iPad "NEW" iPad + LTE which carriers and fees?

[toronado455]

On the "new" iPad with LTE (the one that costs $459) which wireless carriers are available for the data (in LA)? Is Verizon Wireless available in Los Angeles? How do you actually sign up for and pay for data? (I've never had an iPad.) Does T-Mobile still have a FREE 200MB/month plan? (I read about that on this page)

 

[MacManiac76]

Personally I know Verizon charges $20/month per device (iPad) on top of your existing data plan. I don't know about any of the other carriers myself.

 

[toronado455]

What????? a $20 surcharge on top of your regular monthly charge? Verizon has the worst deals. But I suppose they think you will be willing to pay their rates for the better coverage they provide.

According to that page I linked, the top level plan from T-Mobile ($95) is for 22GB/mo. The top plan on Verizon ($100) is by comparison only 10GB/mo.

The $35 plan on T-Mobile is 6GB/mo, while the Verizon $35 plan is only 2GB/mo.

 

[Peter K.]

On AT&T, if you have a shared data plan, it costs $10 per month to add an iPad to it.

 

[mk313]

I believe that T Mobile still offers the free 200 megs a month. They did when I activated mine abut a year ago, and I remember reading something about that a few months ago. They also have a pretty sweet deal that's 5 gigs that are good for IIRC 5 months that costs (again IIRC) $10. You can stack it on top of your free 200 megs, so each month it burns through the free 200 first, then dips into the 5 gigs. If you don't use a lot of data, and you get decent T mobile service, I haven't seen anything else that comes even close. We get marginal T Mobile service at our house, but it's ok by work, and generally usable around town, so I stick with them for my iPad.

 

[chscag]

T-Mobile still has the free 200MB per month and as member "mk313" noted they also offer the 5 GB deal. You should get good reception in the LA area. I live here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and T-Mobile coverage is excellent. I don't know if Apple will supply a T-Mobile sim card when you buy the iPad but you can get the sim card from T-Mobile for $10.00 when you sign up.

 

[toronado455]

On the Apple SIM web page it appears Verizon is not partnering with Apple on the Apple SIM. So I suppose if you want to use Verizon, you need a Verizon SIM. So pretty much it appears you are going to choose from either AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile (in the USA) with the Apple SIM. (and apparently GigSky is also available)

 

[JackieInCo]

T-Mobile also has a one time new subscriber plan of 5GB for five months for $10.

 

[toronado455]

Here's what I found on the Verizon web page... This seems strange but, apparently they offer only two plans (at least in my zip code), one with 1GB and $15/mo and an "unlimited" data plan for $65/mo. But on the "unlimited" plan they charge that extra $20/mo "line fee" (that MacManiac76 mentioned above), whereas apparently on the $15 plan they don't charge the "line fee". So basically you either choose $15/mo for 1GB, or $85/mo for "unlimited". At least that's what I can make out from the web page. Who knows what they will actually charge until you get the bill, right?

Here's some screen grabs:

 

[Peter K.]

On the Apple SIM web page it appears Verizon is not partnering with Apple on the Apple SIM. So I suppose if you want to use Verizon, you need a Verizon SIM. So pretty much it appears you are going to choose from either AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile (in the USA) with the Apple SIM. (and apparently GigSky is also available)

Regarding the Apple SIM, please note that upon first use with AT&T, it will lock itself to AT&T and no longer be capable of being used with Sprint or T-Mobile.

 

[toronado455]

Regarding the Apple SIM, please note that upon first use with AT&T, it will lock itself to AT&T and no longer be capable of being used with Sprint or T-Mobile.

Wow. Thanks for the heads up on that. It doesn't surprise me in a way. AT&T doesn't exactly have the best reputation for customer service. I think I would try T-Mobile first and if I can't get a reliable signal, I'd consider a Verizon SIM.

 

[mk313]

FYI, macrumors just posted an item this afternoon that they have ended the free 200 megs for life, effective yesterday.
[doublepost=1494275440][/doublepost]Current customers can retain their plan, but no new activations will be allowed

 

[Alrescha]

FYI, macrumors just posted an item this afternoon that they have ended the free 200 megs for life, effective yesterday.

Ouch, that 200 MB plan pretty much guaranteed that my next tablet would be on T-Mobile. Now, not so much.

A.

 

[Böhme417]

Personally I know Verizon charges $20/month per device (iPad) on top of your existing data plan. I don't know about any of the other carriers myself.

When I had an iPad on my plan, it was only $10/mo.

Here's what I found on the Verizon web page... This seems strange but, apparently they offer only two plans (at least in my zip code), one with 1GB and $15/mo and an "unlimited" data plan for $65/mo. But on the "unlimited" plan they charge that extra $20/mo "line fee" (that MacManiac76 mentioned above), whereas apparently on the $15 plan they don't charge the "line fee". So basically you either choose $15/mo for 1GB, or $85/mo for "unlimited". At least that's what I can make out from the web page. Who knows what they will actually charge until you get the bill, right?

