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Why people buy iPad/iPP when they can get it for free signing up mobile plan?
- Thread starter hajime
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The same reason why some people buy phones outright. People don’t want to sign a contract.
It's not free, it's included in the data plan which is going to be more expensive than the iPad. If you need the data it might worth it but most people are already paying for data on their phone and don't need it on their iPad.
Nothing is "free". You will be paying for that iPad and a healthy margin for the carrier as part of your "contract". They, and their armies of lawyers and bean counters, will not come up with a plan that loses money.
it depends on the country.
in the past i used to pay 60-70% less for a mobile phone because of the contracts but now its simple maths for me.
In my country there are 3 basic mobile phone companies. Vodafone, Wind and Cosmote. Starting price for an iphone 8 64gb is 879 euros.
if i choose a pay as you go plan from vodafone by paying 6-8 euros per month i can have unlimited calls, 1500 sms and 2GB internet.
Vodafone sells vodafone RED programs that start from 92 euros per month plus they dont discount iphones. So we are rulling out vodafone. The price for an iphone 8 64gb is still 879 euros.
Wind: Sells iphone 8 for 79 euros less than the price without contract (800). but the contract costs 34 euros per month for 600minutes per month, 100 sms and 1GB internet.
Cosmote: The price for an iphone 8 64gb is 775 euro if i choose a contract for 24 months that costs 42,30 euros per month and offers 400 minuts, 40 sms and 550 MB internet.
so, if i have a pay as you go iphone 8 64gb costs me 879 euro + 192 euro for 24 moths use of the mobile phone.
If i buy a contract, in the worst case (vodafone) will cost 879+ 2208 and in the best case (cosmote) i will pay 1783
for some reason ALL COMPANIES here want to sell pay as you go and not contracts
I don't want to pay more for an iPad w/cellular radio.
I got an iPad Pro 10.5" 64 gig wi-fi only for under $499 before tax (due to Staples price matching Micro Center) a few months ago. You telling me that thru a carrier, that by signing up for a mobile plan that for 1 or 2 years, that my total cost of that iPad Pro 10.5" they'd provide (which will have cellular) and plan is going to be less than or equal to $500?
I just got a 128gb LTE 2018 iPad. I wanted the internal GPS chip that is only available on the LTE models, and also wanted the ability to use cellular data when needed. I could have gotten it through my carrier (AT&T) with 20 monthly payments of $28 and 0% interest. However there would have been a $25 "activation fee". Then of course there would have been monthly data plan costs.
So I bought an unlocked model outright at Best Buy for $560 and will just use one of the prepaid data plans when I feel I need it. I don't want to pay a fee for data every month when I don't really need it. Originally I thought it could be inexpensively added to my existing MobileShare plan from my iPhone, but this gets complicated and I got confusing answers from AT&T ranging from $10 to $20 per month. That is just too expensive for the kind of use I anticipate.
AT&T was pushing some kind of "deal" for upgrading my phone and getting an iPad for $100 (IIRC). I don't need to upgrade my phone, and that deal was for a 32gb iPad which is too small to be useful for me.
So I bought an unlocked model outright at Best Buy for $560 and will just use one of the prepaid data plans when I feel I need it. I don't want to pay a fee for data every month when I don't really need it. Originally I thought it could be inexpensively added to my existing MobileShare plan from my iPhone, but this gets complicated and I got confusing answers from AT&T ranging from $10 to $20 per month. That is just too expensive for the kind of use I anticipate.
AT&T was pushing some kind of "deal" for upgrading my phone and getting an iPad for $100 (IIRC). I don't need to upgrade my phone, and that deal was for a 32gb iPad which is too small to be useful for me.
I buy the cellular iPad outright and pay a $5 per month fee to share data from our iPhone plans which total 147GB per month across 3 iPhone plans. Different countries and carriers have different options and if I can pay $5 per month for my iPad to share in that data too and not be tied to a plan, then it’s worth it to me.
Wow... I have one iPhone and a 2gb data plan. AT&T's options for adding an iPad are very confusing, I started a thread on this awhile ago: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/data-plans-why-is-this-so-hard.2120597/
Yes, that does look complicated...$0.00 down, yet there looks like there are still starting fees, so very contradictory there.
I’m with Telstra in Australia and so as long as I have a phone plan, I can add up to 5 data share devices and each device gets a SIM to use the same shared pool of data. It’s the same with my Apple Watch, just $5 per month to use the same phone number and share the data.
The contract is usually for two years. So the monthly payments for two years are roughly the same as the phone would cost if you just buy it outright.
So after two years you're in a dilemma: You either have to cancel the contract which most people don't do because they are lazy.
Or you don't cancel the contract. If you don't get a new phone, you will still continue to pay the high monthly rate and actually loose money.
