Apple drops 4G branding from new iPad

Apple is changing the way it’s marketing the iPad + 4G, dropping the 4G altogether and replacing it with the word “cellular.” The move comes after complaints from an Australian competition regulator. While Apple was marketing the tablet as “4G” in the country, it currently cannot connect to Australia’s 4G network or the 4G networks in other countries outside of North America. Due to that fact, regulators felt Apple was misleading Australian customers about the device’s possible data speeds. While much of the iPad’s website marketing — at least here in the U.S — still has the the 4G LTE designation, when it comes time to buy the tablet in the store, you’re now given the option to purchase just a “Wi-Fi” version, or a “Wi-Fi + Cellular” model. While the term “4G” does refer to the data speed a device can achieve, it simply means that it can connect to a 4th-generation data network faster than its 3G predecessor. In the U.S., many device manufacturers use the “4G” label on devices that are not capable of data speeds as fast as some of their 4G competition. One example is Apple’s iPhone 4S on AT&T, which now has a 4G designation, although according to the International Telecommunications Union the network the iPhone specifically runs on (HSDPA) is not a fourth-generation network. It’s more like 3.5G. The new iPad is currently only capable of connecting to five true 4G networks, all of which are located in the U.S. or Canada.