Can Apple Deal With This iPad Allegation?

When Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its fourth-generation iPad in October, buyers of the earlier iteration of the tablet — which came in March — were not thrilled. Justifiable, some said. A perfectly new tablet had become obsolete in just about 7 months, replaced by a faster version with a high-definition camera and a new dock connector.

A few Apple stores agreed to allow customers to exchange their older model for the newer one, though this was not a nationwide company policy.

But now, an organization based in Brazil has argued that Apple indulged in “planned obsolescence” with the tablet, and is dragging the company to court. The lawsuit, filed by the Institute of Politics and Law Software, alleges Apple could easily have made all the improvements it made in October to the third-generation device in March, but waited to do so deliberately.

“Consumers thought [they were] buying high-end equipment,” IBDI attorney Sergio Palomares said, “not knowing [it] was already an obsolete version”…