Yesterday, I just ordered the 64gb LTE model of the iPad Mini, this morning I woke up thinking "Do I really need LTE?". Everywhere their is wifi (minus car rides), some are paid but if it cost 3$ in a cafe, it would cost less then the credit spent to my mobile operator. The Mini is made for portability, so maybe the LTE is the right choice. Plus Wifi is 2 weeks earlier.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Mini Wifi + Cellular or Just Wifi
- Thread starter FatGuy007
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
lots of people buy in to the "there's wifi everywhere" mantra. But, that's just not true. It depends entirely on where you live, work and travel. The convenience of a constant connection that you don't have to register/pay each time has a value all it's own.
Furthermore, open/public wifi present significant security risks that are somewhat mitigated on a cellular connection and many open/public/hotel wifi's have such small bandwidth that they are practically unusable.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Think about the GPS feature (used by lots of popular apps). If you want GPS you need the LTE version. Some people buy the cellular version with no intention of ever using LTE. Why? They want the GPS functionality which is far better than wifi triangulation.
There's also the internet backup consideration. Owning the one with LTE means you can still use that free wifi wherever you can find it. However, if you find yourself in a situation where there is no free wifi and you really need to connect for some reason, you've got an easy backup ready to go.
There's also the internet backup consideration. Owning the one with LTE means you can still use that free wifi wherever you can find it. However, if you find yourself in a situation where there is no free wifi and you really need to connect for some reason, you've got an easy backup ready to go.
I got the LTE Version for me and my wife, while I bought the wifi version for my kid. I agree where there is NOT wifi everywhere....and even if I go 1 place a month now that I have to pay $10 for wifi, adding to my plan for $10 share everything, makes the cellular version more than worth it. Plus I use the GPS quite often. But even the wifi can do location based services from wifi. My kid has an ipod touch currently that doesnt have gps, however, I can track him with find friends while he is connected to wifi, plus he doesnt have to have any more radiation from the cellular waves 
all depends on your needs.....
all depends on your needs.....
My first 2 iPads were wifi + cellular, then I bought a wifi only, my reasoning was I'm always carrying my phone, which has an unlimited data plan. Why have the expense of the second SIM card?
I have been quite happy to tether when needed, and other than satnav (which i use on the phone) the wifi triangulation is accurate enough for me.
I have been quite happy to tether when needed, and other than satnav (which i use on the phone) the wifi triangulation is accurate enough for me.
Wifi mini. Why? I have a 32gb Verizon LTE Ipad 3, and I almost never use the data on it. Now that I have a free hotspot on my iphone 5, there is even less of reason to get LTE Mini.
that's what i thought, but came to realize that the using the wifi hotspot on your phone destroys the battery during heavy iPad usage
it got to the point where i said enough, and just got the LTE version of the iPad
I'm around free wifi most places I go so I don't need LTE, but I don't deny it would be nice to have
I travel for a living and stay in hotels 4 nights a week and at least 3 airports a week. And although many have "free Wi-Fi", the problem is it just gets too crowded and gets too slow. I'm very glad I have LTE because I find myself going to it about 30% of the time.....Starbucks may be a good connection, but airports and hotels are jammed on bandwidth...
If you travel for a living, wouldn't you have to switch sim cards to every different country to go to? (Unless you want to consume 30mb a min)
I think it all comes down to usage and how often do you require access to the Internet where WiFi isn't readily available.
I personally went for the WiFi only option as my iPad 3 3G never really got used via cellular as much as I thought it warrantted getting it in March.
I travel quite a bit and WiFi works really well for where I usually am, in vary rare cases would I need to tether to my iPhone 5 but those situations are very few and far between.
I personally went for the WiFi only option as my iPad 3 3G never really got used via cellular as much as I thought it warrantted getting it in March.
I travel quite a bit and WiFi works really well for where I usually am, in vary rare cases would I need to tether to my iPhone 5 but those situations are very few and far between.
wifi, I can tether with my phone for free. Cellular would cost an additional $10+/month data, so no point in burning money.
The data plans from all three carriers make my butt hurt from the intense raping.
So I chose WiFi only.
So I chose WiFi only.
Just use the hotspot feature from your phone. Cheaper than the extra $100+ montly rates from the carriers.