A Vodafone retail store in Canberra, Australia was reportedly evacuated earlier this week after an in-store demo iPad "exploded", filling the location with smoke and sparks, reports News.com.au. While no one was harmed during the incident, the iPad reportedly emitted the sparks from its charging port as firefighters were called to the scene to handle the situation. An Apple representative reportedly visited the scene afterwards to investigate the explosion, but Apple has not commented on the incident.

Interestingly, the report originally stated that the device was an iPad Air, but the article has since been revised to simply refer to it as an "iPad" and the device shown in the photo accompanying the article does not appear to have the narrower side bezels seen on the new iPad Air.

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This is not the first time this year that an Apple product was accused of being a safety hazard, as a woman in China suffered eye injuries from her iPhone 5 after it exploded while she was on the phone this past August. Additionally, a Chinese man was left in a coma after receiving an electric shock while charging his iPhone 4 in July, which followed the death of a Chinese woman under similar circumstances.

Both latter incidents apparently involved the use of unauthorized third-party adapters, with Apple responding to the events by establishing an international third-party USB charger "Takeback Program" offering official replacement chargers for $10 to anyone who turns in a suspect adapter.

Apple began selling the iPad Air last Friday in over thirty countries through its official online store and at various other outlets.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Neutral)
Related Forum: iPad

Top Rated Comments

Giuly Avatar
129 months ago
Thanks to the help of eyewitnesses who were shopping at the Vodafone Store when the iPad shot sparks out of the Lightning port, it was possible to accurately recreate the occurred events:
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
129 months ago
You only hear about an Apple product exploding like twice every year. They sold about 50 million iPads in 2013. So you have a better chance of being struck by lightning twice.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Return Zero Avatar
129 months ago
"Security camera footage shows the last customer who used the iPad setting it down and walking away just moments before the explosion. That man was later identified as U.S. citizen Ethan Hunt."
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techmanmac Avatar
129 months ago
stupid

People are generally stupid.

There is more to this story. People use the wrong chargers, get their devices wet, drop them, light them on fire, and so on and blame companies for them not working or exploding.

I work for Samsung and people complain about their phones not working. 99 percent of the time they dont work cause someone did something stupid. I miss the days when common sense was common.

People read things on the net and freak out. Dont believe everything you read on the net.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
imsyBarracuda Avatar
129 months ago
The timer was set incorrectly...its meant to happen after the 1 year warranty :D
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
costabunny Avatar
129 months ago
People are generally stupid. I miss the days when common sense was common.

+1 totally with you on that one honey
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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