“An iPad Air reportedly exploded in a Vodafone shop in Australia, bursting into flames and causing the store to be exacuated,” Carly Page reports for The Inquirer.
“News website news.com.au reported that an iPad Air demo model ‘burst into flames’ inside a Vodafone store in Canberra, Australia,” Page reports. “The fire apparently was so severe that the fire brigade had to be called and the store had to be exacuated after filling with smoke, according to a Vodafone representative.”
Page reports, “It’s unclear what caused the explosion, but reports said that the iPad Air demo unit was charging at the time, with a Vodafone spokesperson claiming that a ‘burst of flames’ appeared from the iPad’s Lightning connector port… Thankfully the iPad Air reportedly was the only thing harmed in the explosion and nobody was injured. Apple has yet to comment on the report, but it’s claimed that a representative from the firm went to pick up the exploded iPad for examination to figure out what caused it to catch fire.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Non-standard charger, if we had to guess.
So, did that Vodafone store let the Samsung sales rep set up the iPad Air display?
Related articles:
Wired reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: An immensely powerful tablet – November 7, 2013
The Verge reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: The best gets better – November 4, 2013
Ars Technica reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Very impressive – November 4, 2013
Bloomberg News reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Hands-down the best tablet on the market – October 30, 2013
CNET reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: The best full-size tablet, Editors’ Choice – October 30, 2013
AnandTech reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: In a completely different league – October 30, 2013
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Best of breed, superior to each and every rival – October 30, 2013
Mossberg reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: ‘The best tablet I’ve ever reviewed’ – October 29, 2013
Fox News reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Best in class – October 29, 2013
The Independent reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPad Air: Super-light and most powerful – October 29, 2013
This iPad Air was smooooookin fast!
oh come on, 1 star? I thought that was at least worth 3 stars…
I am an apple fanboy you know…
Would it have been better if I said, “Blazing fast”???
… SMOOOOOOKIN’ … that little single-quote standing in for the “G”. 😉
This report is nothing but hot Air!
I think it was a Samsung prototype that happens to look like the iPad Air. 🙂
Was the Lightning to USB Cable plugged into a dodgy non-Apple branded USB charger with too much voltage? Remember that Chinese girl some time back who apparently electrocuted herself while having a shower?
Agreed. Doesn’t it make you wonder why these type of incidents don’t happen at the Apple Stores. Hmmm
It would seem more likely to happen at an Apple store because they have the most display models but that is not the case. Again I’m back to Hmmmmm…….
FIRE Tim Cook!!!
I’m guessing you meant, “FIRE!!! Tim Cook!”. That’s why I gave you 5 star feedback. 🙂
Well played Tim. But I still think you should be FIRED!
Sabotage. Still the Samsung/Google/Korean patrol will milk this for all its worth!
I can’t deny that it is possible that an iPad Air suffered such a failure, although it does seem just a little suspicious that in a store containing a number of devices with cameras, neither the staff nor the customers have posted any video or photo evidence of the incident. Regardless, the possibility exists and it should not be discounted out of hand. What if this device had been in a sealed aircraft, for instance?
As batteries store a greater quantity of charge in smaller volumes, the results of a short circuit resulting from damage, misuse, improper charging, or a design, manufacturing, or assembly flaw have the potential to be more and more devastating. The batteries that people desperately desire (e.g., energy capacity equal to gasoline in kWh/l and kWh/kg and rapid charge/discharge rates) have the potential to be very dangerous. Just witness what happens when you intentionally overload the power cell of a hand phaser! 😉
All joking aside, battery safety is an increasing concern as we pack more charge into batteries and more batteries into devices, including handheld mobile devices, cars, etc. With tens of millions of mobile devices produced every year, it is inevitable that a few will fail in a spectacular manner.
Boy, the voting has gotten harsh on this forum! Are you voting down me or my post (or both)? Am I being followed by botvinnik and company? Has this turned into an “Am I ugly” subreddit?
We’ve seen this before. Some slob using a $4 charger is the usual culprit.
Idiots. There was no EXPLOSION.
exploded –
burst or shatter violently and noisily as a result of rapid combustion, decomposition, excessive internal pressure, or other process, typically scattering fragments widely : a large bomb exploded in a park.
After reading the article, maybe they are talking about the exploding popularity of the iPads in Australia.
Reporting that the iPad Air “grew hot over a several hour time period and gradually morphed into a flickering, smoky tablet” just doesn’t pull in readers.
Where do you get that from in the source article ? A battery can certainly explode!
Sea sicknees, iOS 7 sucks, battery issues, scratches, Fire,
Good try samscum and google, iPhone and iPad still rule the world, suckers.
Now how well the Anustralians are I would not be surprised if the fire resulted after some unsuspecting loud mouth bloody yank entered the store and said “Hi”. It’s all that’s needed to be kicked and beaten, have petrol and vitriol poured over the body and set aflame.
After all it’s their big time of year down there for doing this, it’s the Battle of Brisbane celebration month for them down there.
in Australia, Americans are often called Seppo’s.
This is from the rhyming slang septic tank (yank)
Yes, they call a lot of stuff seppo’s down there, it goes so well with their culture of hate. It’s not just the name calling either, there are so many forms of abuse and those Anustralians sure use as many as they can.