If you get a new phone than it might be worth the monthly rate but in reality you were forced to get a new phone even if you could have used your old phone for one or two more years. So in the end, no matter what you do, it is never free.
I always pay full price for my phone because:
- I don't want high reoccurring payments each month
- I want to decide for how long I use my phone
- I like the feeling that the phone is paid fully and I don't have to worry about anything. I can change service providers whenever I feel like it.
The main reason people like the "free" phones/iPads that come with a 2 year contract is because they can't afford the full payment or they don't fully understand what they are doing and it looks cheaper to just have the monthly payment.
Would never buy another iPad without cellular now personally. Too useful when I need data on the go
This is how my old AT&T Plan worked a number of years ago, but they stopped offering this kind of plan and I thought all the major US carriers did the same. Now, you pay full price for the phone with two options. You can make one payment up front or you can make installment payments with a variety of different time periods. I had the NEXT 30 plan, which was simply a 0% loan with 30 payments (two and a half years). But this plan allows you to exchange your old phone for a new one after you’ve made 24 payments, so that’s how they try to hook you. But if you make all 30 payments, it’s yours to keep.
Voice and data service are separate items on your bill and there are an endless number of confusing options, depending on the carrier. But I just made the final payment for my iPhone 6s plus last month, so my next phone bill is going to be more than $30 less since it will no longer include an installment payment for the phone. Still happy with my old phone and it will be nice to save about $400 on my phone bill over the next year. I am also free to switch to another carrier anytime I want to.
I only see 2 ways phones are subsidized anymore. Offers like BOGO, where the second might be paid back via bill credits. So you pay for it up front, then get reimbursed over the 2 years. I only have a "single" line, so don't take those options.
And for some phones on prepaid, you can get some cheaper but can't unlock the phone for 6 months or a year currently. I've purchased a few phones like that and either got them unlocked after full-filing the terms, or the one that hasn't been unlocked was a gift, and could be unlocked at any time if the user wanted to change carriers.
And for some phones on prepaid, you can get some cheaper but can't unlock the phone for 6 months or a year currently. I've purchased a few phones like that and either got them unlocked after full-filing the terms, or the one that hasn't been unlocked was a gift, and could be unlocked at any time if the user wanted to change carriers.
Mind me asking which country it is? I am from Germany...
[doublepost=1529248058][/doublepost]Vodafone seems to be ridiculously expensive in your country...
I live in Greece! And it’s indeed so expensive. For some reason all carriers want to sell pay as you go instead of contracts. That is a new phenomenon here but it’s weird
OP. I did take advantage of the “Free” IPad deal at ATT. I did rigorous mathmatics prior to signing. Of course, it is not free and only made sense because I was in the market for an IPhone SE and a basic IPad for those times I wanted a bigger screen. Overall I will pay $150 for the SE and $440 for the IPad 2018 LTE 128G (monthly fee included).
Based on my use and situation I opted for the pay-over-time interest free financing.
This would be a painful proposition for those that need the latest and greatest. For me, I just needed to stay connected to my wife and kids who all have iPhone 8’s and X’s. LTE has come in handy a few times but could live without it.
A year from now......hmmmm. I will have to check back in and let you all know if this was a failed mission.
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Based on my use and situation I opted for the pay-over-time interest free financing.
This would be a painful proposition for those that need the latest and greatest. For me, I just needed to stay connected to my wife and kids who all have iPhone 8’s and X’s. LTE has come in handy a few times but could live without it.
A year from now......hmmmm. I will have to check back in and let you all know if this was a failed mission.
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Seems like the must be something more to this. The iPad normally retails for $560 with no data plan or activation fee. How much is the monthly iPad data plan? Is AT&T really giving you a "free lunch"?
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This was a deal with the purchase of an iPhone. 128G LTE 2018 IPad (non-pro version) $199 upfront and $10/mth for 24 months. They also had the 32G for $99 + 10/mth (24ths).Seems like the must be something more to this. The iPad normally retails for $560 with no data plan or activation fee. How much is the monthly iPad data plan? Is AT&T really giving you a "free lunch"?
I bundled this deal with $5/mth IPhone SE. There are activation fees. But even still I come out good.
I will be the first to admit that, no matter the price, this deal is not for everyone. The line up of new releases later this year will likely make fossils of both these.
I am cool with keeping the iPad a couple years but if a refreshed SE comes out I’ll be scrambling.
But what is the monthly cost of your iPad data plan? I assume you have mobileshare for the phone, but they charge extra to add a device. From what I’ve read, this is in the $10 to $20 range, depending on what kind of mobileshare plan you have. You know that AT&T is not really “giving” you a $560 device for $440, so they must be getting it through the recurring monthly data charges.
You said that you didnt plan to use much cellular data, and I am the same way. That’s why I ended up buying the iPad outright and using pre-paid data. Those monthly charges add up over time!