iPad Pro Cellular vs Wifi

[maflynn]

GPS - Global Positioning Satellites. The GPS components allow your iPad (or iPhone) to know your location and use it for directions, i.e., google maps, apple maps etc. Just as you can use your phone to get directions as you drive, you can also use your iPad for the same thing - provided its a cellular model.

 

[jbachandouris]

People here keep talking about the Cellular iPad having GPS I still dont get it what people mean here ? as in to locate the device or what? If that is what the case is ? You can find it using find my iPhone ? right ? so what is this GPS thing people here are talking about ! Somebody please explain !

It was explained earlier: GPS is the most accurate way to use maps. Maps will not use the phone's GPS when tethered. Other programs use GPS for location based notifications or simply just to function.

Find my phone/iPad will only function when it detects a wireless network. Again, it won't use the phone's GPS.

 

[HiItsMe]

I don't buy the cellular versions because I have an iPhone 6+ which I use outside of the house as my internet device. The iPad doesn't leave the house day to day. It travels if I do but my destinations always have wifi and I just use my 6+ enroute. I can't justify the monthly charge for a second device but there have been a handful of times over the past five years that I wish I could turn on cell service for just a day or two. But that's not worth $130 hardware up charge plus $100+/year service charge. Everyone's use cases are different but wifi only works best for me.

 

[cardfan]

Cellular is cheaper. Can get around 400+ off with a subsidy.

 

[sorcery]

Security. In agreement with an earlier poster, I do not consider public wifi to be secure. Packet sniffers and unscrupulous wifi administrators can ruin your day. When travelling I would never use wifi or even the hotels wired internet for banking or sensitive business matters.

 

[dannyar]

As an owner of the ipad pro 128gb cellular who then sold it for a wifi version, let me tell you, the cellular is not worth it. Yes the convenience and some of the features like GPS are nice to have but at what cost? Normally your looking at paying anywhere from 20$ or more a month for a usable amount of data for it. You're paying that every month regardless of the amount of use. So even if you travel once every 3 months or even more, is the price worth it? You are better off tethering to your cell phone on the rare occasions you don't have wifi and need internet. Again, I know some people will travel a lot for work and this convenience is worth the 20$ a month to them but for the average joe who doesn't travel much and will mostly use it at home then its definitely not worth it.

 

[bigdog5142]

As an owner of the ipad pro 128gb cellular who then sold it for a wifi version, let me tell you, the cellular is not worth it. Yes the convenience and some of the features like GPS are nice to have but at what cost? Normally your looking at paying anywhere from 20$ or more a month for a usable amount of data for it. You're paying that every month regardless of the amount of use. So even if you travel once every 3 months or even more, is the price worth it? You are better off tethering to your cell phone on the rare occasions you don't have wifi and need internet. Again, I know some people will travel a lot for work and this convenience is worth the 20$ a month to them but for the average joe who doesn't travel much and will mostly use it at home then its definitely not worth it.

That's pretty much where I'm at.

I do appreciate the input, all!

 

[augustya]

GPS - Global Positioning Satellites. The GPS components allow your iPad (or iPhone) to know your location and use it for directions, i.e., google maps, apple maps etc. Just as you can use your phone to get directions as you drive, you can also use your iPad for the same thing - provided its a cellular model.

OH ok ! I thought it was singing a song in the garden ! Heck I know what is a GPS ! I was asking in what context and how GPS is mentioned here to come handy ! Anything special that it does in a cellular model that is what I meant and people started kindergartening me lol !

 

[Cascades42]

Personally as I'm on wifi 95% of the time anyway I went with wifi only - I currently have 2 iPads and the additional costs associated with both of them being cellular and then a plan for each (as far as I know there are no shared plans here in Austria) would be too much for me. I have a sim free mifi and multiple SIM cards for it which I can use in any country to have Internet as I wish (or I can tether my phone, though I prefer not to). This set up works better for me, but I'm perhaps an exception.

 

[ahostmadsen]

As an owner of the ipad pro 128gb cellular who then sold it for a wifi version, let me tell you, the cellular is not worth it. Yes the convenience and some of the features like GPS are nice to have but at what cost? Normally your looking at paying anywhere from 20$ or more a month for a usable amount of data for it. You're paying that every month regardless of the amount of use. So even if you travel once every 3 months or even more, is the price worth it? You are better off tethering to your cell phone on the rare occasions you don't have wifi and need internet. Again, I know some people will travel a lot for work and this convenience is worth the 20$ a month to them but for the average joe who doesn't travel much and will mostly use it at home then its definitely not worth it.

