4G Myth UK

JoePublic

JoePublic

JoePublic

Associate
Joined
29 Nov 2012
Posts
7
For anyone looking to buy an Iphone or Ipad in the UK and hoping to use it on 4G I hope this assists your decision making process as I fell foul of Apple advertising hype as opposed to the FULL truth.

I raised the issue with Apple and received no support and even had my post in the Apple forums deleted.

When the Ipad 3 was launched in the UK it was advertised as 4G compatible. This was proven to be 100% incorrect when the unit was used solely in the UK and the Advertising Standards Agency forced Apple to change its advertising. My Ipad 3 will therefore NEVER be suitable for 4G and Apple have ignored my emails to address this issue.

When I found out I went to the Apple Store in Kingston Upon Thames and they declined to assist but the salesman told me that the Apple 4 was 4G compatible. I considered giving my Ipad 3 to a friend (money is not my issue) and buying an Ipad 4, but fortunately I didn't as I later found out that this was also untrue UNLESS you only wanted the choice of the inferior Everything Everywhere service which is far from true to its name.

If you are thinking of buying an Ipad or Iphone be aware that the 4G auction has not yet taken place and the bandwidth is not known so UNLESS you are happy with the EE service now and in the future, don't fall for the Apple sparkle and sales hype. In the small print you will find nothing more than a disclaimer, not an explanation and you will have no case worthy of the UK legal system. You will just feel cheated like I do and your wallet will be a lot lighter.

Apart from being an informative post if anyone has found a solution to a similar situation that does not include litigation I would be interested to hear your suggestions.

If you decide to buy then both the Ipad and Iphone have many good points which is what I have now focussed on and the latest Ipad model appears apparently to have resolved the wireless and heat issues which don't greatly affect me but do exist in Ipad 3.

I won't address my feelings on owning a new model which is bug fixed and superseded in 7 months as the post would not then be useful advice for future buyers and more of a rant. I could however say beware buying an Ipad 4 second hand as I would not buy one as a current owner.
 
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horrorwood said:
Do you mean you have an iPad 3 and you were offered an iPad 4?

There is no iPad 5.
Click to expand...

I think the Ipad 5 is the name give to the recently released upgrade to the Ipad 4.

I am talking about the model released about 7 months ago (4) and the model released a few weeks ago (5?).

EDIT AGAIN:

Sorry you are right Ipad 3 and Ipad 4, I was getting confused with IPhone 5. Apologies I will edit original post so not to confuse others
 
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JoePublic said:
For anyone looking to buy an Iphone or Ipad in the UK and hoping to use it on 4G I hope this assists your decision making process as I fell foul of Apple advertising hype as opposed to the FULL truth.

I raised the issue with Apple and received no support and even had my post in the Apple forums deleted.

When the Ipad 4 was launched in the UK it was advertised as 4G compatible. This was proven to be 100% incorrect when the unit was used solely in the UK and the Advertising Standards Agency forced Apple to change its advertising. My Ipad 4 will therefore NEVER be suitable for 4G and Apple have ignored my emails to address this issue.

When I found out I went to the Apple Store in Kingston Upon Thames and they declined to assist but the salesman told me that the Apple 5 was 4G compatible. I considered giving my Ipad 4 to a friend (money is not my issue) and buying an Ipad 5, but fortunately I didn't as I later found out that this was also untrue UNLESS you only wanted the choice of the inferior Everything Everywhere service which is far from true to its name.

If you are thinking of buying an Ipad or Iphone be aware that the 4G auction has not yet taken place and the bandwidth is not known so UNLESS you are happy with the EE service now and in the future, don't fall for the Apple sparkle and sales hype. In the small print you will find nothing more than a disclaimer, not an explanation and you will have no case worthy of the UK legal system. You will just feel cheated like I do and your wallet will be a lot lighter.

Apart from being an informative post if anyone has found a solution to a similar situation that does not include litigation I would be interested to hear your suggestions.

If you decide to buy then both the Ipad and Iphone have many good points which is what I have now focussed on and the latest Ipad model appears apparently to have resolved the wireless and heat issues which don't greatly affect me but do exist in Ipad 4.

I won't address my feelings on owning a new model which is bug fixed and superseded in 7 months as the post would not then be useful advice for future buyers and more of a rant. I could however say beware buying an Ipad 4 second hand as I would not buy one as a current owner.
Click to expand...

Everyone with a clue knows which frequencies are by used and by whom...

JoePublic said:
I think the Ipad 5 is the name give to the recently released upgrade to the Ipad 4.

I am talking about the model released about 7 months ago (4) and the model released a few weeks ago (5?).
Click to expand...

No, you are talking about the 3 and the 4...

original iPad
iPad 2 (with front facing camera)
iPad 3 (retina display)
iPad 4 (new connector)
 
InertProtocol said:
I presume you did (or didn't) do your research before buying the product...

Apple advertising 1...OP 0.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I trusted Apple and for the previous poster there is far more to the later model than just a new plug as my reading of the issues in the Ipad forum seemed to indicate.

Screen heat, and a new dual antenna for wireless were a couple I noted and something about a new chip. I am not technically minded so can't really say more. I bought (pre-order) new models no one had seen and the pre sales information seemed positive so went a lot on Apples name and alleged customer appreciation but I will not make the same mistake again.

You live and learn often from the mistakes of others. I won't lose any sleep over it but as a matter of principal won't let it go unnoticed either.
 
I'm confused — you bought an iPad before the 4G auction took place because it was advertised as 4G enabled… and somehow it's Apple's fault that the UK doesn't have 4G yet?
 
