Updated : iPad 2 Very Fragile

I hope this goes viral. Some people would swear that Apple Products are the best invention since paper.

Y Otterbox no ha sacado al mercado aun el “Hummer” de los cases para el iPad 2, el Otterbox Defender. Me pongo en tu situacion y hubiese hablado en lenguas (y no de las bonitas, jajaja) Stay tuned for more!

Juat Dropped my iPad 2 as I was getting out of the car. 1st drop onto Tarmac and the screen is shattered. Totally lame. Apple will get a bad reputation very quickly I’d these things are so fragile. Well, I Learned the hard way but at least I know to sell my Apple stock now!

I didn’t drop my Ipad 2, but I did notice a couple of very small lines on it which looked like tiny rainbows on the screen. I figured it was something wrong with pixels on the display, but when I took it to my local Apple store, one of the guys said that they were scratches. “Scratches?,” I said. “Scratches from what?” No idea how the scratches got there – been sitting in my bedside table drawer when not in use, and hasn’t been out of the house. After getting an appointment with one of the genius bar guys, he promptly swapped it out for a new one. “Lines were probably there when you bought it and you just didn’t notice.” I suppose, but I don’t think so. Very nice, however, that they swapped it out.

Another story: A friend of mine dropped his Ipad 2 last week and had the screen shatter. He took it in to get a replacement screen, and they just swapped out the entire unit for free. Even after he explained that he had dropped it.

When we discussed these stories at a dinner party last night, one of the lawyers in attendance (not a litigator, though) said that she bets that they’re having some sort of systematic problems. Their willingness to swap out units with cracks, scratches, etc. suggests, to her, that they have some sort of quality control issues that they’re trying to head off at the pass.

One more thing.  I was an early adopter of Kindle.  The screens on those broke very easily.  They replaced some but not others and their was no system behind the policy.  No consistency.  I was pretty upset by it and continued to write managers about selling these devices with a true replacement plan.  The real world is demanding on portable electronics. 
The phone companies have replacement warranties in general.  After a lot of bitching Amazon made a deal with Square Trade to offer replacements for cracked screens.  I put a square trade warranty on my IPad after receiving it.

I have a similiar problem, only it didn’t fall onto anything, simply put it down n a table and the next day when using it noticed the screen was shatered. How did you get Apple to honor the warranty?

Additional comments on the iPad2-
it turns out that there is a screen standard for the Tablet PC devices.
Many of the Tablet PC and Windows7 compatible touch screens are using Guerrilla Glass.
http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/full-products-list
The URL above has a list of the electronics manufacturers who are using this glass technology.
I noticed that Apple, Inc. is NOT on the vendor list.
Before Apple goes out and starts using the terms “robust”, would it not improve Apple to adapt the User Agreements such that buyers like me can be aware of the impact resistance or lack thereof?

The situation is that the iPad2 uses glass as the screen.  The iPhone and the iPod also use glass.  Apple does NOT use Guerrilla Glass.  Therefore, when you drop an iPhone, iPod, or an iPad, there is much higher likelihood of screen shatter and damage being done.

In my case, the iPad was simply in my hands being used.  I was holding the device by the “protective” cover which is sold as an add-on for the product.  I had specifically asked the “genius” who was selling me this device about impact resistance.  20 Years ago I had purchased several early PowerBooks for use in a business setting.  I lost the development work I had done at that time when the Powerbook battery was insufficient to keep powering the laptop and a person tripped over the powercord causing my laptop to fall on its side from 4 feet up on a table.  The screen shattered and I had no opportunity to get any corrective action from Apple for the problem.

Fast forward 20 years.  For the past 20 years I have been using only Microsoft software and only PC related products from HP, Dell, and a variety of small asian manufacturers.  I return to Apple out of frustration with the MSFT OS’s constant need for updates.

