SquareTrade torture tests the iPad 2 by dropping it on cement

Personally, I wouldn't deliberately drop my iPad 2 on cement, but the folks at SquareTrade were crazy enough to let not one, but two iPads fall to a sidewalk. The first drop was waist-high and included both a bare iPad 2 and one encased in a Smart Cover. As expected, the naked iPad suffered a cracked screen so bad that it will make you cringe. The iPad with the Smart Cover, though, survived unscathed.

Taking the test one step further, the group dropped the Smart Cover iPad from shoulder height, which is about a 4 to 5 foot drop. Sadly, the second trial ended poorly for the iPad 2. The Smart Cover popped off from the impact, and the screen suffered some peripheral damage. It wasn't a total loss as the screen was not shattered, but the cracks on the edge and in the center would make it difficult to use. Read on to check out the video of the tests in action.