the iPad was in a protective case and I let it slide from my hands on to a inflated bed. You know, like 15cm the iPad fell onto the soft bed with the Screen upside. And the screen cracked. Well, it was replaced under Apple Care+. But to be honest, I threw my notebooks harder onto other surfaces. My iPad Mini fell about half a meter onto a concrete floor and the display was still intact. So, it was “normal handling”. 

 

And now again. My iPad was lying on a table, when I noticed that it rebooted. And I had the message, that FaceID was not available. Neither WiFi, BT, Camera and so on. And the backside of the iPad got hot near the camera / Lidar Sensor. So it's broke again, after about a year. 

 

I don't know. Do I just have bad luck, or is the iPad Pro so unreliable? And if it's so, what kind of tablet is more durable? I'm not really concerned about the OS. 

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, The_DR said:

Do I just have bad luck

Given by the amount of drops you put your devices through, I would recommend a behavioral change before purchasing another tablet of any make or model. These things are thinner than phones, as a result even with a case they require some care. You wouldn't throw a glass slab on the ground, so why would you do that to an iPad which is basically the same thing? 

[porina]

Accidents do happen.

 

Currently I have a Galaxy Tab S8 base model, mainly because it beat the equivalent priced iPad Air in every spec except CPU/GPU. I've only dropped it once from approx. 50cm onto hard wood floor. No noticeable damage. I have to say, I hate Samsung's software on top of Android. If anyone else made a similar tablet I'd go for that. Huawei were the best before the US gov got upset over them.

 

I've owned a bunch of tablets as it seems I'm one of the few people who uses them regularly. Have to say physically my worst was an iPad mini 2019. I don't know what Apple use for the screen but it scratched very easily, and I noticed a slight bend on the case after a couple years of use. I didn't handle it any differently than numerous Android tablets and they don't seem to damage anywhere near as much. 

[manikyath]

i have a family member that's fairly happy with their samsung tablet (whichever one it is.. it's described as "the big one".. because it's usd for maintenance manuals in a repair shop)

 

past that, due to boneheaded decisions we also have an ipad pro (not an "ew apple" thing.. my dad bought a piece of hardware that *only* works with an ipad.. so we now own an ipad..) and it's been fine so far.

 

we also had an OG ipad (which got replaced by a samsung tablet a year before the pro came to be), and honestly.. the ipad pro was a disappointing view into how far apple has fallen over 10 years.

the samsung tablet that replaced the original ipad.. has been a point of debate among the family. according to my dad it is absolutely un-usable.. and my mom prefers it.

[Zando_]

Sounds like an iPad Pro with a glass screen protector and an Otterbox case is the right choice if you don't want to stop dropping your tablets. 

6 minutes ago, manikyath said:

we also had an OG ipad (which got replaced by a samsung tablet a year before the pro came to be), and honestly.. the ipad pro was a disappointing view into how far apple has fallen over 10 years.

Are they built that poorly? Have a bunch of the $329 iPads in Otterboxes for production line work, none of those have gone kaput, I would assume the Pros would be built just as well. 

[manikyath]

Just now, Zando_ said:

Are they built that poorly? Have a bunch of the $329 iPads in Otterboxes for production line work, none of those have gone kaput, I would assume the Pros would be built just as well. 

it's not so much "poorly" as seeing where they came from, and where they ended up. the new ones feel significantly less rigid, despte really not being that much thinner and bigger than the old ones.

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

it's not so much "poorly" as seeing where they came from, and where they ended up. the new ones feel significantly less rigid, despte really not being that much thinner and bigger than the old ones.

The old ones (I have a 1st gen iPad and a... 3rd or 4th gen, I forgor which it is) are a fat slab of aluminum and thick glass (which is also separate from the LCD). Newer ones are a fused assembly + stuff in more battery, and on the Pros essentially massive holes for the speaker chambers. Makes sense they'd be a bit more flimsy, though I do agree that they try to make them impractically thin (good ole diminishing returns). Making iPads thicker again would likely solve the structural issues. Same as how they made the 14/16" MBPs thicker again and... nobody died from carrying one in their backpack yet, so I think being razor thin was pointless all along. 

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

Pros essentially massive holes for the speaker chambers. Makes sense they'd be a bit more flimsy

y'know.. call me old fashioned.. maybe even HP has given me wrong assumptions... but..

isnt "pro" supposed to imply "harder faster better stronger"?

 

IMO they need to get rid of the camera bump on the pro's, and just make the ipads that thick, use that extra millimeter for more battery, more heatsink, more support material, and more marketing buzzwords.

 

i'm sure steve jobs could have sold it (not that i was ever a big fan..), if the current guy cant, that's a show of his own weakness.

[The_DR]

15 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

Sounds like an iPad Pro with a glass screen protector and an Otterbox case is the right choice if you don't want to stop dropping your tablets. 

Are they built that poorly? Have a bunch of the $329 iPads in Otterboxes for production line work, none of those have gone kaput, I would assume the Pros would be built just as well. 

That's the Case, the iPad was in, when the screen cracked. And as I said, it slided onto an Air Bed / Mattress. You know, I was unpacking my backpack and instead of putting everything down, they slided down. I handly my Notebook the same way. And my previous iPad Pro (the first) I handled the same way. When the screen cracked from the fall, then it also wouldn't survive a ride in public transportation during rush hour. 

[Darkseth]

1 hour ago, The_DR said:

My iPad Mini fell about half a meter onto a concrete floor and the display was still intact. So, it was “normal handling”. 

No no, there is a HUGE misconception here that needs to be cleared:

A Drop is NEVER a normal handling. Not from 2 meters, not from 10cm, not from 5cm.

