“The complaint [Baltazar v. Apple Inc., 10-03231, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California], filed July 23 in federal court in Oakland, seeks unspecified damages and class action, or group, status,” Rosenblatt reports. “It claims the iPad ‘does not live up to the reasonable consumer’s expectations created by Apple’ because it ‘overheats so quickly under common weather conditions.'”
Rosenblatt reports, “The iPad has a 9.7-inch touch-screen display that lets users read books and magazines, view videos, play games and surf the Internet. In direct sunlight, the tablet ‘turns off, sometimes after just a few minutes of use,’ according to the complaint.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hold the lawsuits! Apple Board member Al Gore is working on the issue. 
Beyond that, every iPad ever shipped comes with Apple’s “iPad Important Product Information Guide.” It’s also online via Apple.com here. If the claimant and his ambulance chasers had RTFM, they’d have seen this rather crystal clear statement:
Keeping iPad Within Acceptable Temperatures Operate iPad in a place where the temperature is between 0° and 35° C (32° to 95° F). Low- or high-temperature conditions might temporarily shorten battery life or cause iPad to temporarily stop working properly. Avoid dramatic changes in temperature or humidity when using iPad, as condensation may form on or within iPad. Store iPad in a place where the temperature is between -20° and 45° C (-4° to 113° F). Don’t leave iPad in your car, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range. When you’re using iPad or charging the battery, it is normal for iPad to get warm. The exterior of iPad functions as a cooling surface that transfers heat from inside the unit to the cooler air outside.
Back about a month ago I was using my iPad on a awning shaded deck and after the late sun angle peeked through the iPad posted a badge message that it was too hot to operate and to shut it down. Like was posted earlier, the black bezel will absorb significant heat from sunlight. Took it inside and shut it off- no harm.
The story has a happy ending as my Kindle pick up right where the Kindle app on the iPad left off with a higher contrast, matte display (e-ink). The moral of this story is that Kindles go where iPads fear to tread.
What “reasonable consumer” works in 95 plus degree heat? Get real. I donʻt expect my iPad to work in hot conditions any more than me. What are “common weather conditions?” Where I live it is common to rain every day. Where I moved from it was common to go 6 months without rain.
We need fewer lawyers and more productive citizens.
m159
@Macromancer
“I coulda done without the politically motivated MDN take…”
I second that motion.
I third that emotion. And no, it’s not funny. Some, if not most of us here could do without any political references whatsoever, since they will only divide us.
I suspect this might be a greenhouse-type effect due to the sunlight shining directly on the glass display. I’ve used my MacBook Pro in direct sunlight before and have noticed that the surface of the display gets quite warm quite quickly – so warm that it makes me nervous and I now try to avoid this situation. This doesn’t cause the MacBook Pro to overheat because the display is largely thermally separate from the rest of the computer, but on the iPad it’s all one piece so I can see it detecting the heat and shutting down very quickly. I haven’t tried taking an iPad outside and using it in direct sunlight, since it’s largely unusable in that environment, but I might as a test just to see how it compares to what I’ve seen with my MacBook Pro.
I knew this suit didn’t have any legs to stand on. First, Apple’s instructions for use in extreme temperatures is apparent. Second, what numbskull takes his iPad out in the hot sun to use and then becomes so bold as to deem a lawsuit necessary when it fails??
iPadNewsUpdates.com
@MDN
PLEASE can you pull the political posts. I come here to read Apple-related news, not to read a bunch of whingers bitching about American politics.
=:~)
Within a week I got my iPad I took it with me in my IR Sauna, just as I do with Macbook, eReader and TabletPC’s before. No problem at all. After 40 minutes when I was overheating, my iPad wasn’t….
@Chas
Forget it. MDN starts all the political stuff. Look at the top commenting on Al Gore. Sometimes I wonder how old the MDN staff is. Like a bunch of junior high nerds. Just got to ignore them and the loonies who post here thinking they are changing minds. Try using Apple Enthusiast for links to Apple news. Just links there with nary an editorial. My post will likely be deleted but what the hell.