1. With T-mobile, you can get 200 Mb free.
2. For more data, you need to pay only when you need it. Most (all?) carriers have pay-as-you-go plans for tablets. I use the free 200 Mb when I'm at home, but then buy extra data when I travel, often from AT&T instead of T-mobile because of better coverage.

So the base price of cellular is only the $130 Apple charges. Whether or not that is worth it for the convenience is of course a personal preference.

 

[mnpackerfan]

1. With T-mobile, you can get 200 Mb free.
2. For more data, you need to pay only when you need it. Most (all?) carriers have pay-as-you-go plans for tablets. I use the free 200 Mb when I'm at home, but then buy extra data when I travel, often from AT&T instead of T-mobile because of better coverage.

So the base price of cellular is only the $130 Apple charges. Whether or not that is worth it for the convenience is of course a personal preference.

Do you know if the 200MB free is only for past and current T-Mobile customers? I don't have T-Mobile, and the cheapest option I can find on their site is $20 a month, with no mention of a free 200MB. I would definitely get the cellular version if I could get 200 MB for free as I wouldn't use the option all that much, and it'd be nice to have the option to buy more any month in the future.

 

[ahostmadsen]

Do you know if the 200MB free is only for past and current T-Mobile customers? I don't have T-Mobile, and the cheapest option I can find on their site is $20 a month, with no mention of a free 200MB. I would definitely get the cellular version if I could get 200 MB for free as I wouldn't use the option all that much, and it'd be nice to have the option to buy more any month in the future.

That is a good question. I currently have an Air 2 with the 200 Mb free (while I'm a T-mobile customer for my iPhone, I used an independent account for the iPad). I'm planning to upgrade to an iPad pro, but if I cannot get the 200 Mb free on that, I will hold on to my Air 2.

Here is a recent article that mentions the plan: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-a-free-data-plan-for-your-ipad/. But if you click the link to t-mobile in the article, it doesn't mention the free 200 Mb. Perhaps they stopped the offer? A couple of days ago I went to a t-mobile store and asked if the offer is still valid, and they confirmed. But, honestly, the employees in the stores often know very little.

 

[aka777]

Cellular iPad is the way to go. I have tried wifi only and linking to your phone or hotspot but having thew internet right there, the second I turn on the iPad is just too convenient.

The other issue with the WIFI only option is that if your shared connection drops to 3G on a handset, it will typically not jump back to LTE. You pretty much have to cycle the hotspot handset to get it back to LTE.

 

[dannyar]

1. With T-mobile, you can get 200 Mb free.
2. For more data, you need to pay only when you need it. Most (all?) carriers have pay-as-you-go plans for tablets. I use the free 200 Mb when I'm at home, but then buy extra data when I travel, often from AT&T instead of T-mobile because of better coverage.

So the base price of cellular is only the $130 Apple charges. Whether or not that is worth it for the convenience is of course a personal preference.

This is incorrect. First, the 200mb free is only for tmobile customers on a post paid plan. otherwise its 10$ a month for the 200mb. Second, purchasing data on an as need basis is way more expensive. even if you only travel 5-6 times a year, that would be roughly 120$ more a year if you added 20$ data service everytime you travel. So no, its not only the 129$ apple charges. you will incur more expenses throughout the year as you use the data.

 

[jbachandouris]

Another thing to consider is financing. If you buy an LTE version, you pay tax and then make monthly payments on your cell phone bill interest free.

Something to consider...

 

[RedOrchestra]

its not only the 129$ apple charges. you will incur more expenses throughout the year as you use the data.

There are NO free lunches - of course there's a cost involved in having cellular service on your iPad.

 

[ahostmadsen]

This is incorrect. First, the 200mb free is only for tmobile customers on a post paid plan.

That is incorrect. I currently have 200 Mb free on my Air 2. This article mentions it: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-a-free-data-plan-for-your-ipad/, quoting: "I don't mean "free if you're already a T-Mobile customer""

The question is if T-Mobile stopped this offer after that article was published.