My experience was that upon walking into the well-organized Apple Store, the sales person was asked specifically about impact resistance of the product.  I never received a clear answer from the sales person, other than that the product was metallic in back and would be able to handle small falls or drops.
Well, the drop last night was only 4 inches.  I was holding the device by the cover that Apple sells and with my fingers on the tablet.  As I was flipping the device over 180 to stand, the device detached from the magnets in the cover.  The device fell screen down onto a clock radio on my desk.  The entire corner of the iPad2 became fractured with small edges appearing in the surface.Attention:  You can not use an iPad2 with a fractured screen because your finger would need to cross the cut glass.

Upon returning to the Apple Store where I bought the device, I requested to speak with a manager.  The initial response of the manager was not helpful.  She was confrontational and argumentative.  Her early response was “Apple is not responsible for you dropping your iPad.”
Well, no duh sweetie, but that’s NOT the issue.  The issue is that your company sold me this device when I specifically asked about (1) Impact resistance from small falls, and (2) in the sales pitch stated that the device could handle falls.  In this case the fall was only 4″ and it still fractured!

She then argued that the store does not do returns and exchanges and that I should have known that the glass would break.
I stated to her that the breakage was not understood.  Specifically, because there are several different glass technologies available, the impact resistance of the device is a clear issue.  I specifically asked about this issue due to my prior experience with Apple products from 20 years ago.  I was assured that a small drop would not create a problem. 

I went around and around this manager for some time at the front of the store.  Frankly, I found her responsiveness to be confrontational, frustrating, and inappropriate.  Instead of listening to a knowledgable customer / client, she took an attitude of defensive position arguing with me.  She repeatedly stated that “I don’t see why you are blaming Apple for your dropping the product.”
This was infuriating to me, as I repeated stated to her (by the end of the interaction I had to repeat this to her about 5 times) that I was not holding the store responsible for a 4 inch drop.
I AM holding Apple responsible for failure to respond to a legitimate use and a selling tactic which utterly fails to state that their product uses glass on the screen which is subject to shatter.  She argued about why I would think it wasn’t glass.  Well, lady, after I work in scientific labs for 30 years, there are alot of things that cover something in a transparent fashion, including many different acryllics, plastics, resins, and glass composites. 
I later argued with her about the durability of the equipment.
How in the hell can Apple pass off their EULA about “legitimate use” when in fact these people are walking into Apple stores having their $500-$1100 product damaged in “Legitimate Use” and yet NO response from Apple???  Engineers at Apple should be better able to do impact resistance.  The reality is that a whole boatload of electronic manufacturers are on board with Guerrilla glass.
My wife’s own Samsung Windows 7 phone has been dropped in its plastic shell several times and no breakage.
In the office, I have seen many people wtih broken iPhones.

This iPad experience is just reflective of the sales pitch mentality when the device just isn’t “robust” enough to handle daily use.

By the way, still no refund and still no correction.  I have to wait days to find out if they will get another device to replace it.

The manager then sits me at the “Genius” bar to lecture me about impact resistant glass.
For christ sake, I worked on the windows on the space shuttle lady.  Shut up.

my daughter dropped my IPAD2 on thanksgiving day and it’s cracked like a spider web on one side. I only had it one week. I went to apple today and they said it will cost $269 to replace! Basically they said “sorry about your luck” !! wtf!  Forget that! I will do it myself! 

I bought my iPad2 last week and also purchased the Otter Box Defender case too. My infant knocked the iPad off of the end table with the case on it….first drop and the screen broke on the corner like the others on here. Not quite as bad, but still broken, should I attempt Best Buy first or go straight to an apple store? We do not have an Apple store in my town. If the Defender won’t even protect the iPad, I wonder if anything will!

I went to the Apple store in Soho New York City and they told me that they changed the policy on free first time exchanges on IPad2. I even showed them your website and a couple of other posts about people getting their cracked IPad2 exchanges but they still wouldn’t give me an exchange.What should I do at this point?

Hi, my Ipad 2 screen broke a few days ago also! Slipped out of my hands and hit the carpet from about 12 inches high and cracked! I couldn’t believe it! I will contact Best Buy today based on all I see in this thread. To me, it appears to be a defect in the tempering process in manufacturing of the digitizer component.

Frank