Are those standalone iPad plans? Prepaid or postpaid?

 

[toronado455]

Are those standalone iPad plans? Prepaid or postpaid?

Those are for the only way I could figure out how to purchase/configure an iPad on the Verizon Wireless website. I didn't try adding an iPad to another plan, so I guess my configurations were for stand alone iPads.

Basically I started with Home>Tablets>Apple>iPad® and configured it with the full retail price option ($459.99). But even if you configure it with a 2-year contract or a monthly payment, you are still only offered the same two data plans.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Regarding the Apple SIM, please note that upon first use with AT&T, it will lock itself to AT&T and no longer be capable of being used with Sprint or T-Mobile.

You sure about that? I've never seen a locked LTE iPad. iPhones are different, of course.

 

[toronado455]

What Peter said seems to be confirmed by the article I linked:

In a perfect world, you would be able to switch carriers at will with your Apple SIM, but not every company has opted in. Auto-switching works if you pick a T-Mobile, Sprint, AlwaysOnline, or GigSky plan: You can have accounts on all four networks, and switch between their plans depending on which suits you based on your location.

Pick AT&T, however, and your Apple SIM card will immediately lock down and become an AT&T-only SIM card. The AT&T option will also immediately disappear once you pick one of its competitors. (Lame, AT&T. Super-lame.)

What if you prefer another carrier that supports tablet plans, like Verizon? Luckily, all iPads have an unlocked nano-SIM slot, allowing you to swap in any SIM card from the carrier of your choice.

One thing is clear... wireless carriers don't like to make things easy for us.

 

[chscag]

You sure about that? I've never seen a locked LTE iPad. iPhones are different, of course.

That's correct. iPads are unlocked devices and as far as I'm aware, no carrier locks it to their system when using their sim card. An iPad is not the same as an iPhone.

 

[andrew8404]

That's correct. iPads are unlocked devices and as far as I'm aware, no carrier locks it to their system when using their sim card. An iPad is not the same as an iPhone.

I just switched from T-Mobile to AT&T after hearing about there direct tv discount. They have a deal right now for a free iPad LTE 32gb if you also get a iPhone 7. Solid deals going on right now.

 

[toronado455]

I just switched from T-Mobile to AT&T after hearing about there direct tv discount. They have a deal right now for a free iPad LTE 32gb if you also get a iPhone 7. Solid deals going on right now.

What region are you in? Do you get good service from AT&T and Direct TV? I assume you are using AT&T for your internet through Direct TV?

 

[andrew8404]

I'm in New Mexico. Yeah AT&T has better LTE coverage then T-Mobile. I enjoyed T-Mobile but some of the worst customer service if you have to call in. AT&Ts high speed internet isn't available here sadly. So you get an extra 25 bucks off your direct tv bill if you have both services.

 

[RMo]

You sure about that? I've never seen a locked LTE iPad. iPhones are different, of course.

That's correct. iPads are unlocked devices and as far as I'm aware, no carrier locks it to their system when using their sim card. An iPad is not the same as an iPhone.

You're both sort of right: AT&T will lock the Apple SIM to AT&T, not the iPad itself. That is what the poster the first person quoted meant. You will need a new Apple SIM to use it on other networks again. (You could also just get an AT&T SIM if you know you want to use it on AT&T and then avoid this problem in the fist place; that's what you have to do for Verizon right now because Verizon doesn't support the Apple SIM at all.)

 

[toronado455]

OK that all makes sense. Are all these iPad plans contract-free? I mean, provided you are willing to purchase the SIMs you need from various carriers and swap them out on the iPad as needed, are you free to join for a month at a time and leave whenever you want to try a different carrier?

 

[chscag]

I can only say that right now the T-Mobile one is contract free. At one time Verizon and AT&T both had a month to month pay as you go plan, cost depending on how much data you needed. The Verizon plan which I had several years ago would renew automatically every month and I would be billed for the amount of data I chose. You could terminate the plan at any time. But like I said, that was several years ago. I don't know what the individual carriers are currently offering. (Other than T-Mobile which I still use.)

 

[BeatCrazy]

You're both sort of right: AT&T will lock the Apple SIM to AT&T, not the iPad itself. That is what the poster the first person quoted meant. You will need a new Apple SIM to use it on other networks again. (You could also just get an AT&T SIM if you know you want to use it on AT&T and then avoid this problem in the fist place; that's what you have to do for Verizon right now because Verizon doesn't support the Apple SIM at all.)

FYI 9.7 Pro has an embedded SIM, other models do not. I believe OP is looking at 5th Gen but this link might help someone:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203099