IPAD 3 NOT COMPATIBLE

[BRAINDEAD]

I would like some advice on this matter please.
In 2013 at some point I bought a brand new ipad 3 off the internet, and the full description and the model number are as follows.(ipad 3 Cellular, Wi Fi 4G Model Number MD3698/A ).

I was happy with my purchase and have been connecting the ipad from the link of my laptop to use the internet and the reason I bought this ipad for my use and for the kids to use the laptop for school work etc... I have found a job where i will need to use my ipad got a sim card from a provider and a voucher for 4G connection to the internet. I could not get connected so i went online to find out why this was not happening.

After spending a whole day on the internet trying to figure what was wrong, it became apparent that the ipad i have purchased does not support the LTE frequency and is not compatible to this model in the UK

I also read that this problem had occurred in Australia and Apple were sued for false advertising and all ipad purchased were changed.


Usually in the UK when products from companies are faulty there is a media campaign to get products recalled, but in this instance it never happened as the Government were just happy that the advertising was changed. What is so ironic about this ipad 3 when it was launched in March 2012 the UK; 4G had not arrived until October 2012.


I feel as i have been duped and i have written to Apple about my problem and i have not had a reply, the reason i have sent this email is for some advice on this matter and i would be grateful for some feedback thank you.

 

[scifan57]

You may well have bought the US version of the WiFi + 4G iPad 3 from the online seller. The U.S. version supports different LTE frequencies that the European version, which is probably why you can't connect to 4G service in the UK.

 

[twerppoet]

It does not match any of the U.S. model numbers for the iPad 3. I can't find the European model numbers. A search for that model number in Google turns up nothing but Japanese sites. Not encouraging.

The iPad 3 was both country and carrier specific. It wasn't until the iPad Air that Apple managed to cram enough radios and frequencies into the iPad for them to work with just about any carriers anywhere. Even so, there are still a few exceptions.

If you wanted a European iPad 3 with LTE you needed to buy a region specific model. 3G would still work in most places, but even then it was hit or miss.

Even in the US you had to make sure you got the model that supported CDMA or GSM, depending on your carrier.

 

[twerppoet]

I managed to find a search engine that returned the results for a U.S. Model. And as it's been said, U.S. models did not have the right frequencies for European LTE. The GSM (3G) should still work.

The controversy over the Australian models was because the advertising was not clear that LTE would not work there. If I remember correctly they didn't have any LTE carriers at the time, or very few. It wasn't supported at all. Even in Europe LTE was thin on the ground when the iPad 3 was announced.

 

[BRAINDEAD]

The ipad was sold with false advertising on the box saying it was 4G,but it did not exist when launched in March 2012 as 4G did not rollout until October 2012 and the models that were sold in UK did not work on this frequency .

 

[scifan57]

The ipad was sold with false advertising on the box saying it was 4G,but it did not exist when launched in March 2012 as 4G did not rollout until October 2012 and the models that were sold in UK did not work on this frequency .

LTE service was available in the United States at the time of the iPad 3 introduction. The European advertising was negligent in not pointing out that the service was not available in Europe at the time and would not be compatible with North American LTE bands when it was introduced.

 

[col.bris]

This was can of worms in Australia as our 4g with Telstra is on a different band width. Yes Apple was sued by ACCC for false advertising however in saying that in Australia at least the ipad 3 wifi 3G works on all networks and when connecting to 4g network runs slower than normal. When 4g is unavailable it drops to 3 g I am not familiar with UK networks however I am curious to know if the OP has gone to an Apple Store to make sure in fact their is nothing wrong with the unit. One could change sims as other carriers do exist.

 

[BRAINDEAD]

4G does not work with this model in the UK it is not compatible

 

[col.bris]

I understand what you are saying however you may find it is faster on 3 g than a standard 3 g device this was the case here. It is too late now to do any thing about it as he device is more than 3 generations old. Ipad 4 resolved the issue as it was world wide compliant to 4 g networks. Users were able to exchange or credit models affected. .

 

[col.bris]

You mentioned you bought the iPad off the internet Was this from the Apple Store in Britain? Or via eBay or similar service ?