Codebreaker

British regulators dubious about iPad’s “4G” claims

John Moe May 1, 2012

Okay, now it’s not just the Australians calling shenanigans on Apple’s nomenclature. (There’s a sentence I’ve never written before). Apple is selling the latest data network-enabled iPad as “4G”. The quotation marks there are mine but perhaps they should be Apple’s since England does not yet have nationwide 4G networks AND this particular iPad will be incompatible with them when it does. So it’s kind of a matter of false advertising, which is why Apple is being challenged about the claim. It’s a similar situation to what was going on in Australia recently. 

Says the BBC:

The Advertising Standards Authority told the BBC that when it approached Apple the company said it had removed references to 4G from the webpage subject to the complaint, and had edited a video that contained references to 4G.
But Apple’s UK site still offers consumers the chance to buy a “wi-fi + 4G” version of the iPad.
A footnote explains that “4G LTE” is supported only on certain networks in the United States and Canada.
The ASA said it had since been contacted by several complainants who had identified other “potentially problematic claims” about the iPad and 4G on the website.
“If it appears that the problem claims we asked Apple to remove are still appearing,” the regulator said, “we will investigate these new complaints.”

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