iPad with or without cellular

[Velin]

Cellular. If you travel or use it for work, definitely go cellular iPad. I use mine with Verizon. I've found the LTE iPad makes a fantastic hotspot device for laptops/desktops; iPads have great cellular antennas that is better at penetrating windows/walls (better than iPhone) and rock-solid hotspot connection. If a connection goes down, if wifi sucks, if there's a power problem, a cellular iPad can be an amazing crutch device helping you out, or a whole bunch of people if necessary. It's definitely more robust than the iPhone, providing better cellular connection to the internet and superior hotspot capability than an iPhone.

Further, iPad cellular GPS is fantastic. And if you are on the move, the convenience of simply turning cellular "on" and having the internet right there in your hands simply cannot be beat, whereas tethering iPad to an iPhone gets old real quick, the hotspot connection sometimes drops, and it seems slower, more frequent drops/stalls/hangs with tethering an iPad. Whereas a cellular iPad, in my experience, almost never has these problems so long as you have LTE connection. If you need reliability while on-the-go, once you go cellular, you'll never go back.

If, however, you don't travel with an iPad, then maybe wifi-only is better for you. But the better play is to get a cellular iPad and travel with it; you'll never leave without it once you see how convenient it is and you'll really miss it when it's not there.

 

[Harmonious Zen]

Also there is the cost of the data plan if exceeded? app updating, iCloud sync, drop box, text message sync, not to mention any Netflix / streaming.

I find using my iPhone hotspot very easy - don't even have to touch the iPhone just activate the hotspot from my iPad Pro 12.9 and instant WiFi (usually for email receiving and sending or to allow some important files to sync) - also does not kill my battery on the iPhone 8 - I keep it task specific and leave the other stuff to later when I have on regular WiFi connection.

I travel quite a bit and use my iPad Pro extensively - it is very rare that I cannot access a wifi network - hotels, cafes, airports, all have WiFi access

Yeah, that’s personally why I never found a cellular iPad very useful. There’s WiFi everywhere these days. And when there isn’t, you don’t even have to take out your iPhone to use it as a hot spot. Back in the “old days”, you had to do that all manually which was a bit of a pain. But ever since Apple streamlined that in iOS, I really don’t see the need for a cellular connected iPad if you live in a major metro area.

 

[jerryk]

I get Wifi and use my phone as a hot spot in a pinch.

I don't use my IPP often enough without Wifi to justify spending more to a version with cellular. And then there is the whole traveling overseas and having to buy a second sim card issue.

 

[fricotin]

Wifi only doesn't have a built in GPS receiver, a deal breaker for me who travels a lot.

 

[Sodium Chloride]

Since I don’t have a smartphone, for me I had to buy the cellular version. $35 / month unlimited from AT&T. They said they may throttle down the speed if I exceed 22GB in a given billing period but I have reached 270 GB in my current billing period and I haven’t noticed any slowdown. I just checked and I got 55 Mbps where I am standing miles away from home. Not too shabby.

I really like it. AT&T doesn’t put any limit on what kind of data I can use. Many providers who offer phone, text and data bundled together limit that you can only stream 480p. With my data plan, I can stream 1080p or 4k if I want.

 

[millydog]

I’ve always bought the cellular iPads. I currently have a 12.9, 10.5 and mini 5, all cellular.
For $5 per month, I have a SIM card as a shared data plan with my iPhone. So my iPad uses my data from my iPhone plan (60GB per month), but via a SIM card, not tethered. Tethering is free on my plan, but I prefer the SIM. I only have one of these SIM cards though, so I’m always switching it between my iPads.

 

[SoYoung]

The cellular iPad is a complete waste of money if you have a cellphone IMO. Hotspot simply just do the job when needed and it’s working like a charm in my case. No way I’d pay for 2 mobile plans each month just for « in case » I really need it.

 

[kevink2]

The cellular model also gives you GPS. Which can be useful for mapping applications on a bigger than phone screen. Even if you don't actually pay for cellular data.

