Apple customers left fuming as iPad2s are recalled due to a 'software glitch'

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 7:56 PM on 13th June 2011

New and improved? Some of Apple's iPad 2s using the Verizon network have been hit by technical glitches

Apple has recalled a number of iPad2 tablets that are designed to run on Verizon's network due to connectivity issues, the company confirmed today.

Each device is hardcoded with a unique MEID code - which stands for mobile equipment identifier.

This works like a serial number for accessing the wireless network service.

The code is sent out to the carrier, which then allows the tablet on to the network.

However, Apple said some iPad2 devices destined for the Verizon carrier were given the same MEID code, which meant one of them would not be able to go online.

'Duplicate MEID codes were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad units for the Verizon 3G network,' an Apple spokeswoman said.

She refused to say how many were affected by the issue but said that the devices would be replaced.

Verizon have declined to comment.

MEID, which stands for mobile equipment identifier, is a unique number that is used to identify a mobile device when it connects to the network. Two devices cannot have the same MEIDcode.

Rumours of a problem first arose last week, with reports that Apple was intercepting the tablet computers shipped from China by FedEx.

However, it appears the message was not passed on to Apple's customer services team, leaving customers fuming.

A user called HLS77 told the official Apple Forum: 'ipad2 makes it all they way from CHINA to within 40 miles of our house and they are returning it to the sender!!

'I called Fedex and they said it was an Apple request. Apple says it's a fedex problem - and I quote "why would we ask to return your ipad that you have been waiting for?"'

Apple employees have been scanning the serial codes on newly delivered devices? to see if they carry the problematic codes.

One employee in a U.S store told 9to5mac.com said he sent back over one hundred devices.

It is not the first time that the iPad2 has been hit by a technical glitch.

Apple revealed in April that some Verizon iPad 2 users were having to restart their iPad each time they disconnected from their 3G network.

They said this was because the AT&T iPad and Verizon iPad used different chipsets. The issue was later fixed through a software update.

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Apple iPad2 tablets recalled

 

The Tame Apple Press moved into damage limitation mode this morning to reassure Apple fans that their keyboardless netbooks were not really broken after Jobs' Mob ordered the expensive toys recalled.

Jobs' Mob has formally announced that it is recalling an "extremely small number" of them due to a manufacturing defect that could cause problems with connecting to a 3G network.

Normally we would take that statement at face value, but given the fact that Apple has consistently used the phrase "small number" when it actually meant a huge number we are a little suspicious.

For example Apple said that antenna-gate problems were only affecting a small number of people. It turned out that it was the "small number of users" who were left handed or tried to make a telephone call with the iPhone.

Apple said that in this case it was users of the Verizon network. Apparently, duplicate MEID codes were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad units.

Every tablet is hardcoded with an MEID, or mobile equipment identifier, which works sort of like a serial number for accessing a wireless network service. The code is sent out to the carrier, which verifies its authenticity before allowing the tablet online. No two devices should share the same MEID.

Apple said that it noticed the problem, but not quick enough to stop "a few" affected units from getting onto the shelves.

Basically if you recently purchased a 3G iPad 2 from Verizon and find yourself unable to connect or getting kicked offline quickly, you might be one of the few.

We will probably never know how many a few is this time. Apple is replacing all those duff iPads and never tells anyone how many of its toys are replaced.?

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