im getting an ipad air after much debate vs a mini i want the screen estate . anyway its 499 starting price is a bit O_O much for just 16gb !. and if i want cell data and i do its 629 !!! quite a lot for a college kid. i want to see if maybe i can get the tmobile free 200mb a month deal ? what do u guys think. what would entice you to get cellular over just wifi.
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iPad help justifying paying for cell ipad air
- Thread starter isephmusic
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If you travel international you can pop sim cards and use data. I always roll with cellular. I also do not upgrade every year, so long-term I think it's a no brainer going with cellular. I am getting the tmobile ipad mini with free 200mb which is awesome imo.
Before the tmobile deal, i never even considered a cellular ipad. Now that they are offering 200mb of free data, i'm pretty sure i'll get it. and with $0 down, i can now afford it 
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they said lifetime of your device
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they said lifetime of your device
yes but rarely are you without wifi for hours. just need it because its free on top of you being able to call and get a couple gigs for under 20 bucks. or switch to atnt and get better coverage. anyway it just seems like if im spending 629 dollars i want to make sure this ipad air is going to last a couple years. i said the same thing with my macbook 15inch (mid 2012) and already sick of it >_<
Lol that's why you have the option of paying for more, just like any other carrier. Only exception, is they are giving you 200mb/mo FREE regardless if you pay or not
Something else to consider is that your ipad will also be connected to Find Your iPhone. Getting that for free would be pretty nice.
200MB free data plan is for lifetime, but if you're asking about going over the 200MB then I spoke with a rep today and he said that your internet will still be free after 200MB but unless you pay for LTE service your device will get throttled down to 2G/EDGE service.
Now-a-days everyone has a smart phone with a data plan and WiFi is freely available at many locations, I myself get free WiFi at work and I connect to WiFi when I go to a friend's house or a coffee shop.
With 3GB of data on my iPhone and WiFi always near by, 200MB (for me) will be more than enough for those rare moments that I am not connected and would like to look something up, but my phone is always near by and I think its the same for most people.
This alone is worth the deal, especially with iOS 7 new feature that a password is needed to deactivate Find my iPhone, now with a data connection it will be easier to track if it ever goes missing.
I don't have a smart phone - I'm a telecommuter & am at home most of the time. Just can't justify the expense.
So, for me it made sense to buy an iPad with 4G/LTE. I'll make the same decision when it's time to upgrade from the 3. I'm surprised by the number of times I've relied on it in the past 18 months.
So, for me it made sense to buy an iPad with 4G/LTE. I'll make the same decision when it's time to upgrade from the 3. I'm surprised by the number of times I've relied on it in the past 18 months.
It is harder to justify NOT getting the cellular. You can never ADD it when you need it.
Let's assume a 3 year life. If once every 3 months you need to get something via cellular, that comes to 12 times. So, for $10 you can do it. If you do NOT have the cellular model, it is not like you can exchange it when you need it.
Let's assume a 3 year life. If once every 3 months you need to get something via cellular, that comes to 12 times. So, for $10 you can do it. If you do NOT have the cellular model, it is not like you can exchange it when you need it.
I went from a 16GB Wifi iPad2 to a 32GB 4G iPad3. Apart from wanting more storage and the retina display, another big reason for upgrading was to get cellular (as you call it over in the US) support.
It's just too useful having Internet access on it wherever I am, without having to worry about tethering to my phone or other hassles.
It's just too useful having Internet access on it wherever I am, without having to worry about tethering to my phone or other hassles.
Something many people do not think of is that the iPad is crippled on 3G/LTE, there are still stupid download limits and it may stream content in lower quality in some apps. This is what is making me trade my cellular iPad 4 for the WiFi Air. Tethering to my phone will make the iPad think it is on a regular WiFi and any limits disappear.
i buy the cell version so i dont have to drain my phone battery tethering and for the gps chip
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youre thinking is incorrect. those limits will be imposed on your 3g/lte phone just the same as the ipad. i have never seen any such limits. most apps have settings for content quality over cellular. speeds are not an issue on lte
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youre thinking is incorrect. those limits will be imposed on your 3g/lte phone just the same as the ipad. i have never seen any such limits. most apps have settings for content quality over cellular. speeds are not an issue on lte
No those limits will not be imposed when tethering. For downloading I think Apple has raised the limit to 100 MB apps/app updates or iOS updates from 50MB. It is still too low though.
I've had my ipad 2 since launch day (3 years?) and I can think of maybe 2 times when I wished I had cellular service. Having said that, wifi is growing. Many places offer it free. If you often find yourself in the middle of no where with no wifi, then maybe get cellular. Otherwise my wifi only device has treated me well and I'll buy a wifi only device next week.
It's a fairly large price bump, and to use it you need to pay extra. If you have a data sharing plan then you may not need to pay extra for service, but most of those plans seem to enable tethering from your phone by default, in which case you could have simply tethered.
I choose to tether. If you tether through Bluetooth, rather than wifi, the battery drain is minimal and the connection doesn't automatically shut off after it's left idle (tethering from an iPhone). A cellular variant of my iPad would be slightly more convenient, but not anywhere near enough to justify the large price increase over a wifi-only version.
The way I see it, the only really good reason to go for a cellular version is for the GPS capabilities. Even if you tether a wifi iPad, it doesn't have the capabilities to read GPS satellites. But how many people need the GPS functionality in their iPads? I know that there are some who claim to, but I don't, nor do I personally know anyone who does.
The cellular ipad has the GPS chip and the wifi only does not. This may be a factor in your decision. I got the cellular version for this reason and if I ever need to use the cellular connection, it is available for me.
I think you already know which one you want, you just want us to tell you it's ok. I'd be willing to bet that deep down you want the Cellular version, you just are a bit nervous about making the jump.
Don't be nervous. Go with your gut... it's usually right.
Good luck.
Don't be nervous. Go with your gut... it's usually right.
Good luck.
Is the Verizon one the only one that allows tethering off the iPad plan as well? For some reason I thought ATT didn't allow tethering off of the iPad plans...
yes they will. a cell connection is a cell connection. dont do updates while on cell. problem solved
I've used my iPad at saxophone lessons for looking up music videos as well as using it camping. The LTE really came in handy. If you travel a lot, it comes in handy at those airports that don't have wifi. It's really nice not to completely rely on wifi.
iPhone 5S has GPS, so getting the iPad 5 Cellular is probably a no go for me. Have time to think this over, but if your smartphone has this, why purchase the cellular version iPad ? Tether also works for many. Just trying to justify getting it or saving a bit of money with so many WiFi locations now days.