 

[Serban]

already many of us we have a unlimited free data plan for mobile sim from our home internet provider. if you have one of those, than the cellular version is a no brainer

 

[dannyar]

There are NO free lunches - of course there's a cost involved in having cellular service on your iPad.

That's not the argument here. Of course its not free. The argument is if its worth it for the extra cost you incur with cellular vs wifi model and tethering.
[doublepost=1459352804][/doublepost]

That is incorrect. I currently have 200 Mb free on my Air 2. This article mentions it: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-a-free-data-plan-for-your-ipad/, quoting: "I don't mean "free if you're already a T-Mobile customer""

The question is if T-Mobile stopped this offer after that article was published.

Well first you said you were a tmobile customer. That already gives it to you for free. Anyone else had to pay for that 200mb. This was a big issue when launched because tmobile advertised it and did not make it clear that in order to get the 10$ monthly credit which would make the 200mb free, you had to be a current post paid tmobile customer. So no, it was never actually free, just misinterpreted by the masses.[/QUOTE]

 

[auero]

My first generation iPad was cellular because I got a great deal on it, but afterwards I only bought wifi models. Earlier this month, I purchased a 12.9-inch Pro with LTE. The price difference between the wifi and LTE model were minuscule (about $50?), so I decided to 'future proof' myself. In a months time, I still haven't found a reason to add it to my plan, but at least I know it'll be there if I need it.

It all depends on your uses and surroundings. My area is heavily populated with my ISP's wifi hotspots (they have a cellphone service via wifi) so I don't have a real reason to have LTE besides the added feature of GPS. You could also tether from your phone, assuming your provider allows it. For me, it was all about what was a better financial decision in terms of buying.

 

[rui no onna]

As an owner of the ipad pro 128gb cellular who then sold it for a wifi version, let me tell you, the cellular is not worth it. Yes the convenience and some of the features like GPS are nice to have but at what cost? Normally your looking at paying anywhere from 20$ or more a month for a usable amount of data for it. You're paying that every month regardless of the amount of use. So even if you travel once every 3 months or even more, is the price worth it? You are better off tethering to your cell phone on the rare occasions you don't have wifi and need internet. Again, I know some people will travel a lot for work and this convenience is worth the 20$ a month to them but for the average joe who doesn't travel much and will mostly use it at home then its definitely not worth it.

Worth is subjective. As I mentioned before, for me the extra cost for LTE is $130 for device and $10/mo for service (Mobile Share 20GB, $10 line charge). My iPhone barely breaks 500MB of usage nowadays although we regularly use 15-18GB/month. Almost that entire usage can be attributed to the iPad. For me, the bigger screen just makes it nicer to use for consumption. And no, I don't even travel far for work.

 

[ahostmadsen]

Well first you said you were a tmobile customer.

That's a misunderstanding. When I activated my iPad, I did not provide my t-mobile account information, and I used a different email address. There is no way t-mobile would know I was already a customer. And just read the article.

Fact: t-mobile used to offer 200 Mb free to anyone, until at least February this year.
Real question: did they stop to offer that very recently, like in the past month?

 

[npolly0212]

As an owner of the ipad pro 128gb cellular who then sold it for a wifi version, let me tell you, the cellular is not worth it. Yes the convenience and some of the features like GPS are nice to have but at what cost? Normally your looking at paying anywhere from 20$ or more a month for a usable amount of data for it. You're paying that every month regardless of the amount of use. So even if you travel once every 3 months or even more, is the price worth it? You are better off tethering to your cell phone on the rare occasions you don't have wifi and need internet. Again, I know some people will travel a lot for work and this convenience is worth the 20$ a month to them but for the average joe who doesn't travel much and will mostly use it at home then its definitely not worth it.

There are also some companies (like att)
Where if you purchase the new unlimited plan that's available you can no longer tether

 

[sparksd]

That's a misunderstanding. When I activated my iPad, I did not provide my t-mobile account information, and I used a different email address. There is no way t-mobile would know I was already a customer. And just read the article.

Fact: t-mobile used to offer 200 Mb free to anyone, until at least February this year.
Real question: did they stop to offer that very recently, like in the past month?

I started using the free T-Mobile offer late last year and I have never been a T-Mobile customer.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I use both WiFi when available and cellular when it is not. Cellular is so slow compared to WiFi. Even if I did not use Cellular, I would get it just for the improved GPS.