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If you Buy a 3G Ipad

bozzykid said:
I highly doubt you will need to purchase a sim. I would imagine it will come with the correct sim for the country you bought it in.
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Nope, Steve said that they would be sold unlocked so any 3G iPod would be likely to work wherever telcos were selling micro-SIM cards. Then later in the year there would likely be even better options for those who bought a 3G iPad in the US and took it home as Apple and the telcos work out their own specific deals.


It will work like most pre-paid iPhones down here. You buy the iPad, grab a micro-SIM, activate on the iPad itself and you're done.

Pre-paid data credit down here normally lasts 30 days with some more expensive options lasting 12 months. I get 4GB for a A$49 recharge that lasts me 30 days. I can get 12GB for $149 but that lasts a whole year.
 
Chundles said:
Nope, Steve said that they would be sold unlocked so any 3G iPod would be likely to work wherever telcos were selling micro-SIM cards. Then later in the year there would likely be even better options for those who bought a 3G iPad in the US and took it home as Apple and the telcos work out their own specific deals.


It will work like most pre-paid iPhones down here. You buy the iPad, grab a micro-SIM, activate on the iPad itself and you're done.

Pre-paid data credit down here normally lasts 30 days with some more expensive options lasting 12 months. I get 4GB for a A$49 recharge that lasts me 30 days. I can get 12GB for $149 but that lasts a whole year.
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iphones with out contracts come with sims.

im sure there will be sims
 
goobot said:
iphones with out contracts come with sims.

im sure there will be sims
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Not here they don't. If I go buy an iPhone from the Apple Store (outright, unlocked just like the iPad 3G) it doesn't come with a SIM.

They come with SIMs in the US because the device is still locked to AT&T. The iPad is UNLOCKED and as such will not be sold with a SIM.
 
Chundles said:
Not here they don't. If I go buy an iPhone from the Apple Store (outright, unlocked just like the iPad 3G) it doesn't come with a SIM.

They come with SIMs in the US because the device is still locked to AT&T. The iPad is UNLOCKED and as such will not be sold with a SIM.
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they also noted that you can activate a plan right on the device so i still think there will be a sim
 
goobot said:
they also noted that you can activate a plan right on the device so i still think there will be a sim
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I disagree, activating the plan does not require the SIM to be in the device.

Don't you guys buy SIMs there? That's how you do Pre-Paid here, you get a phone, buy a SIM and away you go. SIMs are like A$2.

No activation fee, if your credit runs out you can re-activate whenever you like with no penalty.

It's pretty simple, are pre-paid phones less common there?
 
No, generally here in the U.S. we don't use SIMs like you guys. Most of the time our phones and stuff come with them, even pre-paid ones.

I have never bought a SIM in the U.S.
 
melman101 said:
No, generally here in the U.S. we don't use SIMs like you guys. Most of the time our phones and stuff come with them, even pre-paid ones.

I have never bought a SIM in the U.S.
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Oh right. Even the contract phones here have no SIM, the retailers will pop a SIM in when you sign up to the plan.

Apple sell the iPhone outright, unlocked here. You get the phone, pop out the SIM tray, pop in the SIM you've bought and away you go.
 
Chundles said:
Oh right. Even the contract phones here have no SIM, the retailers will pop a SIM in when you sign up to the plan.

Apple sell the iPhone outright, unlocked here. You get the phone, pop out the SIM tray, pop in the SIM you've bought and away you go.
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I have a feeling personally that the U.S. iPads will come definitely with Microsims, and that is one of the many reasons that makes the 3G iPad come out in April as opposed to March with the Wifi one.
 
What happens if you buy a 250mb data plan on AT&T and you go over on data? Do they start charging you out the butt, or does the service stop? Will they let you roll over onto the $30 unlimited for $15 more? Will it warn you when you're almost out of data? Has AT&T ever offered a 3g plan with limited data? I know they used to before 3g on medianet or whatever on my old motorola. Seems like it could be a mess for people. I want the 3g for trips only but don't want to wait until April for it! GPS is nice though.
 
macduke said:
What happens if you buy a 250mb data plan on AT&T and you go over on data? Do they start charging you out the butt, or does the service stop? Will they let you roll over onto the $30 unlimited for $15 more? Will it warn you when you're almost out of data? Has AT&T ever offered a 3g plan with limited data? I know they used to before 3g on medianet or whatever on my old motorola. Seems like it could be a mess for people. I want the 3g for trips only but don't want to wait until April for it! GPS is nice though.
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It will probably warn you. But at 250mb it will cut off. It's pre-paid.
 
Chundles said:
It will work like most pre-paid iPhones down here. You buy the iPad, grab a micro-SIM, activate on the iPad itself and you're done.
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Here in the US, you will not have to go to a AT&T to get a micro-SIM. For one, they will not have any in April in the stores so Apple would not rely on that. And two, the devices can be activated right away from the Apple Store. That implies they will most certainly ship with the sim card. The deal AT&T has with Apple makes it so you can activate the 30 day plans easily. Requiring users to go to a AT&T store wouldn't make it easy.
 
