Temperature sensor issues on iPad 2?

[gdjsnyder]

I purchased my iPad 2 on launch day, and for the past four months I have been very happy with it. I had no issues whatsoever with the iPad, and have no screen bleed, which with so many reports of screen bleeding issues, I felt very lucky. That was until last week. I was at work, my iPad had been laying (facedown on it's Smartcover) for about two hours. I had used the iPad probably around 2PM to post a few items in "Numbers", and had to go back to the Numbers app and put a few more items in. When I picked the iPad up I had the triangular "!" and the message said "iPad needs to cool down before you can use it". I thought that was very odd. My iPad did not feel warm at all to the touch, and it had been on my desk for the past two hours, untouched, in air conditioning. I thought it was weird, but the message went away about ten minutes later and I continued my work.

Sunday (yesterday), same problem, but this time I was in my house. I used the iPad for about twenty minutes to play a game, placed it on my coffee table, went to the bathroom, came back and the message that the iPad needed to cool down before use was there. My house is air conditioned and the iPad wasn't even by a window or anything. And again, the iPad was not even warm to the touch. So I created a case ID with Express Lane last night on Apple.com and chose the option that I would call. Since I am past 90 days, I would have to purchase a single incident phone support, however I chose the option of this call being an exception for something I think warranty should cover.

I will call tonight, as this happened again about a half hour ago. But has anyone heard of this? Could my iPad be overheating inside and causing this, or could this just be a faulty sensor?

Also, I have never had my original or this iPad replaced, so to anyone who has I have a question. Over the phone, are they going to want me to send this in for repair and then either repair it or send me a new one, or if they are going to replace it do they offer to put a hold on my card, send me a replacement and then have me send the old one back. My problem is, I work from home three days a week, and I use Pages and Numbers on my iPad for most of the stuff that I do. Numbers is very important for my daily use, and I really can't be without my iPad for a week or two. I have an Apple store about an hour and a half away, but the only time for me to really get down there is a Sunday, and my next two Sunday's I have prior commitments that are more important than the iPad. I believe the issue will be verifiable, when they plug the iPad into their system it should show the overheating, so I can understand the need to verify, but I really can't be without my iPad for more than a few days (mainly because of work).

Any suggestions? Should I just wait until I get a chance to go to the Apple store, or will I have luck calling?

Thanks for any help guys!

 

[Don Kosak]

Temperature sensors sometimes will trip if the iPad is left in a hot car, or in direct sunlight for a long period of time. Normally the iPad itself is uncomfortably hot to hold in these cases.

Doesn't sound like that was the case for yours. So, yeah, I would have Apple take a look at it.

Since you need it, I'd call your local store first, and see if you can schedule a genius appointment for someone to look at it when it's convenient. Now that iPad's are shipping in 1-3 days you should be able to get a replacement that day in the Apple store - but you might want to check first over the phone.

 

[fhall1]

If it does it again before you take it someplace, take a photo of the screen as proof, since you won't be able to reproduce this "on demand" at the store....show some of the "environment" around the device in the photo (e.g. your living room - so the "genius" will know it wasn't outside at the beach in the hot sun)

 

[gdjsnyder]

Thanks for the suggestions, both of you. It ended up doing it again on Wednesday, so I called Apple and they gave me two options: send it in and they would send me a replacement or go to an Apple Store and get a replacement. I told them I really can't be without the iPad because of work, so I would go to the Apple Store, but I didn't want to waste my time driving an hour and a half if they couldn't reproduce the issue. So the senior advisor put a note on my case number that the iPad was to be replaced, no questions asked.

So I went down today, and lo and behold there were no white 64GB wifi-only iPads to give me as a replacement. My genius was so nice, and gave me two options: have an iPad shipped to the store for pick-up or call Apple and have them send me an advanced replacement and then send my iPad back when I received that one. The second option was best for me, so I told him I would do that, and he told me to call while in the store, so that there were no problems, and he let his manager know of my situation (he felt bad I had such a long drive, and was promised a replacement), so his manager told me he would talk to the advisor if I was given any trouble. A few other employees actually got involved with me while I was there, and after being on hold for 25 minutes the manager came over to me with a brand new white iPad 64GB and told me he felt very badly for me and he just wanted to help me the best he could.

Basically, Apple is, again, showing just how much they actually care about their customers. Never did I expect to be handed a brand new iPad. But I am glad to be done with my problem, as the manager said that my issue was a huge safety issue.

Again, to the two posters, thanks for your advice!

 

[maclaptop]

I've bought several for the family & they're all fine, with but one obvious exception.

Arriving at any one of a number of sites that employ the industry standard flash, the content is hidden.

It's particularly annoying, but thrills Apple, and these days that's all that matters.

Apple flips the explanation, blames it on Adobe, the Web, and dives deep into denial.

That done, all is peaceful in AppleLand.