Yes, this is an old thread. Two years-old apparently. However, and still using the very same iPad Air that I had a problem with when I started this thread, I have some more perspective. What follows are my conclusions.
1. I remember thinking that the problem might have had something to do with faulty batteries or bad temperature-handling. At this point, I seriously doubt that's the case. As somebody else claimed in another forum a few years ago, that's just not how physics works (just imagine the amount of heating that you'd need in order to bend aluminum).
2. My theory, in my own case in any of the one's who have been posting here, is that the damage has been produced by the action of some external force, whether by objects, whether by the own user without having noticed (again, according to Physics 101, it's just impossible to bend an iPad, which was intact when it came out of the box, by magic). This is basically the argument that Apple used when they contacted me by phone and email years ago, saying, in short, that the iPad was intact when it came out of the box and then was not, therefore it's the user who is to blame.
3. However, and this is the important turnaround, while it's factually correct that the iPad was intact before and any damage on it might have be caused by the user, it's not, in anyway, enough reason to stop blaming Apple. I suspect (again, I have been using the same iPad in those far-than-optimal conditions for two years now, so I have a little more perspective on the case) that this must have been a very faulty batch of aluminum, or there must have been at least some building/design errors in the way these particular units were manufactured. I claim this because the matter of the fact is that I never treated (and I'm sure it must be the same with everybody who have posted in this thread) my iPad Air in a different way, comparing to all the iPads that I had before, which were no less than three (in my opinion, that's a fair number to indicate that I know how these things work, how to use them and how to treat them.). My suspicion is that because of the factors that I've just mentioned (design/manufacturing/material issues), it was incredibly easy for these specific iPads to get bent under normal circumstances of use, compared to all the iPads (at least in my case) that I used before. I'm talking, for instance, about carrying the iPad on a backpack or leaving it under some light objects. (These are just examples, but truth be told, I did that with my 1st-gen iPad, iPad 2 and 3rd-gen iPad and never had any issue).
4. Because of my previous point I think that Apple should, at least, analyze our units, examining its internal hardware configuration and the quality of the material employed—in short, some physical tests. However, and this is very important to notice, despite the fact that Apple contacted me and apparently tried to work things out, they never were prone to have a close look at my device. The only thing I asked them was to receive my unit and analyze it in situ. However, that was never the case and they only limited themselves to watch the pictures that I posted in this same thread, which is just plain absurd and no different from the kind of superficial “diagnosis” that you cold make browsing the web from your comfortable chair.
That's all I can say for now.
Greetings.