Catch-22
If the iPad didn’t switch off under direct sunlight it’d leak or sizzle when attaining insane temps. This would lead the same person to….wait for it…gonna be a stunner…still with me…SUE!
Ha. So, still another Steve Jobs gadget that comes with conditions describing how it might not work.
Heavily promoted as ‘magical’ or MDN’s favorite, ‘revolutionary’ that will change the world but puts in the fine print the disclosure that sometimes it may not work at all.
Amazing.
@Revolutionary
You are an idiot. Almost everything I buy comes with conditions. Even my Lexus has a red line on the tachometer. Go back to class before the bell rings, son.
My iPad shut off while I was using a Baseball Scoring App at a baseball game ( I only made it to the bottom of the 4th inning). It was a little frustrating since I payed $10 bucks for the app, but I did score a full evening game later on. I’m glad my iPad shut off and didn’t burn up in the hot sun, but It still would nice to use it all the time to score games. It is however a giant piece of glass and I understand the limitations.
@HughB
Thanks for the referral to Apple Enthusiasts. Giving it a try now.
As for your dismissing me as some kid – I’m not. I do know that the iPad is a rather useless device – after you read some email, surf the net a while, and play a game or two, then what?
Right… there’s practically nothing else. So, if the damn thing turns off in the sun, so what?
@ron
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Simply ask the cabana boy to stop visiting your home while you are at work. Then your wife will cool down.
MDN’s Al Gore comment is clearly a lighthearted quip and anyone who takes offense at it needs to have the sticks removed from up their asses.
As I understand, there is a new app coming out……. “i-sunglasses”, soon to be followed by “i-tan creme”. This should take care of the problem for those who cant resist meltdown temps..
@bblock
Hmmm, I live in Phoenix (a city known for its hot weather) and I’ve been outside a couple times for quite awhile when it was at least 90. Never overheated. In fact, the case was no warmer than any other metal object in the shade. I’ve marveled at how you can play video for over an hour on that thing and it never feels warm, much less hot. My Macbook Pro is very warm after an hour of playing MP3s in iTunes. Go figure….
So what?! I overheat in warm conditions!
In conjunction with MDN’s take…
Surely, if it is good enough to deal with Global Warming then certainly this is a easy fix for the iPad. Just buy a healthy supply of carbon credits from Al Gore’s iPad Repair Shop called Generation Investment Management! If you liked Wall Street then you are going to Looove this. Problem solved!
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PS – “And don’t call me Shirley!” (I know somebody, somewhere out there would be dying to just say that movie line from Leslie Neilson’s doctor character in the movie “Airplane”!)
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USA is full of retarded people…
This lawsuit will be fruitless. Get it? Fruitless?!
This is gonna hurt…if (no, when) it get class action status then apple are going to have another PR problem. Most people, so it seems, deal in initial impressions; not deeper reasoning or remedial actions taken to fix a problem. They judge on the initial problem, not how it was fixed or mitigated. This is a story that will go viral, like the antenna but probably more so since this is a REAL problem. Time to bunker down for the extreme fan boys, circle the wagons, get on the denial helmet and delude yourselves it is all ok. Should be interesting to see where this goes anyway…
@Digital Mercenary
In some parts of the country, 95 degF is considered a pretty decent summer day – a person is just thankful that it is below body temperature.
@auramac
Very good sentiments, indeed. However, when it comes to idiotic extremists inciting discord, sometimes division is the only answer. I could say more, but your example encouraged me to withhold those electrons.
Apple has developed some insanely great products. However, even though I am a big mac fan, I do believe that Apple occasionally emphasizes ideals and form over function. In some cases, design compromises that add a few millimeters or ounces here or there may result in a better overall product. But please keep in mind that few consumer electronic devices were meant to be used in direct sunlight for extended periods.
Most people do not read books in full sunlight on hot summer days. That said, I wonder if Apple could embed a chemical in the glass (or aluminosilicate, in the case of the iPhone 4) to block the infrared component of sunlight?
I want money too. Someone help me find a a minor issue to sue some company over!
Some people identify that it is easier to order essays or term papers than to compose by own efforts.