Any regret not choosing WIFI or WIFI+LTE iPad PRO?

[christophermdia]

This is always dependent on your use case. I travel a good bit and even though I have my phone with me, I think its a little bit of a hassle to go in and enable wifi through the hotspot all the time. Plus there are many times which I decide to leave my phone behind and just hang around with my iPad ... my calls/txt come through, and everything is seamless. As a matter of fact, for my kids ... because they are kids, I bought wifi iPad Mini's and every time we are on a road trip, I always have to hear the "Dad, can you put the internet on please" ... next time, im just getting them LTE iPad's and not have to deal with it ... I have a physical hotspot in the car, which makes it a little easier, but its not nearly as fast as my iPad, and the kids watch movies/youtube on our 12 hour drives. Again, thats my use case, but everyone is different and everyone has different patience levels.

 

[hajime]

Any users in Canada? I don't seem to find LTE unlimited deal. I only have 3GB/month with unlimited calls.

If I travel abroad in the USA, and Asia, am I right that I can just buy some kind of local sim card and put in my iPhone. Then, tether my iPad to give it internet access?

 

[crodonline]

I've bought my past two iPad minis through Sprint (got to love payment plans), but always had 1 GB of data. Then at my previous job, I need to work from home for a day or two and my internet stopped working (provided through my building and is a part of my rent), so I needed more data to use as a hotspot and invested in the unlimited plan. With Sprint, I have to purchase hotspot data on my phone (despite having an unlimited data plan), but with unlimited LTE on the iPad, I was given 10 GB of hotspot data to use every month. I could have went back to 1 GB but I enjoy knowing I don't have to worry. Most recently after purchasing the 2018 iPad, I needed to use the iPad's hotspot data for my work laptop because I was having internet issues once again (I have a different job now where I mostly work from home) and it was a lifesaver. Plus while I was figuring out what was happening with my apartment's internet, I had the LTE iPad as a back up to do whatever I wanted (some side work, watching TV since the outage also affected my TV, etc.).

I have no regrets in investing in LTE. You just have to find the right plan that works for you. It's worth the extra money for crazy what if situations. You don't have to keep the data on, but knowing you can add it in might be worth it, especially if you keep going back and forth.

 

[hajime]

If I don’t put in SIM card, has LTE off. How much battery life decrease with and without the gps on compared with Wi-Fi only model?

 

[crodonline]

If I don’t put in SIM card, has LTE off. How much battery life decrease with and without the gps on compared with Wi-Fi only model?

It decreases a little faster depending on the location options of the app you are using. If you don't need location services on an app, turn it off. If you need it when in use, then put when it use. Most people don't realize that for some apps, the location services is defaulted to when in use or always, also that some apps have location options even if it is not dependent on location.

If you know how to manage that, your battery life will remain steady and not drain as quickly when on LTE.

I don't know if every model of iPad has a universal sim already in there, but I know my 2018 does so when I was ready to turn on the data, all I had to do was choose a provider and transfer over my current plan. If you don't switch on Cellular data when you have a LTE iPad, you don't have to worry about battery drainage until you add a data plan.

I don't know what the Canadian providers are, but they should have the option to add it on without putting in another SIM. Honestly, if you are near an Apple store, I would inquire a little more about adding on data when you want to an LTE iPad or even call them up and ask. If the process is simple, then it doesn't hurt to have a LTE iPad. I don't know about adding another SIM when traveling though so hopefully someone else can answer that here.

 

[RickTaylor]

I have an iPad mini with LTE which I use for GPS and for those rare occasions I don't have wi-fi, so I don't need it on my pro.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have the 12.9 iPad Pro (second generation) and it is WiFi-only, since it never leaves the house. My 10.5 iPad Pro, which DOES leave the house and goes on trips with me as well, is LTE and is attached to my AT&T cellular data plan with the iPhone. I recently bought an iPad Mini 4 and it, too, has the cellular data antenna and I will be adding it to my AT&T plan. Currently the iPhone and the 10.5 iPad Pro share data, and the iPad Mini 4 will also share it. As has been mentioned, cellular data comes in handy not only when one is in locations where there is no WiFi, it also is very, very useful at home when the power goes out. About a month or so ago, the power went out in my area for about 29 hours. It was invaluable to be able to still get online and communicate with others via email and to just be able to read and participate in forums during that time, too.

