Apple is insisting the iPad3 is 4G ready, despite the fact it only works on “ultra fast” 3G networks.
 4G or 3G, that is the question. |
Apple has defended its ‘iPad new’ (known as iPad 3) after the Aussie watchdog, the ACCC, recently found its advertisements for new tablet sold as “iPad with Wifi + 4G” to be “false” and “misleading.” Apple claim the iPad is a 4G ready tablet even though it doesn’t work on Telstra’s 4G network – the only Long Term Evolution network in Oz.
“The iPad with WiFi + 4G is a device which performs in accordance with the descriptor ‘4G’ in terms of data transfer speed,” Apple stated in a new filing to the ACCC this week, seen by The Australian.
The Cupertino giant also insists the iPad works on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks “which are 4G networks in accordance with accepted industry and regulatory use of the descriptor ‘4G'” and is now claiming these 3G network should really be renamed 4G.
In its new filing to the ACCC, Apple also claims Aussie consumers knew all along about the lack of 4G on the iPad 3 despite the fact it never publicly stated this – until it was forced to.
“The descriptor ‘4G’ … conveys to consumers in Australia that the iPad with WiFi + 4G will deliver a superior level of service in terms of data transfer speed (consistent with accepted industry and regulatory use of that term), and not that the iPad with WiFi + 4G is compatible with any particular network technology promoted by a particular mobile service provider in Australia.”
However, the consumer watchdog reckons Apple is claiming the new iPad “can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case.”
4G LTE networks in Australia work on different frequencies – 1800MHz ( also used for 3G networks here), than the US, which run on 700MHz and 2100MHz.
Earlier this week, it emerged Apple and the consumer watchdog failed to come to an agreement over the name for iPad 4G in Australia.
Read Apple V Watchdog ‘iPad 4G’ War
Apple previously admitted the new iPad’s lack of 4G in a statement:
“iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also forced Apple to give refunds to any Aussie consumers who bought a iPad 4G device, although it appears there has been little if any, reported returns to Apple Store or retailers.