Just like it's never a normal handling to drop your newborn Child, even if you put a helmet on it.

 

These devices aren't built to be dropped to the floor.
Every. Single. One. Can have a cracked screen after a drop, because every drop is unique with many parameters (angle, tosion, etc).

 

There is only 1 single working protection against drops: Don't drop it.
Sorry if i sound rude here, it's really not meant to be. But don't drop your devices, and they won't break.
Just as you just don't drop a newborn Child.

 

Or you don't hit other Cars with yours.

Instead of looking for a Car that doesn't get a scratch when hitting other cars, the solution is: Don't hit other Cars.

 

1 hour ago, The_DR said:

I don't know. Do I just have bad luck, or is the iPad Pro so unreliable?

You don't have bad Luck, unless you're "clumsy", and the iPad is also not unreliable. You simply damaged it by dropping it.

1 hour ago, The_DR said:

And if it's so, what kind of tablet is more durable? I'm not really concerned about the OS. 

Outdoor Tablets like those CAT5 ones are more durable, because they are meant for outdoor construction areas etc. But as a pure consumer Tablet they are pure ASS compared to an iPad Pro.

 

But as long you keep dropping your Phones/iPads/Computers, they WILL keep breaking sooner or later.

 

There is really not a single issue with the device in this regard.

[porina]

48 minutes ago, manikyath said:

the samsung tablet that replaced the original ipad.. has been a point of debate among the family. according to my dad it is absolutely un-usable.. and my mom prefers it.

Curious. My Tab S8 occasionally crashes in one game, which is annoying as that game is the reason I wanted a new tablet. None of my other Android devices crash in the same way, and I put it down to some weird compatibility thing with Samsung's added software. I found by disabling what Samsung features I can, and manually rebooting any time ANY Samsung software updates, it seems to be far less frequent than if I didn't.

 

Haven't checked up on it recently, didn't Google say they're making another tablet? Could be one to watch for.

[The_DR]

2 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

A Drop is NEVER a normal handling. Not from 2 meters, not from 10cm.

....

But as long you keep dropping your Phones/iPads/Computers, they WILL keep breaking sooner or later.

 

There is really not a single issue with the device in this regard.

Sorry, but for me it's normal handling of a device, that it also can be dropped. It's not a newborn, it's a every day device. And in my opinion it should survive some kind of bad usage. Or havn't you ever dropped your backpack with your notebook inside on the ground. Or turning around, smashed your backpack to a wall / door? In my opinion that's what a device has to survive. 

 

You brought up the example with the car. But it's wrong! Yes, I don't hit other cars with my own car. But I also expect from a car, that if I drive on a bumpy road, that the car will survive it. I also expect that if I bump lightly into some other car, there is no more than a scratch or metal damage. And not that it's total damage. 

[Darkseth]

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

Sorry, but for me it's normal handling of a device, that it also can be dropped.

Nope, absolutely not.

A drop is an accident. Not normal usage.

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

It's not a newborn, it's a every day device.

Exactly, and dropping it is NOT part of everyday usage.

 

Where did Apple ever advertise dropping it in ANY situation? 

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

And in my opinion it should survive some kind of bad usage.

It's always good if it does. But you should not have any kind of bad usage in first place.

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

Or havn't you ever dropped your backpack with your notebook inside on the ground. Or turning around, smashed your backpack to a wall / door? In my opinion that's what a device has to survive. 

I have never, and i never plan to do that.
Why on earth would i do that?

It's low basic common sense to not drop your stuff.

 

I dropped a phone 1 single time in my whole Life. Because of my clumsiness, i didn't put it deep enough into my jacked and were running. Luckily, nothing happened. If it did, i'd never get the idea to blame it on the device lol.

I have NEVER droped a tablet, and NEVER droped a Laptop. I did bump lightly into my Desk, which put a dent in in. Again: My own fault, not the devices.

But i've never broke a device. Not once. And i won't in the next 10 years.

 

These things CAN happen, but that's an accident. Like bumping your car against anything.
Sorry for bringing the Car analogy again. It's the same 

 

The thing is... If i know i have an expensive device, i'm careful. You can buy a slim bag to put your tablet in it, and then put the bag in your backpack if you don't know how to put it down without the insides breaking.

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

You brought up the example with the car. But it's wrong! Yes, I don't hit other cars with my own car. But I also expect from a car, that if I drive on a bumpy road, that the car will survive it.

No, this argument is wrong.

A bumpy Road is a Road. A Car is meant to drive on Roads. They build in the landing gear/undercarriage (sorry, english is not my first language) in order to counter bumpy roads. It's literaly a feature.

 

It's like shaking your Tablet. But not dropping it on the floor.

19 hours ago, The_DR said:

I also expect that if I bump lightly into some other car, there is no more than a scratch or metal damage. And not that it's total damage. 

Which would be like you holding your Tablet, turning around, and lightly(!! even a moderate bump will leave scratches on a car body)bumping on the table with it, and not dropping it free fall.

 

 

You should really reavulate your opinion on that matter. A Drop is not normal usage. 
I'm actually very terrified that nobody else here said it before me.

 

The Problem here is 100% your own mindset. You drop your Device, and blame it on the device. Just stop dropping it.

 

Yes, every Device is build somewhat sturdy to not fall apart when you look at it, but every single Drop is unique.

A Tablet that survives every single drop can not exist, unless you wrap it into thicc rubber like those amazon fire tabs for Children.

 

 

If you drop something and it breaks, it's on you.

If you're that clumsy, you need to counter that with either an Amazon Fire tablet for Kids, a thick Otterbox or anything similar, which can reduce your chances.