T-Mobile to Stop Offering 200MB of Free Data for New iPad Owners

I find this all very interesting…

We ported to T-Mob in September 2015 and I was entirely unaware of this promotion. We got iPads and the rep never informed us about it. And I didn't notice anything because the promotion we got was for 5GB data match for each iPad.

A few months down the line when the bills even out and my wife is doing her thing and therefore her iPad is mostly unused month to month I noticed this popped up as a Data addon I never asked for. So I found out what it was, but it was surprising.

We never asked for this, but somehow it got added to our data plan. It survived the death of the data match promo and switch to the 5GB Simple Choice plan and so now we have 5GB PLUS 200mb each month.

Bizarre. Guess we get to keep it though.
 
I get the monthly auto-renewal email for this on an iPad that I sold years ago. Hopefully they're still enjoying it. Hah.
 
Not sure if some of you read the same words as I did but if you have it, its not going away. No free data on a NEW activation. Chill. You just wont be able to use it on your next iPad. Its for the life of that device.
 
ryanwarsaw said:
As the other poster said it doesn't even matter. If you have an iPad with LTE you have some kind of a plan. didn't consider foreigners but this was offered by TM USA to anybody with an iPad bought out outside of the USA?
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It was, it was also available via the Apple Sim so when I visited the USA a few months ago I fired up my iPad whilst at the luggage carousel and got 200mb of free data on my iPad Pro I bought from Apple in the UK!
 
MacRumors said:
When T-Mobile first began offering cellular iPads in the fall of 2013, the company included a plan that provided customers with 200MB of free LTE data each month for the life of the tablet, a promotion that is now coming to an end.
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It's not like you had to buy the iPad through T-Mobile or otherwise be a T-Mobile customer either. I have an iPad Air 2 with cellular capability that I initially had on a $10/mo Verizon plan. Once I realized I barely used it outside of Wi-Fi, I switched to the Free T-Mobile 200MB data plan and never looked back. It's been awesome. Glad to see I'm being grandfathered in.
 
This actually helped me locate my stolen iPad 2 a few years back. Someone tried to sell it at a local pawn shop and when they turned it on I got a ping from Find My iPhone and was able to get it back with help from local authorities.
Sad to see this go. Even though it's a small plan, it's very useful.
 
I love this data plan and am sorry to see it go. Much of the time, this plan gave me the non-wifi data I needed. When it didn't, this plan was the reason I purchased my extra data from T-Mobile.
 
ryanwarsaw said:
As the other poster said it doesn't even matter. If you have an iPad with LTE you have some kind of a plan. didn't consider foreigners but this was offered by TM USA to anybody with an iPad bought out outside of the USA?
Click to expand...

Like others have said, speak for yourself. The only plan I have on my current two iPads (iPad 4 & iPad Pro 12.9") is the free 200mb plan. I bought my iPads with LTE on the "just in case" idea that if there was a situation that I needed it, it was there. I have not bought a regular plan on any of my iPads. I wouldn't utilize the LTE enough to justify the regular monthly cost.
 
bradbomb said:
Like others have said, speak for yourself. The only plan I have on my current two iPads (iPad 4 & iPad Pro 12.9") is the free 200mb plan. I bought my iPads with LTE on the "just in case" idea that if there was a situation that I needed it, it was there. I have not bought a regular plan on any of my iPads. I wouldn't utilize the LTE enough to justify the regular monthly cost.
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Guess it is time to find a plan B then.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
200MB was more than enough for some mild web browsing. I used it for years until my iPad 2 died.
[doublepost=1494269855][/doublepost]
Are you sure. It didn't for me. It was tied to the device IMEI number.
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I second that it could be moved between devices. Sometimes it took a few hours and a restart, but it worked. And I did it one more than one occasion.

This was a great plan, maybe not for your primary device if you need cellular, but for any "Extra" devices (old iPhones or cellular iPads) you had around, it was a great way for them to have *some* kind of connectivity in a pinch. There were even some cool "geek" uses for it like having a cellular capable way of restarting your network remotely or other little low bandwidth tasks. Luckily I still have a few of these sims activated, assuming they really do continue working...
 
Plutonius said:
I did and I'm sure there are plenty of others.
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That surprises me. Was it just because of the free data, or were you curious as to how the T-Mobile network would cover your area?

I figured that people would tend to stay on the same network their phones were tied to.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
200MB was more than enough for some mild web browsing. I used it for years until my iPad 2 died.
[doublepost=1494269855][/doublepost]
Are you sure. It didn't for me. It was tied to the device IMEI number.
Click to expand...
I went from a mini 2 to a 9.7 pro and my T-mobile 200mb plan moved over seamlessly
 
csurfr said:
I figured that people would tend to stay on the same network their phones were tied to.
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Hmm, I've always done the opposite. I prefer o have two different networks entirely because then if you have no/poor signal or an outage on one you're more likely to have service on the other (or at least hopefully!).
 
Zaft said:
200mb was nothing anyway.. Just a way for Legere to brag.
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Not true. 200 mb means you can keep the iPad connected to the internet constantly. It will receive emails, texts, etc., you can check the internet. The key: it always has up-to-date information. Easily within 200mb. All for free. If you then need to do something data-intensive, you can connect to mobile hotspot on iPhone. This was the main reason I bough an LTE iPad. Now I have to hold on to that until it dies.
[doublepost=1494275499][/doublepost]
Zaft said:
200mb was nothing anyway.. Just a way for Legere to brag.
Click to expand...
Not true. 200 mb means you can keep the iPad connected to the internet constantly. It will receive emails, texts, etc., you can check the internet. The key: it always has up-to-date information. Easily within 200mb. All for free. If you then need to do something data-intensive, you can connect to mobile hotspot on iPhone. This was the main reason I bough an LTE iPad. Now I have to hold on to that until it dies.
 
