Apple iPad Overheats, is 'Unusable' in Direct Sunlight
By: Chloe Albanesius
07.28.2010
pcmag.com
There's no doubt that the Apple iPad is a hot product, but does it get too hot in certain situations? Three California residents have filed suit against Apple, accusing the company of marketing a product that is "virtually unusable" in certain environments – namely, direct sunlight.
Jacob Baltazar, Claudia Keller, and John R. Browning filed a class-action suit in California District Court, claiming that their iPad tablets overheat in common situations, turn off after a few minutes of use, and cannot be used in direct sunlight.
The iPad includes an e-book component that lets users download books and read them on the tablet. Apple said reading on the iPad is just like reading on a regular book, but the lawsuit argued that this is false, since its screen does not allow people to read in direct sunlight. The device also "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 suit also said the iPad "turns off, sometimes after just a few minutes of use."
"Apple has taken no apparent steps to inform either potential consumers or previous purchases of [its] false promises," the suit said. Without an injunction or damages, Apple is like to continue to "injure consumers and harm the public interest."
As a result, the customers named in the suit were "misled into purchasing the iPad, unjustly enriching" Apple, the suit claims. The company's "concealment, misbranding, and non-disclosure were intended to influence consumers' purchasing decisions and were done with reckless disregard for the rights of consumers," it said.
Among the charges brought against Apple were fraud, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive advertising practices, and unjust enrichment.
The lawsuit was a bit thin on details. It did not mention any specific temperatures in regards to the overheating situation, except to say that "complaints regarding the overheating of the product have become prevalent across the Internet and within technology circles." The suit also does include specific details about how the three plaintiffs used their iPads.
Many e-book readers, like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader, have an E Ink screen, which is gray writing on a screen that does not have a reflective background. Since the iPad is not strictly an e-reader, it includes a reflective LCD screen. This fact, however, was widely noted in many reviews, including the review published on PCMag.com.
"Again, the iPad is, at its heart, not a mobile device," analyst Tim Gideon wrote for PCMag. "In fact, when I did carry it around the streets of New York City it was awkwardly cradled in my arm and the reflective LCD was much more difficult to read in sunlight than the iPhone's screen."
Apple, of course, is no stranger to class-action lawsuits related to its products. The iPhone 4 "death grip" issue prompted several class-action lawsuits earlier this month from customers irked by the reduced connectivity. The release of the iPhone 3G in 2008 also prompted several suits. |
