They have very clearly said that LTE/4g is not in all countries. They even said USA and Canada only.
It's not Apples fault that some folks don't understand what only means
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Offers iPad Refunds to Australian Customers Misled about 4G
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They have very clearly said that LTE/4g is not in all countries. They even said USA and Canada only.
It's not Apples fault that some folks don't understand what only means
It's not ONLY Apple's fault that nobody understands what that means. They have to take at least SOME of the blame.
How are most consumers supposed to know that the term "4G" isn't a technology, but a set of different technologies that can each function on different wavelengths, and are completely incompatible?
Hindsight's a wonderful thing, but a customer making the assumption that 4G is 4G seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Apple markets it as UP TO 4g speeds. They add a note on the basic product info page that LTE is only in the US and Canada.
they repeat that note on the online store. They put stickers on the boxes in the stores. Their staff will totally explain what that means. BEFORE they take your money.
So how can Apple be to blame for folks not understanding that you can't use LTE in Australia.
I think it has more to do with a larger part of the community that is less tech savvy than most people here on the forums. Most people don't read the fine print or after market stickers on boxes. This is all about the ACCC forcing apples hand to make advertising clear for the less tech educated population.
Clueless!
So many of you are clueless.
Apple is running the same ads in Australia that they are running in the USA.
The commercials say the new iPad can run on LTE networks, but they fail to mention only in the USA and Canada.
It's totally misleading, and stupid on their part. They should have edited all marketing materials and packaging in forgeign markets to not mention LTE at all.
Or here's a better idea... they should have shipped iPads to foreign markets with LTE chips that operate on the network frequencies in those countries. Basically, they wasted money putting LTE chips in those iPads at all.
It's just like your Verizon phone can't run on AT&T's network because they operate on different frequencies and bands. For Australia, it would be like Apple selling you an AT&T iPad when Verizon is the only carrier there. It can't work.
So the iPads overseas can run on local 3G networks as they did before with their respective carriers... just not those carriers LTE networks. And those devices come in boxes marketing LTE.
So many of you are clueless.
Apple is running the same ads in Australia that they are running in the USA.
The commercials say the new iPad can run on LTE networks, but they fail to mention only in the USA and Canada.
It's totally misleading, and stupid on their part. They should have edited all marketing materials and packaging in forgeign markets to not mention LTE at all.
Or here's a better idea... they should have shipped iPads to foreign markets with LTE chips that operate on the network frequencies in those countries. Basically, they wasted money putting LTE chips in those iPads at all.
It's just like your Verizon phone can't run on AT&T's network because they operate on different frequencies and bands. For Australia, it would be like Apple selling you an AT&T iPad when Verizon is the only carrier there. It can't work.
So the iPads overseas can run on local 3G networks as they did before with their respective carriers... just not those carriers LTE networks. And those devices come in boxes marketing LTE.
You're assuming that you can only buy iPads from Apple Store employees, who would bother to explain this stuff, or would even know to begin with. Which is obviously not true.
Therefore it's Apple's fault for marketing as 4G in a country that uses a different 4G system. It's the sales people who either don't know, or don't care that there is a difference. And in some cases it's the consumer's fault for not reading the small footnotes at the bottom of the screen or box.
Realistically, Apple have handled their mistake extremely well. But it was a mistake that someone at Apple made down the line.
Last edited:
Carphone Warehouse offer the new iPad in the UK with "Ultrafast 4G LTE". They even state that it does NOT support 3G.
Now THAT is misleading.
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mo...PAD-WIFI-4G-16GB/MONTHLY#rdOverviewContentTab
Now THAT is misleading.
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mo...PAD-WIFI-4G-16GB/MONTHLY#rdOverviewContentTab
Last edited:
Wow, nice find. That is indeed quite something.
However, Apple got nothing to do with that.
The one to blame here is the carphone warehouse.
It gets better. I went into the Carphone Warehouse and asked them about the iPad and 4G in the UK. They confirmed, and even checked, that yes, it will work - worldwide, not just the US.
So, so wrong. I even led the sales assistant, a colleague could hear what was going on, but all the way through, I was given incorrect information.
Scandalous.
So, so wrong. I even led the sales assistant, a colleague could hear what was going on, but all the way through, I was given incorrect information.
Scandalous.
Last edited by a moderator:
Is it legal in the UK to record a conversation without the other party's knowledge, and to publish it?
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes. But difficult to use in a court of law as evidence, not that this needs to be.
----------
Moreover, much like photography, as long as I do not mis-represent someone, claim it was made at a different time or place, or use them to endorse a product, I don't need their permission to use it.
No privacy laws, nor data protection have been breached.
According to this it's not ok to publish it, so I've removed the link. But it's of course fine to continue to discuss the conversation.
But the iPhone 3G was AT&T ONLY in the US and sold as such. You couldn't even buy an unlocked version at an apple store. Very different with the iPad which IS being marketed on networks that have 4G LTE capability yet cannot connect to their 4G network.
Consumer Law In Australia requires a product to be fit for service. If Apple continue advitising G4 then they can be forced to withdraw it from the australian market because it will not work as a G4 device in Australia. Hence why they they offer the refund. If they can have the court except that G3 = G4 then they can withdraw the offer of a refund.