I wish that the price premium wasn't still $130.
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Never had much use of the cellular option. Unless I get unlimited cellular on all of my devices I refuse to throw extra money in the form of an additional contract at any phone carrier. Same goes for my Apple Watch. Cellular doesn’t make much sense to me.

On the go I use my iPhone as hotspot. The impact on the battery is not too bad and establishing the connection is easy and fast.

I have the cellular Watch model. But haven't activated the cellular since it isn't available on prepaid plans

 

[richpjr]

The cellular iPad is a complete waste of money if you have a cellphone IMO. Hotspot simply just do the job when needed and it’s working like a charm in my case. No way I’d pay for 2 mobile plans each month just for « in case » I really need it.

The one big disadvantage is how fast it drains the battery on the phone when using it as a hotspot.

 

[elmarjazz]

I’m in Japan and depending on not always available wifi is just not an option for me (the cities are getting better). I travel to the countryside away from a wifi connection often, even a data connection is sometimes not available. Tethering to my iPhone is another step, I don’t always have my phone with me, and the sim in my iPad is on the same plan as my iPhone sharing the monthly data plan. Being connected as much as possible is a great option, also the GPS is very helpful. It’s a small price to pay for a complete mobile device.

I did buy a wifi only iPad for the kids years ago, but it was with the thoughts of lower price and with the intention of home only wifi use.

Also, the cellular version iPads are only bto (at least here) and so this means a new custom ordered iPad at the regular no discounted prices. I was lucky to find a new ‘refurbished’ IPP recently with cellular, very few and far between [again] here in Japan, and quickly ordered it before it was gone.

 

[BB1970]

I use the iPhone for a lot of video (mostly archiving bands for several hours) which means I’m without a device to use while they play. Most places have WiFi... but not all. And in those situations, it would have been great to have a cellular connection.
My next iPad Pro is definitely going to be cellular.

 

[Howard2k]

I have my iPhone, cellular is totally wasted IMO. There just aren’t that many situations where I need data and don’t have either wifi or iPhone available.

 

[SoYoung]

The one big disadvantage is how fast it drains the battery on the phone when using it as a hotspot.

Maybe, but its rare a situation happen when I'm not at home that I need to use my iPad instead of my iPhone. I always have my phone with me so 90% of the time I'll just pick up my phone. Its the main purpose of a cellphone to be always connected so that's why I think its useless to have a cellular iPad as well.

 

[Velin]

The cellular iPad is a complete waste of money if you have a cellphone IMO. Hotspot simply just do the job when needed and it’s working like a charm in my case. No way I’d pay for 2 mobile plans each month just for « in case » I really need it.

You don't need "two mobile plans." If you have a cell/data plan, with most carriers you can get another simcard and data plan for tablets costing as little as $10 per month extra, I think Verizon is $15 or $20, a negligible sum for many of us.

If it's not for you, that's fine. But if you travel a lot, especially for work, cellular iPad is really excellent and can be a lifesaver if there are weak signals, bad wifi, or no wifi. The cellular antenna in iPads is better than most cellphones, it just is. Especially in hotels, some airports, and highrises.

Using a cellular iPad as a wifi hotspot is really fantastic and superior to iPhone due to better signal and much longer battery life, you definitely can run multiple laptops off of it if necessary (have done it, iPad worked much better than iPhone for this). For example, when working on the road and wifi sucks, you turn on cellular iPad, put it up against the hotel window, and you can leave it there for many hours -- giving you strong hotspot wifi as well as leaving you free to take wifi-enabled calls on your iPhone or cellphone. This can make an enormous difference, it just does, because you've got that superior signal/connection, a larger battery in the iPad, and again, you can just leave it there. Until you've done it, it probably won't make sense to you, but it matters for those who need it. And GPS on cellular iPad can't be beat.

