Buying iPad Pro from Verizon rather than Apple?

[jazzer15]

I am looking to replace my iPad Air with cellular with a 10.5 iPad Pro with cellular. I use Verizon, as it seems to be the only carrier that works consistently in my office (even though everything works outside -- go figure). Verizon is running a decent discount on iPads with a 2 year contract.

Assuming that I would be using Verizon anyway and will need cellular on a monthly basis, is there any downside to buying from Verizon rather than Apple?

 

[iPhone1]

None other than the 2yr contract.

 

[zipur]

Do it! I have a vz iPad and was with a friend in Va. this summer. We were lost an his iPad and phone had no signal. My Verizon IPad worked like a champ and saved the day. You can be suckered by all the adds of less than 1% difference Yadi da stuff. But I’ll keep the Verizon network after this experience thank you

 

[BravoTangoPapa]

Verizon disables the embedded SIM on the iPad Pro. If you travel, and need to switch carriers, it’s nice to have the embedded sim option available. Otherwise, you have to physically swap SIM cards each time you change. If you don’t travel outside the US, this won’t really affect you.

 

[jazzer15]

Thank you for the responses.

Verizon disables the embedded SIM on the iPad Pro. If you travel, and need to switch carriers, it’s nice to have the embedded sim option available. Otherwise, you have to physically swap SIM cards each time you change. If you don’t travel outside the US, this won’t really affect you.

Can you tell me more about this? I thought only AT&T disabled the embedded sim, but is this different if purchasing directly from Verizon? I do travel outside the US on occasion (although not a lot) and have swapped out my sim on my iPad Air when necessary. If buying from Apple and then getting a Verizon sim for the empty slot makes more sense, perhaps I would do that.

After speaking with Verizon it seems that they also charge a $40 activation fee and tax/fees on the monthly contract cost (unlike when using the prepaid option), so that makes the pricing difference from Apple (and particularly non-carrier third parties that are currently discounting) somewhat smaller and not quite as compelling.

 

[rui no onna]

Can you tell me more about this? I thought only AT&T disabled the embedded sim, but is this different if purchasing directly from Verizon? I do travel outside the US on occasion (although not a lot) and have swapped out my sim on my iPad Air when necessary. If buying from Apple and then getting a Verizon sim for the empty slot makes more sense, perhaps I would do that.

AT&T locks the embedded SIM to their network. On Verizon, it's totally unusable, iirc. However, the physical SIM card slot is unlocked so you can still use the iPad with international carriers if you physically switch SIMs.

That said, unless you're getting $250+ discount on the iPad or something, buying SIM-free from Apple and just popping in a Verizon SIM card would be my choice.