What I'm waiting to hear is whether carriers outside the U.S. are going to offer prices similar to what AT&T has come up with. When I travel in Europe, data roaming on my iPhone is incredibly expensive (if I don't turn it off). What I'd love to be able to do is bring my iPad to France, pop into an Orange storefront, and prepay for a month of unlimited data at a reasonable price. (And if that means paying a couple of Euros for a new sim card, I'm okay with that.) But obviously, I don't want to sign up for a contract and I don't want to pay a lot for some pitiful amount of data (250 mb comes to mind).
 
JonboyDC said:
What I'm waiting to hear is whether carriers outside the U.S. are going to offer prices similar to what AT&T has come up with. When I travel in Europe, data roaming on my iPhone is incredibly expensive (if I don't turn it off). What I'd love to be able to do is bring my iPad to France, pop into an Orange storefront, and prepay for a month of unlimited data at a reasonable price. (And if that means paying a couple of Euros for a new sim card, I'm okay with that.) But obviously, I don't want to sign up for a contract and I don't want to pay a lot for some pitiful amount of data (250 mb comes to mind).
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I hope so too. I jailbroke my iPhone 3G and bought a SIM from Vodafone in Amsterdam. It was 10 Euro for unlimited data for the month and worked perfect in my unlocked iPhone 3G
 
melman101 said:
<snip>But I guess we will see.
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Good question. Not sure. But as you say, we will see.

sushi said:
Based on your prices above, then maybe annual fees of:

- $120 per year for 250MB

- $300 per year for unlimited.

EssentialParado said:
That is an incredible price for a year's worth of unlimited 3G access. Even if it's $360, that's still a really great price. Wow.
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I want to stress the word maybe in my original post.

I'm just guessing at the $300 per year discount fee.

macduke said:
What happens if you buy a 250mb data plan on AT&T and you go over on data?
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Very good question that I'm sure many will want the answer to.
 
So just to be clear, if I buy the 3G and activate the 3G portion right before I go on vacation or whatever, I have to pay for the entire month, right? In other words even if I only need the 3g service for one week out of the month, I still have to pay the full $29.99 for the month (no prorated charges). Sound right?
 
psywzrd said:
So just to be clear, if I buy the 3G and activate the 3G portion right before I go on vacation or whatever, I have to pay for the entire month, right? In other words even if I only need the 3g service for one week out of the month, I still have to pay the full $29.99 for the month (no prorated charges). Sound right?
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Yes that is correct.
 
I am sorry if this is kind of an obvious question, but is there any definitive answer on whether the 14.99 and 29.99 are taxed each month? Also, if there are taxes will it just be my state tax or will it also include all of the other federal fees? I would like to know at the end of the month, how much will my 29.99 plan really cost.
 
Here's my question about the 3G service: after choosing your plan and using it for a month, are you sent a bill? Or is $15-$30 charged to your credit card before the term begins? And if I already have an iPhone, does this service appear on the same bill? These are probably some dumb questions, but 'm not sure how these minute details will work out.
 
JohnnyQuest said:
Here's my question about the 3G service: after choosing your plan and using it for a month, are you sent a bill? Or is $15-$30 charged to your credit card before the term begins? And if I already have an iPhone, does this service appear on the same bill? These are probably some dumb questions, but 'm not sure how these minute details will work out.
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It's prepaid service and you pre-pay with a credit/debit card.
 
bowlerman625 said:
I don't think the 3G users will feel so bad. (I know I wont). You're probably paying double what we will pay monthly for your Sprint 4G data card. :) Different strokes for different folks!
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I think you are right :) I just happen to have the 4g card, but i don't like the fact that it isn't integrated into the ipad. In the end i'll probably switch to a more seamless solution. Its going to be nice being one of the first few people with mobile internet on their ipad though:)
 
JohnnyQuest said:
Here's my question about the 3G service: after choosing your plan and using it for a month, are you sent a bill? Or is $15-$30 charged to your credit card before the term begins? And if I already have an iPhone, does this service appear on the same bill? These are probably some dumb questions, but 'm not sure how these minute details will work out.
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Judging from what I could see on Apple's design page for the 3G iPad they say "sign up, monitor, and manage". To me that means we'll most likely be charged immediately (pre-paid since it asks for your credit card/debit card info) and seperately from our existing iPhone or other mobile device account with AT&T.

How we'll receive said billing statement (electronic or paper) remains to be seen, but I'm guessing there's probably going to be a line item/entry field within the "sign-up" dialogue box for our email address so they can send electronic statements. Probably will have an option to retain your credit card and email info for future use as well.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/3g/

Anyone else care to chime in?
 
There was an iPad 3G preference pane screenshot in some thread here last week. If you get the $14.99 plan, the pane will show how much of the 250GB has been used / is left, as well as the end date for the 30 days you prepaid.
 
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