Back in 2010 when the first iPads were introduced, Apple started by launching the WiFi-only version, which I bought. It took me all of a day or so to realize the value that having a cellular data plan on such a device could bring -- so a week or so later when they launched the cellular data version, I bought one of them, too! Since that time I have always had two iPads and at least one has always had cellular data on it. For devices which accompany someone when they are out-and-about it really is useful and IMHO far more so than fiddling with tethering to one's iPhone.....

 

[TomOSeven]

Where I live, it's much cheaper to have a data only plan than a phone+data plan.

I pay around 7 Euros a year for my phone (including calls) and 15 a month for my iPad plan. Neither of them are on contract, so I could cancel every month.

Friends who just have a phone pay twice that and they're stuck in a two year contract, which I think is daft.

 

[Macalicious2011]

All iPads I have ever owned have been Wifi only. Nowadays my iPad rarely leaves the house and when it does for holidays I either tether using my phone or join public networks.

An LTE model would have been a nobrainer if it left the house a few times a week.

 

[JD2015]

Any users in Canada? I don't seem to find LTE unlimited deal. I only have 3GB/month with unlimited calls.

If I travel abroad in the USA, and Asia, am I right that I can just buy some kind of local sim card and put in my iPhone. Then, tether my iPad to give it internet access?

In UK yes. But you need to check that the Sim deal allows this and that the operator turns tethering feature on also.

 

[Matz]

Good question. I’ve only had one iPad with cellular, a few years back, and did not use that feature. The three iPads I’ve purchased since have been WIFI only.
Now I’m considering an IPP, and had assumed I’d go with WIFI only again. But after reading some of the responses here, and reconsidering my expected use, I just might spend the extra $ to have the option. True, I can use a hotspot, but it’s an extra step to take, and in my experience, the hotspot disconnects and takes a bit to reconnect. Not a big deal, certainly, but having LTE built-in would make for a more seamless experience, I’d think.
Anyway, this thread was worth the read, as there are some helpful comments here.

 

[hajime]

From the replies here, it seems to depend largely on availability of unlimited data plan. Unfortunately there is no such plan in Canada.

 

[crodonline]

From the replies here, it seems to depend largely on availability of unlimited data plan. Unfortunately there is no such plan in Canada.

If there is a plan that has a certain amount of GB per month that's at a decent price, might be worth considering.

 

[rui no onna]

From the replies here, it seems to depend largely on availability of unlimited data plan. Unfortunately there is no such plan in Canada.

I've got mine on a grandfathered, fixed GB plan (20GB shared data). As long as I don't stream video much (the occasional YouTube clip notwithstanding), my regular iPad usage is around 5-10GB. A significant portion of that is actually as hotspot to laptops, etc. With its gigantic battery, the iPad makes for great hotspot. We typically have 5-10GB of rollover data a month unless I intentionally blow through it by video streaming near the cutoff date.

An unlimited data plan would be nice but I'm not willing to pay an extra $600-800 per year for the privilege.

 

[Clix Pix]

From the replies here, it seems to depend largely on availability of unlimited data plan. Unfortunately there is no such plan in Canada.

My devices share 3 GB data on the Family Sharing plan or whatever AT&T calls it. Many years ago I had unlimited data on the iPhone, starting from Day One when the iPhone was first launched, but at some point later on I made the switch to the sharing plan and I am perfectly happy with it. They offer differ amounts of data for varying sums of money, of course. I find the 3 GB is perfectly sufficient for me, since I usually am in WiFi range anyway.

 

[hajime]

I just saw a lady using a 12.9” iPad Pro as the GPS for her car. Looked so cool!

 

[Moolani]

My first few iPads were WiFi only. I got tired of setting up a Hot Spot every time I was out of the house so I went with a LTE iPad and never regretted it. Now I need to replace this iPad and will definitely get another LTE one. The convienence factor is huge if the iPad will leave the house.