Finally, it's really, really convenient being able to simply toggle cellular on and off, instead of tethering both an iPhone and an iPad. If you are out on business or meeting with clients, you look stupid fumbling around with a phone, then having to connect it to an iPad -- and I've had the connection stall and break on occasion when tethering iPad to iPhone. Cellular iPad, this simply never happens. Toggle cellular, you're connected in two seconds, and it's rock solid with no drops or stalls. I credit both good Apple engineering (hardware and software) as well as good Verizon service for this reliability. And unquestionably more efficient and professional. For those of us who need it, we spend more on lunch in a day than the cost per month of an iPad data plan -- the money simply doesn't matter.

If you don't need it, don't spend the money on it. But definitely not a "complete waste of money" for those who use it frequently, especially travelers, because what it provides is superior in every way to cellphone-only tethering.

 

[SoYoung]

You don't need "two mobile plans." If you have a cell/data plan, with most carriers you can get another simcard and data plan for tablets costing as little as $10 per month extra.

If it's not for you, that's fine. But if you travel a lot, especially for work, cellular iPad is really excellent and can be a lifesaver if there are weak signals, bad wifi, or no wifi. The cellular antenna in iPads is better than most cellphones, it just is. Using a cellular iPad as a wifi hotspot is really fantastic and superior to iPhone due to better signal and much longer battery life, you definitely can run multiple laptops off of it if necessary (have done it, iPad worked much better than iPhone for this). And GPS on cellular iPad can't be beat.

Finally, it's really, really convenient being able to simply toggle cellular on and off, instead of tethering both an iPhone and an iPad. If you don't need it, don't spend the money on it. But definitely not a "complete waste of money" for those who use it frequently, especially travelers, because what it provides is superior in every way to cellphone-only.

You're right. I just think its a waste of money for the vast majority of costumers. For people who travels a lot and need it for work, its another story, but for the average people, I dont think the cellular iPad worth the extra money for the small amount of time they'll really use/need it and in this case, I think the personal hotspot can be more than enough.

Just taking me for exemple (I think I'm an average costumer). I'll use my iPad in hotels and things like that, and just plug in my phone, and all I have to do is select my phone in the wi-fi settings. Its very convenient for me and its perfect for my needs and I think this kind of scenario is like this for the vast majority of people. Of course if you rely a lot on computers when you're on the go for work and all of this kind of stuff, I completely understand the choice.

 

[The Game 161]

I use mine for work and it’s very useful to have when you need it...I have 20GB a month and while I don’t use much of it...nice to have it when you need it

 

[sparksd]

Wifi only doesn't have a built in GPS receiver, a deal breaker for me who travels a lot.

Yeah, this. I was just traveling in Europe and it was nice having GPS on my 10.5" iPP to use with downloaded maps in Maps.me. Same was true in the Galapagos, Northern Alaska, and Yellowstone (in winter). Much better than using the small phone screen.

 

[rumz]

For GPS alone I prefer to buy the cellular model, regardless of whether I have an active cellular plan on it.

Since I don’t have a smartphone, for me I had to buy the cellular version. $35 / month unlimited from AT&T. They said they may throttle down the speed if I exceed 22GB in a given billing period but I have reached 270 GB in my current billing period and I haven’t noticed any slowdown. I just checked and I got 55 Mbps where I am standing miles away from home. Not too shabby.

I really like it. AT&T doesn’t put any limit on what kind of data I can use. Many providers who offer phone, text and data bundled together limit that you can only stream 480p. With my data plan, I can stream 1080p or 4k if I want.

How long have you had that plan? That’s a pretty sweet deal. Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to not have a smartphone and just have a tablet.

Currently looking at my options for data plans for a cellular iPad. Actually would like a different carrier for my iPad so I have some fallback in areas where my phone doesn’t have reception when traveling (my phone is on T-Mobile).

 

[bensisko]

I know this is an older thread, but throwing in...

