14 DAY TRIAL // After being dragged into court by the ACCC over allegedly misleading marketing of the new iPad, Apple Inc. has offered to refund Australian buyers of the third-generation tablet who may feel misled by the 4G LTE promos.
Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said this week that “Apple's recent promotion of the new 'iPad with WiFi + 4G' is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case."
Apple's lawyers reportedly agreed to publish a clarification regarding the technical limitations of the iPad 3 in Australia, where Telstra only provides 4G Internet on a certain bandwidth that the tablet does’t support.
The company doesn’t accept that it misled customers, according to the BBC.
On its website, Apple markets the 4G capabilities of the new iPad saying “The new iPad supports fast cellular networks the world over — including 4G LTE networks in the U.S. and Canada.”
A finer print at the bottom of the iPad’s marketing page then says, “4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S. and on Bell, Rogers, and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans sold separately. See your carrier for details.”
While Apple does provide the necessary information on its site, it appears the company hasn’t made these aspects as evident as necessary.
The marketing material adds that “…you can browse the web, stream content, or download a movie at blazing-fast speeds. It also works on GSM/UMTS worldwide network technologies including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA — the fastest 3G networks out there. You’ll see downlink speeds up to 42 Mbps with DC-HSDPA and up to 21.1 Mbps with HSPA+.”
Perhaps mentioning that the new iPad works on “worldwide network technologies” is what misled some customers into thinking they were 4G-ready.