New iPad 3 Facing 3G Connectivity Issues, Apple Apparently Deletes Thread With Complaints in Its Support Forum [REPORT]

On Thursday, reports hit the Web claiming that some owners of the new iPad still experience a bunch of Wi-Fi connection issues with their device, including irregular connectivity, sluggish data speeds and inability to see Wi-Fi networks. When more reports related to the issue started to show up, Apple apparently told its US-based stores that they should replace flawed units, Redmond Pie reported.

While there has been no official word, it seems clear to us that Apple is aware of a bug that affects Wi-Fi connectivity, and it seems to be one that the company is not convinced it can fix by pushing out a software update, the report added.

Unfortunately, the network-related woes with the new iPad don't end here as more have been discovered, of late. Over the last week, a subset of international users of the device have been continuously reporting trouble connecting to 3G cellular networks with their 4G LTE iPad in a growing thread at the Apple Support Communities website.

Users complain that the new iPad loses a 3G connection and requires a reboot to re-establish a 3G connection to their carrier, according to AppleInsider, who first reported the issue.

The site cited a user named NewForce, who suggested that the issue lies either in iOS 5.1 or the Qualcomm chipset found in the new iPad. The user said he tried to fix the issue by resetting settings and replacing the SIM card, but with no luck. However, he said that cycling the power on the iPad between three and five times each day ultimately worked.

Although most of the users, sharing the problem, appeared to be international users from countries like Austria, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, the UK, Singapore, Spain and Italy, a small portion of users from the US also joined the discussion, AppleInsider reported.

I live in northern Wisconsin and while I'm at home and the surrounding areas it works, but then the minute I am in extended coverage it doesn't work!! one user posted.

Like many of you I tried resetting pretty much everything and nothing. I went to a Verizon store and tried to tell them that something is wrong with it and they pretty much told me that it was because when it is in extended coverage it might not work because of reception.

Apple Deletes The Thread?

According to Christian Zibreg of iDownloadBlog, Apple apparently deleted the thread at its Support Communities website, which has already ballooned to well over a hundred posts.

I was able to access the related thread on the Apple Support Communities website this morning. However, just a few hours later, as I was preparing this post, the thread appears to have been deleted, Zibreg wrote.

He also talked about some other threads in Apple's support forum that describe cellular reconnectivity issues, full signal bars when there's no connection at all, GPS not working and inability to connect to 4G when switching from Wi-Fi.

In March, various reports surfaced claiming that while running graphics-heavy tasks, Apple's newest device runs as much as 10 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the iPad 2.

Dutch website Tweakers.net (translated) that claimed that the new iPad runs 10 degrees hotter than its predecessor when its improved GPU found inside the A5X package is tasked with running standard GLBenchmark for a couple of minutes. The report was accompanied by thermal imaging photos of the iPad 3 and iPad 2 put next to each other.

Similar claims have been made by the US-based consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports as well. A preliminary report by the group claimed that the new iPad hits 116 degrees Fahrenheit while running graphics-heavy action games like Infinity Blade II.

However, Apple said there was no problem with the heating issue as the device operates within thermal specifications. The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications, a company spokesperson told The Loop. If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.

The heatgate claims were followed by another performance issue with many users complaining about poor Wi-Fi reception on the device.

A thread on Apple Support Community forum contained a number of complaints by users who had experienced weaker Wi-Fi reception on the new iPad, compared to that of the iPad 2. Some of the users reported that in areas where they earlier received strong Wi-Fi signals, they later received weak signals or even no signals at all.

According to some of the affected users, they had even returned their iPad to the place of purchase and had received a product replacement that didn't seem to have the same problem.