The current iPad is 4G compatible, with the only 4G service currently available in the UK at the moment, which also happens to be the only 4G service that we'll have for a short while yet. So how exactly is this false advertising? I agree that it can be frustrating, but in all fairness Apple have made it very clear; the supported frequencies are one of the first things you see on the specifications page. They are no worse than any of their competition in this regard.

As for your iPad 3, I'd have to agree with Panzerbjorn.

The fact is that the average consumer doesn't look at technology beyond the surface. Most buy the product then the service behind it, not the other way round.
 
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Panzerbjorn said:
I'm confused — you bought an iPad before the 4G auction took place because it was advertised as 4G enabled… and somehow it's Apple's fault that the UK doesn't have 4G yet?
Click to expand...

That's not what he's saying.

He bought an iPad 3 that was advertised as supporting 4G but will never work with 4G at all in the UK because even next year the auction won't cover the frequencies this iPad supports. Most of the people who read these forums will have figured that out but I imagine a lot of consumers didn't read up and just believed Apple when it said you were buying a 4G iPad.

And just for clarity the iPad 4 will only support the frequency EE is currently using and Three from Sept 2013. It will never support the 4G frequencies o2 / Vodafone are going for or the additional frequencies EE / Three may buy.
 
Morfik said:
That's not what he's saying.

He bought an iPad 3 that was advertised as supporting 4G but will never work with 4G at all in the UK because even next year the auction won't cover the frequencies this iPad supports. Most of the people who read these forums will have figured that out but I imagine a lot of consumers didn't read up and just believed Apple when it said you were buying a 4G iPad.

And just for clarity the iPad 4 will only support the frequency EE is currently using and Three from Sept 2013. It will never support the 4G frequencies o2 / Vodafone are going for or the additional frequencies EE / Three may buy.
Click to expand...

Thank you Morfik I was beginning to think that not being an expert and believing something in good faith was a crime. You have grasped the situation totally and anyone like me reading the thread may find it useful.

4G "compatibility" had no caveats so I presumed Apple had incorporated a fail safe decision making process they could honour.
 
lamboman said:
The current iPad is 4G compatible, with the only 4G service currently available in the UK at the moment, which also happens to be the only 4G service that we'll have for a short while yet. So how exactly is this false advertising? I agree that it can be frustrating, but in all fairness Apple have made it very clear; the supported frequencies are one of the first things you see on the specifications page. They are no worse than any of their competition in this regard.

As for your iPad 3, I'd have to agree with Panzerbjorn.

The fact is that the average consumer doesn't look at technology beyond the surface. Most buy the product then the service behind it, not the other way round.
Click to expand...

The Advertising Standards Authority say it was so who I am to argue. Google the issue if you don't agree and read the full finding.
 
JoePublic said:
The Advertising Standards Authority say it was so who I am to argue. Google the issue if you don't agree and read the full finding.
Click to expand...

We know that Apple were made to apologise for that but the Advertising Standards Authority is there to stop people getting duped. Its not there to decide if an advert is technically trying to mislead you.

If people don't know enough about a technology to understand it and a lot of people are buying it in error, the ASA will step in to stop that advert for the sake of customers. Its not saying "apple tried to lie and mislead you", it's saying "apple need to be clear that the 4g capabilities are not currently useful as customers don't have a clue when it comes to tech"
 
More fool the OP in not doing research - especially when it comes to emerging technologies. If you buy something on that off chance then its not that difficult for a non-technical person to use a browser and search engine and if thats too difficult Apple support is only a store or phone call away...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Sooooooo... out of interest, if you bought an iPad 3 when it was first released and sold as "iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G 32GB - White (3rd generation)", and you can prove it, i.e. it says that on your order, do you now have a case to ask Apple to exchange it to the new, new iPad which at least supports some version of 4G in the UK, or refund now it's clear it's never going to be a 4G iPad in the UK?
 
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Athanor said:
Sooooooo... out of interest, if you bought an iPad 3 when it was first released and sold as "iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G 32GB - White (3rd generation)", and you can prove it, i.e. it says that on your order, do you now have a case to ask Apple to exchange it to the new, new iPad which at least supports some version of 4G in the UK, or refund now it's clear it's never going to be a 4G iPad in the UK?
Click to expand...

I probably could force a replacement but as EE is not my supplier and it might take a while to get to court, I have decided not to bother and not to change my office to Mac's. apple have lost credibility by ignoring my support email, and offering any form of compromise.
 
The fact the iPad 3, new iPad or whatever you want to call it was advertised as something it wasn't in the UK is poor, and I'm not convinced anyone can really argue against that. Apple should have avoided using the moniker in the first place, and I've still not worked out why it didn't.

As for the newest of the new iPad and its support of 4G, well, it does. There's only one carrier supporting 4G currently, and the iPad connects to it fine. No issues there. The fact the rest of the carriers haven't jumped ship to 4G yet is irrelevent, really. For all intents and purposes, the ipad IS 4G, because it works on all currently avaialble 4G networks.

So, I agree with your first point, and not your second. :)


Oh, and basing an entire office's buying decising on such a thing smacks of cutting your nose off to spite your face, to be honest. If the Macs are better for the job, then get them. Else, don't.
 
Ol!ver said:
Oh, and basing an entire office's buying decising on such a thing smacks of cutting your nose off to spite your face, to be honest. If the Macs are better for the job, then get them. Else, don't.
Click to expand...

Then again, if they are not responding to any support emails, and generally ignoring the OP, then it doesn't give you much hope for the future.
 
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