Worth Going Cellular for iPad Pro?

[Smeaton1724]

To follow this thread up, I initially got the cellular model but returned it for the wifi model and saved the £100. I use my iPad Pro differently to how I used my iPad 4, it is my laptop replacement where as the iPad 4 was a portable fun and convenient tablet. I love the screen but I do find it less portable and as such less likely to take it out and about (The footprint is pretty much the same as a retina MacBook 13, I have no problem with weight but the footprint means I take it where I feel a laptop would also be appropriate).

My examples are the iPad 4 can fit in my glove box of my car and Bluetooth music to my audio system, the iPad pro won't fit so I would have to put it in the boot or lay in on the back seat (inconvenient for taking additional time or access if stopped or the passenger using it), a cellular iPad would have allowed for streaming from online services such as Google music, Apple Music or Spotify yet this iPP is just too large for that. Secondly my carry bag can hold an iPad 9.7 and the retina MacBook, with the iPP well that also needs the same pouch the MacBook does leaving the space for the standard iPad redundant (I'm just not replacing a carry bag that cost £200 that easily!)

I'll probably pick up the next 9.7 model in cellular configuration but for now with the iPad Pro and MacBook I'll just tether from my iPhone where necessary.

 

[Channan]

Also, you can't take calls on your phone and tether at the same time. The personal hotspot drops out and you will be left with no internet on your iPad.

Yes, you can. If you're on a CDMA network, either with LTE but no VoLTE, or without LTE altogether, you can't, since you can't make a call and use data even on your phone. But if you have VoLTE or are on an HSPA network, hotspot still works on a call.

 

[The Game 161]

Days like today is why I'm glad I got the cellular pro

Gone to my girlfriends house where their wifi is down so no issue here I just switch on my data where I can do my normal usage. I haven't used my data since I got the pro but now I have.

 

[Badrottie]

What about portable wifi routers?

I did with Clearwire until they shut down last November 2015... I really enjoyed unlimited data plan for only 30 buck. Now I have a new LG tablet that have a wifi hotspot with 6GB mobile share plan for 10 bucks.

 

[Eric5273]

I spent the extra money and got the cellular version. It costs me $10 extra per month on my AT&T plan to share my data bucket with the iPad. Truthfully it probably wasn't worth it for me to do so, but I like the convenience of being able to use it at times without having to bother with the hotspot from my phone. You pay for that convenience. There's not really any added functionality, except perhaps the fact that your iPhone in hotspot mode will go dead long before the iPad Pro's battery will run out.

 

[Channan]

I spent the extra money and got the cellular version. It costs me $10 extra per month on my AT&T plan to share my data bucket with the iPad. Truthfully it probably wasn't worth it for me to do so, but I like the convenience of being able to use it at times without having to bother with the hotspot from my phone. You pay for that convenience. There's not really any added functionality, except perhaps the fact that your iPhone in hotspot mode will go dead long before the iPad Pro's battery will run out.

GPS

 

[Night Spring]

I initially got the cellular model but returned it for the wifi model and saved the £100.

I ended up doing the opposite.

Ever since I got my iPhone 6, my iPad Air had stayed mostly at home, since the screen of the 6 was good enough for my on the go use. I thought, with the Pro being larger than the Air, I surely wouldn't take it out. So I got the wifi only model. Turns out, it's faster and easier to work on writing and editing documents on the iPP than on my aging MacBook Air, which has developed serious lag since upgrading to Yosemite and hasn't improved with El Capitan. So I ended up carrying my iPP to work each day. Which made it quite handy to have the cellular model so I can use the iPP on the bus during my commute. So the wifi model went back, and I got the cellular.

 

[shox2k2]

I went with cellular a few years ago for my iPad. I realize I paid extra for the feature that I did not use very often but it was worth it in my opinion. I do not have it activated all the time only on trips. I'd like a 128 pro but I don't want to finance it w/att and pay $10 for cellular service that I won't use all the time. My premier account lets me get free activation so I can activate it a month at a time when I need it.

 

[Channan]

I went with cellular a few years ago for my iPad. I realize I paid extra for the feature that I did not use very often but it was worth it in my opinion. I do not have it activated all the time only on trips. I'd like a 128 pro but I don't want to finance it w/att and pay $10 for cellular service that I won't use all the time. My premier account lets me get free activation so I can activate it a month at a time when I need it.

Why not get a T-Mobile SIM with 200MB of data for free every month?

 

[Precursor]

Switched from my wi-fi only ipad 2 to cellular ipp
Never gonna go back to wifi version again. Though for home users i dont see point in paying extra for cellular version

 

[Pspressart]

Switched from my wi-fi only ipad 2 to cellular ipp
Never gonna go back to wifi version again. Though for home users i dont see point in paying extra for cellular version

I have a grandfathered AT&T data plan, so for me the cellular version was a no-brainer. Also, when I travel overseas, I can get a local sim with data and not have to worry about finding wifi access. It also means better security, since I am not using a wifi network I can't trust.

