iPad catches fire in Australian phone store
While Apple's smartphones had their share of battery issues in the past, including even explosions, the iPad tablets were never involved in such incidents until last week.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported last Friday that a brand new iPad Air bursted into flames in a Vodafone store from Canberra, Australia and filled the shop with smoke. According to a Vodafone spokesperson the iPad Air demo model located on a shelf had "a burst of flames" appearing from its charging port. While no customers or staff members were injured during this incident, the fire brigade had to be called in as the store filled with smoke while the iPad continued to produce sparks.
The iPad Air involved in the incident was destroyed by the extreme heat generated and the remains were promptly collected by an Apple representative for investigations. While this seems to have happened on Wednesday, Apple declined to comment on the incident so far.
As this is the first incident involving a new iPad Air which was released globally on November 1, an official statement regarding this problem is expected to be issued soon, maybe even accompanied by a replacement/repair campaign.