Too bad about the 200MB. I am planning on buying whatever iPad Pro 2 finally comes out later this year or next. And was probably going to get it T-Mobile this time (current Air is with AT&T) entirely because of that token plan. Now there is no reason for T-Mobile. That could have been the foot in the door that convinced me to eventually switch the phones over.

VanillaCracker said:
covering tax for customers
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I don't want to knock T-Mobile because I do like what they've done for the industry. And I really like how they just straight up tell you their real prices. But they didn't exactly "cover" the taxes. They simply took their with-tax price and rounded up to the nearest $.00. They're still more expensive than AT&T for my situation, but at least it's easier now to calculate that comparison.
 
Zaft said:
200mb was nothing anyway.. Just a way for Legere to brag.
Click to expand...

It was a way for them to falsify their sub numbers to wall street. I knew people at TMO stores activating hundreds of sims per day telling people that if they didn't want to use it to give it away or toss the sim. Super shady. TMO only had net subscriber gains the last couple years because of this. It also drives their churn artificially low because they have these non-used subscriptions out there.
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dominiongamma said:
I get 10 gb hotspot, HD video, travel to countries with free data. For 100 bucks nice try.
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ATT\VZ\SPR all give hotspot, HD video, and have travel plans that give you USABLE coverage (read: not EDGE speeds) for a low cost, and the best part, the phone works the 99% of the time you're in America! LOL. I do think there's irony that people have better coverage and experience using a TMO phone in Thailand than they do in Los Angeles, hahahahahahahha
 
I always hated the 200MB free anyways. The free data plan LOCKED the sim to the device. I always had to call and have the data plan removed so that way any data plan I actually paid for, could then be used in any other iPad or tablet that I owned. It was annoying when I wanted to use a sim with a 6GB plan on my iPad and then move it to my Nexus 7 but couldn't couldn't use the data because of the free 200MB because that plan was activated on the iPad.
 
I've had this since I purchased my iPad Air. While it's certainly handy, I rarely have had to use it. Coupled with my personal hotspot data, I really have no use.
 
csurfr said:
That surprises me. Was it just because of the free data, or were you curious as to how the T-Mobile network would cover your area?

I figured that people would tend to stay on the same network their phones were tied to.
Click to expand...
I signed up even though I was on ATT to be able to check emails etc. i am on T Mob now and get unlimited on my iPad for no additional charge so the SIM is in an older iPad and works fine.
 
JackieInCo said:
I always hated the 200MB free anyways. The free data plan LOCKED the sim to the device. I always had to call and have the data plan removed so that way any data plan I actually paid for, could then be used in any other iPad or tablet that I owned. It was annoying when I wanted to use a sim with a 6GB plan on my iPad and then move it to my Nexus 7 but couldn't couldn't use the data because of the free 200MB because that plan was activated on the iPad.
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That is the strangest thing that I have ever heard. Unless you ordered your iPad from T-Mobile, how could they possibly justify sim-locking your device?

If you are referring to the programmable Apple Sim, I think that it becomes programmed to the one carrier you choose at the beginning and is set that way forever? I could be wrong (probably am), but I didn't think the Apple Sim could be reprogrammed or reset. If that's the case it's not T-Mobile's doing.
 
I have 4 devices with the 200mb plan and it's great for what it is: a way to make sure that Find My Phone is as accurate as possible. In fact, I have an iPhone 4s with that plan in my car, and it's a great car tracker.

Even the free 200MB on-demand plan is gone, which is what these were using. Bummer. I'm happy I maxed it out.
 
csurfr said:
That is the strangest thing that I have ever heard. Unless you ordered your iPad from T-Mobile, how could they possibly justify sim-locking your device?

If you are referring to the programmable Apple Sim, I think that it becomes programmed to the one carrier you choose at the beginning and is set that way forever? I could be wrong (probably am), but I didn't think the Apple Sim could be reprogrammed or reset. If that's the case it's not T-Mobile's doing.
Click to expand...
They did it because the data was FREE. Again, once I called to cancel the 200MB free, I could then use the sim card on any iPad or tablet.
 
csurfr said:
That is the strangest thing that I have ever heard. Unless you ordered your iPad from T-Mobile, how could they possibly justify sim-locking your device?

If you are referring to the programmable Apple Sim, I think that it becomes programmed to the one carrier you choose at the beginning and is set that way forever? I could be wrong (probably am), but I didn't think the Apple Sim could be reprogrammed or reset. If that's the case it's not T-Mobile's doing.
Click to expand...

He's referring to the SIM card, not the device itself. When you provision a T-Mobile SIM with the FDFL plan, it ties the SIM card to whatever device you initially use FDFL on. It doesn't lock the device itself.


But, to answer your question about Apple SIM -- it's a bit muddy in the US.

If you buy a 9.7 inch iPad from AT&T, the embedded Apple SIM is permanently tied to AT&T. If you want to use another carrier, you have to insert a physical SIM into the slot.

If you buy a 9.7 inch iPad from Verizon, the embedded Apple SIM is permanently disabled and cannot ever be used. You are forced to use physical SIMs only.

Similar BS occurs in Japan, the UK, and Germany. See here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203099
 
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