When you stop allowing your children to have access to guns and shoot innocent Australian baseball players as they jog by, perhaps we can discuss the relative merits of Australian and US culture.
Great, as I am not an American and don’t allow children to accss to guns to shoot Anustralian (and I’ve yet to be convinced that there is such a thing as an innocent Anustralian adult) I’ll follow up on your suggestion and comment.
It sure is nice to see Americans wake up and shoot an Anustralian baseball player, dead dead dead, one less to inflict their culture of hatred onto the universe.
Now to put things in perspective, to show the merits, those heroic kids that killed an Anustralian baseball player were doing the world of service. Compare that with those backward Anustralians who beat up someone in a wheel chair, and came back but just could not kill him, nor could they identify him properly as an American, cause he wasn’t.
The only merit to Anustralian culture is that they have refined hatred beyond anything, even beyond what the Nazis could have imagined. That’s why it’s good that they are US allies, I don’t know of anyone else who can make Americans look so good.
To be of assistance, Road Warrior, I’ve found that the best thing for a chip on the shoulder, is to simply brush it off.
Don’t think you can “brush” Road Warriors chip off. It’s a shame he feels he had such experiences in Australia. My experience there is far different – great people who are extremely welcoming and friendly.
Sorry Road Warrior, can’t agree with you at all.
I’m glad you had a good time on the putrid isle. Were you a tourist, did a tour or did you have to actually live amongst them. If if the latter I’d really like to know how you survived. Maybe you saw a speech therapist who taught you the accent or something, or maybe you just did not see it, just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
I hope that works, I’ll be sure to tell them that next time. I’ll have to say really fast, right after saying hi, cause that’s about when they turn on their “Loud mouth bloody yank” hate mode and start on one of their various attacks, you know verbal, physical, and others.
That’s a bit harsh, although I hear Canadians on this forum (not mentioning any names) are just as, if not more, fouled mouthed and generally inconsiderate than Australians.
Yeah, you’re right. You might have guessed my post was directed at one individual on these forums!
There is nothing I have met that is more inconsiderate or moronic than an Anustralian.
For the record while I was I never physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, threatened to kill, cowardly attacked from behind, refused service or engaged in other conduct that demonstrated a barbaric lack of civilized behavior.
Now if applauding and cheering when one of them goes down, like say that baseball player who has his life removed by three American heroes, is considered more inconsiderate than the Anustralians, then I’ll take that as a compliment.
Wow. Sounds like you don’t mind spreading hate either. C’mon, don’t condemn an entire nation. Every country has its fair share of idiots, including yours.
I’m not spreading hate, I’m spreading the news of their hatred. I agree, every country has their fair share of idiots, but per capita Anustralia leads the pack. Oh there are a few decent people there, hard to find of course, but a few good apples don’t save a rotten barrel.
Yup, go ahead and walk away, turn your back, you know only the most hateful and gutless of cowards attack from behind, so you can relax as I am not Anustralian.
Not every time, you should go read the archives.
Think of it as a new feature. Rocket propelled iPad that homes in on your location when you are wearing an iWatch. That’s why they changed the grill design of the speakers and the Lightning connector. It directs the propulsion better. A prototype must have leaked out of Ive’s lab.
“Thankfully the iPad Air reportedly was the only thing harmed in the explosion and nobody was injured.”
I don’t believe it. Not for a second.
It supposedly “exploded”. It supposedly caught fire, and the fire was significant enough that the fire brigade had to be called. It was supposedly a significant enough event that the store had to be evacuated.
But…
The iPaid Air was the ONLY thing damaged, and no one suffered any injuries AT ALL, not even smoke inhalation?
This does not add up. Not at all.
This reminds me of the days of all the hundreds of reports of the MacBook 5300 catching fire. NOT A SINGLE ONE DID. NONE of the reports of such MacBook 5300 fires were ever verified. NONE. There was one verified report or two (yes, two) MacBook 5300 units getting hot and smoking in Apple’s own, internal labs. In order to prevent it happening in the wild, Apple worked with the battery manufacturer to redesign the batteries. (I know from personal experience that those 5300 batteries could get very warm.)
There was ONE (yes, ONE) verified report of a Dell laptop catching fire at a convention. There is video out and about showing this along with confirmed eye witness accounts on record. The exact cause of the laptop fire was never definitively nailed down. Some suspected the battery. Some suspected the charger. Some suspected foul play. No one knows for sure.
An iPad Air “exploding” and “catching fire” but absolutely no other damage? In a word: BULLSHIT. Explosions cause damage. Fires cause damage (if only to the table and nearby equipment and at the VERY least smoke damage to the facility itself).
Again, in a word: BULLSHIT.
Let me guess you think this report is….wrong?!
I think the report is factual apart from a few words: severe, exploded, flames and evacuated.
‘It was severe enough that the fire dept had to be called and store evacuated’
Most stores AND shopping complexes have a policy that any electrical / smoke event needs to call the fire dept.
And evacuated? ‘Hey guys there’s a bit if smoke in here, probably should wait outside the store’ no no it was severe that’s why the thousands of other shoppers in the stores next door and in the same complex were evacuated – oh wait they weren’t.
Exploded? meh