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An advert for the Apple iPhone has been banned for exaggerating the speed of the popular device.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled a television ad for the 3G iPhone, which boasts the device is able to access web pages "really fast", was misleading.

The advert shows a close-up image of the device being used to surf the internet, download a file and view Google maps, with just seconds between each action.

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Meanwhile, a voice states: "So what's so great about 3G? It's what helps you get the news, really fast. Find your way, really fast. And download pretty much anything, really fast. The new iPhone 3G. The internet – you guessed it - really fast."

Seventeen viewers complained that the advert was misleading because they believed it exaggerated the speed of the 3G iPhone. The ASA upheld the complaints and ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form.

Apple said that the claims were "relative rather than absolute in nature" and that the advert was supposed to compare the speed of the new 3G model with its 2G predecessor.

The company added that text on the advert stating "network performance will vary by location" highlighted that speeds could differ depending on where a customer was.

But the ASA said the advert did not make it clear it was comparing the two phones and that many viewers might not be fully aware of the technical differences between the different 2G and 3G technologies.

It said the advert was likely to lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown.

Today's ban comes just three months after the ASA shelved a previous iPhone advert, which had claimed that "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone".

The ASA said the claim was misleading because the iPhone did not support Flash or Java - two programs that form part of many web pages.

Last year the ASA considered a number of complaints about adverts for the company's Mac computers starring the comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Despite accusations that its claims about better security were unfounded, the ASA ruled in Apple's favour.

Apple is currently courting controversy in the US. On Monday Elliot Gottfurcht, an inventor filed a lawsuit in a Texas court claiming his company, EMG Technology, owns the patent that enables mobile phones like the iPhone to navigate and display web pages. Mr Gottfurcht claims that the technology he and two co-inventors created enables web pages to re-size themselves to fit the screen of a mobile phone.

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