Apple offers refund to Australian new iPad owners

Apple and their new iPad may have gotten by relatively unscathed with regards to their overheating issues, but they seem to have run into some other problems down under.

After being accused by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision of having misled costumers into believing that their new iPad would work with Australia’s LTE network, Apple is now offering a monetary refund to all owners of the new iPad. Obviously the refund is limited to the 4G variant of the device, but the company also intends to correspond with customers that provided emails and inform them of the reality of the situation. Apple advertisements are also being amended to reflect the incompatibility, and new signs should go into effect in the coming week.

While Australia does have an LTE network run by Telstra, the network uses 1,800MHz frequencies whereas the new iPad is only compatible with 700MHz and 2100MHz frequencies. As a result, Australia’s consumer watchdog filed suit against the company, and a hearing has been set for April 16^th. We'll have to wait and see whether any sanctions will be lifted against Apple, but given the amazing sales numbers for the new iPad, we can’t imagine the effects being too damaging.

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