Buyers of the new iPad complained yesterday that the device was overheating and becoming too hot to hold as Apple announced record sales since Friday’s launch.
Apple is investigating the issue which drove owners to comment on online forums about the possible flaw.
One customer said: “Mine is overheating. The heat is reduced when the brightness is reduced but what’s the point of that? It drains the battery fast too ... I am going to wait one week to see if there are any solutions from Apple, if not, they can have it. I am very disappointed.”
Another new iPad buyer said: “I’m loving the screen and speed but there’s something weird about it. It gets rather warm/hot after 30 minutes of usage. It has never happened on my iPad 2.”
Unless discovered to be widespread, the problem may not dent sales of the gadget, as it remains on course to be another bestseller for Apple. The company was unavailable for comment.
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Yesterday as the company announced plans to pay a quarterly dividend from July and buy back $10 billion worth of shares, Apple’s chief executive officer Tim Cook, said. “We had a record weekend and we’re thrilled with it.”
He refused to reveal exact sales figures, but analysts already believe that the updated version of the device, known simply as “the new iPad”, will prove to be a major hit.
Gene Munster, the respected technology analyst at Piper Jaffray, had predicted that Apple would sell around one million iPads over the weekend.
His estimate was based on strong demand for the machine in the run-up to its launch.
Before the device went on sale within stores, Apple had sold out of units online, with waiting times for new buyers stretching beyond two weeks.
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As with previous Apple’s launches, fans of the company’s products queued overnight outside its stores to be the first to own the new device, which features a vastly improved screen, processor and camera.
The critical reaction to the machine has been mixed, with some disappointed that it did not include a major new function and was slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor, the iPad 2.
Apple has sold more than 55 million iPads since launching the first version of the gadget two years ago. In its most recent financial quarter, the Californian company said it had sold 15.43 million iPads.
The new iPad went on sale in 10 countries on Friday, including the United States and Britain. It will go on sale in a further 25 countries, mostly in Europe, at the end of this week.
Yesterday, Mr Cook hinted that once again that the company was preparing new products to launch, saying that the “pipeline is full of stuff”.
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Rumours suggest that Apple is currently working on television set — already being called the iTV — which will be up to 50 inches in size, be controlled by hand gestures and voice controls, and play apps.