Apple’s recording breaking product, the new iPad, is not even a week old yet, but that hasn’t stopped a subset of users picking up faults with the third-generation device. The new iPad officially went on sale last Friday, with Apple announcing in the last few days the they managed to ship a staggering three million units within the first weekend, making it the most successful iPad launch to date. Users have been queuing up outside Apple Stores in the hope of getting their hands on the tablet which features an A5X dual-core processor, a 5 mega-pixel rear camera and a beautiful high-resolution Retina display which contains a whopping 3.1 million pixels.
Some users had made their feelings known early on believing that the new iPad was generating a lot more heat than the original iPad or the iPad 2. A non-official test was carried out yesterday which involved the use of a thermal imaging camera in order to get to the bottom of the problem with the results showing that the latest iPad does indeed generate approximately 5 degrees centigrade more heat in certain areas than its predecessor. However, on the grand scale of things, such a relatively small heat gain shouldn’t be a big problem when you consider the improved performance and power of the device along with the Retina display. when demanding more features, improved performance and better displays, users need to be prepared to accept a certain trade-off, something that was mirrored by a statement from Apple relating to the heat subject.
Putting the heat generating issue aside, it would seem that still not all new iPad owners are happy with what their new unit provides. The Apple Support Communities forum contains a thread, which is growing rapidly, about some reported issues relating to the performance of the wireless connection on the new iPad. Dozens of consumers are taking to the website to express their concerns about the inferior Wi-Fi performance when compared to that of the iPad 2. Some of the reports from the site make claims that in areas where they previously received strong wireless signals are now weak or non-existent.
The comparisons are being made with the new iPad against other Apple devices such as a MacBook Pro or an iPhone 4S. A number of the thread entries claim that a MacBook, iPad 2 or iPhone 4S can pick up a strong signal in their homes or place of work, while the new iPad fails to pick up any signal at all, or is noticeably a lot weaker when compared to the other devices. Some of the affected users have noted that they have returned their iPad to the place of purchase and received a product replacement that doesn’t seem to suffer from the same affliction. On the flip side, a user who goes by the name ‘HealthClif’ had let the forum know that he had reverted back into using his iPad 2 full-time after receiving multiple replacements of the new iPad that all suffered from the same issue.
The Wi-Fi concerns of users seems rather similar to those expressed in 2010 when the original iPad was launched, something that was solved by Apple through an iOS software update. At that time, Apple conceded that a very small number of devices had been affected by the issue, something which seems to be the case in this instance. I personally purchased two new iPads on launch day and have experienced no issue with either of them, but for those who have, we could soon be seeing an iOS 5.1.1 update if Apple finds there really is an issue.
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