 

[The Game 161]

Switched from my wi-fi only ipad 2 to cellular ipp
Never gonna go back to wifi version again. Though for home users i dont see point in paying extra for cellular version

Yeah but sometimes you never know when you will need it. I won’t take it to work everyday but when on nights I think I would use it. It’s more going out to certain places, trips away for the weekend and when wifi is down for whatever reason.

 

[temna]

The point in my mind is having the ability to track it if it's misplaced (at $1500 in Canada, I'm tracking it down if someone tries to steal it from me). The GPS options and the face that I often have to remote into systems for work (helpdesk/deskside support) means I need to be connected at all times. The minor difference in price is totally worth it for me.

 

[Precursor]

I have a grandfathered AT&T data plan, so for me the cellular version was a no-brainer. Also, when I travel overseas, I can get a local sim with data and not have to worry about finding wifi access. It also means better security, since I am not using a wifi network I can't trust.

Indeed. I travel overseas every second month (for a month) so i spend half the year abroad. I can't always find wi-fi everywhere so getting a local sim is the easiest way.
On a 1 TB limit sim card right now in Saudi Arabia. Dunno what I'd do without internet here lol

 

[Robnsn2015]

I sometimes wish I had gotten the cellular, but I don't take my iPad Pro to places without wifi that often. I had a hard time justifying the extra price for the device and the plan.

 

[jetjaguar]

I have a grandfathered AT&T data plan, so for me the cellular version was a no-brainer. Also, when I travel overseas, I can get a local sim with data and not have to worry about finding wifi access. It also means better security, since I am not using a wifi network I can't trust.

I have the same plan so it was a no brainier to get the cellular model. I do wish they offered cellular on the lower end pro tho

 

[0970373]

Why not get a T-Mobile SIM with 200MB of data for free every month?

This. I got on this a couple years ago when they first introduced it and while I don't have to use it that often, it's nice to have. On months where I need to use a lot, like when my internet went out after a storm or when I used the GPS maps on a road trip, you can add on a data package. Very convenient.

 

[Night Spring]

Why not get a T-Mobile SIM with 200MB of data for free every month?

This. I got on this a couple years ago when they first introduced it and while I don't have to use it that often, it's nice to have. On months where I need to use a lot, like when my internet went out after a storm or when I used the GPS maps on a road trip, you can add on a data package. Very convenient.

I'm on the T-Mobile free plan too. With the iPads now coming with Apple SIM, you don't even have to go to T-Mobile to get a SIM card, you can just sign up for it right out of the box.

 

[Max(IT)]

A MiFi to me costs a fraction of the difference asked by Apple to go from wifi to cellular....
And portability isn't exactly a strong point for an iPad Pro anyway.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Getting LTE on my ipad was the best thing I have done. I don't even turn on my Wifi. I just use LTE - i have T-mobile as well so I just stream like crazy

 

[striders]

If you leave Bluetooth on your iPhone turned on, you can activate your iPhone's hotspot from your iPad. You just go into your Wi-Fi settings and you'll see the option to connect to your phone. It'll automatically turn the hotspot on and connect to it, then disconnect when your iPad's screen is off for a minute or so to save your phone's battery.

This is ideal if you don't plan on using your iPad on the go too much as you can save quite a bit of money doing this. But if you plan on frequently using your iPad away from Wi-Fi, get the cellular model.

Yep, but the thing is that I got 5GB for $10 a month, no overages. Over 5GB, then T-Mobile will just throttle it down. I use my iPad very often (on train, in the office, etc.) and having a cellular built-in is very convenience for just $10 bucks, not ot mention no drain on my iPhone battery.

 

[scaredpoet]

I got cellular on my iPad a couple years around starting with the first iPad Air, and love it. Multiple advantages:

1. You get GPS.
2. Tethering from the phone is nice, but it heats up your phone and eats battery.
3. Before I had cellular on my iPad, I once lost my phone while traveling in a no-WiFi location. WiFi-only iPad was useless to try and track it down, until I spent an hour traveling to and from a WiFi location.

A MiFi to me costs a fraction of the difference asked by Apple to go from wifi to cellular....

In some cases, the cost is mitigated by the data plan. For me, it costs less per month to add tablet data to my plan than it does to get data for a hotspot, even though the iPad has the same data bucket, and hotspot capability built in. In the time I've owned my cellular-enabled iPads, the cost savings would pay for a half-dozen hotspots.

And then there's the case where tablets, and tablets only, get a certain amount of free data on T-Mobile.

And portability isn't exactly a strong point for an iPad Pro anyway.

But if you have an iPad Pro, the assumption is you'll be carrying it with you anyway. A hotspot is just one more device to pack/bring/worry about charging/potentially lose.