Apple have now offered refunds to Australian consumers who felt misled by the company’s claims that their “New iPad” was fully 4G compatible with our Australian network.
Today the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Apple to the federal court for wrongly advertising that their third generation iPad had the ability to use our 4G network, currently offered by Telstra, by displaying it as WiFi + 4G compatible in their advertising. They also pushed for customers to get a full refund for the device.
According to AFP Apple will not be prepared to attach corrective stickers to packaging, but will email all customers notifying them of the incompatibilities. With over 3 million iPads sold in the first week of release, Apple say they’re confident not many people will take up the refund.
The repercussions of the decision could flow on to other countries that also have incompatible technology, or do not offer any 4G networks.
The “new iPad” was released all over the world earlier this month, promising new features and upgrades, including a 2048 x 1536px retina display, new A5X CPU and advanced optics 5mp camera. It was noted pretty quickly on its release that its 4G technology would not be compatible with the Telstra network, despite Apple making claims that the device was at least technically capable of providing the next generation broadband (just not in Australia).