I’ve been getting Cellular since iPad 2. Bought the iPad 1 without cellular (thinking “there’s WiFi everywhere, etc.”) - all it took was one trip to realize the benefits of cellular. (Almost) All of my iPads have been Cellular since.

One exception is the 12.9” iPad Pro - now on my second 12.9 and both have been WiFi for two main reasons:

1. My 11” iPad and iPad Mini both have Cellular
2. The 12.9” is much more of a “home” iPad (in both cases)

I use my iPad (especially the Mini) for things most people do with their phone. I’m not particularly fond of the phone and would ditch it if Apple gave the iPad equal cameras and the ability to sync with the watch.

Reasons for Cellular:

• Faster and more reliable than most WiFi
• Quicker to access than connecting to WiFi or setting up a Tether
• Tether drains the battery of both devices
• With a lot of my stuff cloud based, cellular is important - instant access to all of my stuff
• I even use cellular when WiFi is available because cellular is faster and more reliable

 

[LibbyLA]

For GPS alone I prefer to buy the cellular model, regardless of whether I have an active cellular plan on it.


How long have you had that plan? That’s a pretty sweet deal. Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to not have a smartphone and just have a tablet.

Currently looking at my options for data plans for a cellular iPad. Actually would like a different carrier for my iPad so I have some fallback in areas where my phone doesn’t have reception when traveling (my phone is on T-Mobile).

You can have both the $35/month unlimited AT&T plan and the $10/5 G/150 days for T-Mobile using the estimated. I have both on my two cellular iPads (11” iPad Pro, Mini 5).

 

[rumz]

You can have both the $35/month unlimited AT&T plan and the $10/5 G/150 days for T-Mobile using the estimated. I have both on my two cellular iPads (11” iPad Pro, Mini 5).

Using the estimated?

And you’re saying you can have more than one plan per iPad?

 

[rui no onna]

Using the estimated?

And you’re saying you can have more than one plan per iPad?

I'm guessing she meant eSIM. Yep, you can have multiple plans. Kinda the point of dual SIM.

This has been a possibility since the 2016 Pro 9.7 (Embedded Apple SIM + physical Nano-SIM card slot). Alas, more limited support compared to eSIM, I believe.

 

[LibbyLA]

Using the estimated?

And you’re saying you can have more than one plan per iPad?

I typed “esim” and did not catch that autoscrewup changed it. Sorry. Yes, you can have more than one plan per iPad. With a SIM, I could even add a Verizon plan and have three plans.
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I'm guessing he meant eSIM. Yep, you can have multiple plans. Kinda the point of dual SIM.

This has been a possibility since the 2016 Pro 9.7 (Embedded Apple SIM + physical Nano-SIM card slot). Alas, more limited support compared to eSIM, I believe.

I am a woman...

 

[rui no onna]

I'm guessing she meant eSIM. Yep, you can have multiple plans. Kinda the point of dual SIM.

This has been a possibility since the 2016 Pro 9.7 (Embedded Apple SIM + physical Nano-SIM card slot). Alas, more limited support compared to eSIM, I believe.

I am a woman...

Corrected.

 

[rumz]

I typed “esim” and did not catch that autoscrewup changed it. Sorry. Yes, you can have more than one plan per iPad. With a SIM, I could even add a Verizon plan and have three plans.

Nice, thanks for the heads up. Found it. (Though I had to remove the Verizon SIM that was in my 9.7" 2016 iPad Pro to get any other carrier's plan options to show up.) Thanks for the heads up on that! Those are both really nice options. I still can't see Verizon options since I cancelled service on that sim card, maybe I need to do a clean install or something.
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I'm guessing she meant eSIM. Yep, you can have multiple plans. Kinda the point of dual SIM.

This has been a possibility since the 2016 Pro 9.7 (Embedded Apple SIM + physical Nano-SIM card slot). Alas, more limited support compared to eSIM, I believe.

So my old 9.7" iPad Pro has Apple SIM, eSIM has been available as of the 2018 models, correct?