IPad Overheats, Lawsuit Ensues
Apple just cannot catch a break with the recent uproar over iPhone 4 malfunctions and now a lawsuit over iPad problems. Three iPad users filed suit against Apple claiming that it overheats and turns off in direct sunlight. They claim that Apple knowingly concealed this information from iPad buyers.
Three California residents, Jacob Baltazar, Claudia Keller, and John Browning, filed the class-action suit in California District Court. Apple is being charged with fraud, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive advertising practices, and unjust enrichment. The three users claim that the iPad is “virtually unusable” in certain environments, specifically in direct sunlight. When the iPad is in the sun it overheats and turns off after a few minutes.
Baltazar, Keller and Browning are upset because Apple claims that reading an e-book on the iPad is just like reading a real book, but people can read real books in the sunlight whereas they cannot read their iPad in sunlight. The lawsuit states that the iPad “overheats so quickly under common weather conditions that it does not function for prolonged use either outdoors, or in many other warm conditions [as] an e-reader, e-mail tool, Web browser and/or game/entertainment unit.” The iPad turns off without warning in warm conditions. Also, the iPad has a reflective LCD screen as opposed to an E Ink screen, which would do better in sunlight. The reflective screen makes it hard to read in sunlight.
The three are angry that Apple has not publicized these faults. The law suit says, “Apple has taken no apparent steps to inform either potential consumers or previous purchases of [its] false promises. [Apple will] injure consumers and harm the public interest.” Consumers are unknowingly buying the iPad and the three claim that they need to know what they are buying before they make the purchase.
Apple purposely concealed the iPad’s malfunctions so that consumers would continue to buy the iPad. The suit says that Apple’s “concealment, misbranding, and non-disclosure were intended to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions and were done with reckless disregard for the rights of consumer.”
This is one of many law suits that Apple has received recently, as many sued over the iPhone 4’s “death grip”. The iPad law suit is sure to bring attention to the iPad’s technical issues and might make consumers think twice before buying this expensive tablet.
[Photo courtesy of ipadpilotnews.]
