Apple iPad Air 5 build quality issues?

Decrease in manufacturing quality of the iPad Air? Several user reviews seem to point to this.

A few weeks ago, Apple announced its new iPad Air 5 with great fanfare. If we had to sum up, we would say that, apart from the integration of the M1 chip, the tablet looks more or less similar to its predecessor. However, the answer seems to be somewhat more complicated. Indeed, according to a report on Reddit, the workmanship of this iPad Air 5 will be worse than the previous version.

Decrease in manufacturing quality of the iPad Air?

According to a user, “The aluminum back is much thinner than the iPad 4 that I also have. The battery can almost be felt through the plate when you hold the device in your hands. Both iPads feel the same and make quiet squeaky sounds when held.”

Several user reviews seem to point to this.

At this stage, it is impossible to know if this issue affects all iPad Air 5s or if it is limited to only certain batches or even certain devices. It’s also entirely possible that the Cupertino-based company made some changes to the internal structure of the tablet, changes that caused these small cracks to appear. Or rising aluminum prices may have forced Apple to use less material to maintain the same manufacturing cost, which explains why builds are a bit more flexible.

In any case, know that these are, at least for the time being, only isolated messages. It’s hard to know if Apple made that kind of material compromise. Hopefully a proper teardown by iFixit or anyone else or an official release will tell us more. The Cupertino-based company already caused controversy a few years ago with its iPad Pro when users discovered that their tablet was delivered bent. The American giant then said that he did not consider this a real defect.