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iPad Pro Is cellular model worth it? iPad Pro 11”

rdunlap

rdunlap

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2013
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I recently received a nice little bonus at work and would like to treat myself. I’m looking at the iPad Pro 11” 256GB Space Gray. The trouble I’m having is deciding whether or not to spring for the more expensive model with cellular which is $950 right now on Amazon. It looks like it’s a good $150 off the regular price. I’ve seen some deals around $799 for the WiFi only version but don’t know when that would come around again. My plan if I get the cellular is to buy a prepaid sim kit and fill it up as needed when I travel or go somewhere where I know I won’t have access to WiFi. I can tether to my phone but it is a battery hog and the random disconnects when iPad goes to sleep is a little frustrating.

Do you think I should spring for the cellular version? Is this a good deal? Do you think it will go lower in price? I do have price protection for my credit card so I’d get reimbursed for the difference if it does drop within 90 days.

Thank you in advance for the input!
 
I Use cellular iPad Pro 11” 256GB directly bought from Apple (so it is extremely expensive!) as I find having a backup line is critical for a device that can do so many things that iPhone can’t. If you tend to move around with your iPad Pro 11”, go get the cellular version. It worths it.

As of the tethering, iOS 13 will make the experience a bit better, but battery hog is still a problem that will almost never change without carrying a battery pack. Plus, iPad’s massive battery means it can easily outlast iPhone when the screen is off if you somehow want to use iPad as personal hotspot.

Someone also says iPad cellular has better GPS performance than iPhone which supposedly has an individual GPS chip, which is interesting for me. Definitely something you can keep in mind.
 
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It just depends on your use case. I can only think of a couple of times a month where this might even be useful, and so I don't want to pay the monthly data plan fee. And that's after the extra hardware cost.

For a road warrior, this is a no brainer, but for those of us who are seldomly away from wifi it's probably not worth the outlay.
 
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Thank you all for your input. I ended up going with the cellular. I can’t add it later so got it just in case.
 
rdunlap said:
I recently received a nice little bonus at work and would like to treat myself. I’m looking at the iPad Pro 11” 256GB Space Gray. The trouble I’m having is deciding whether or not to spring for the more expensive model with cellular which is $950 right now on Amazon. It looks like it’s a good $150 off the regular price. I’ve seen some deals around $799 for the WiFi only version but don’t know when that would come around again. My plan if I get the cellular is to buy a prepaid sim kit and fill it up as needed when I travel or go somewhere where I know I won’t have access to WiFi. I can tether to my phone but it is a battery hog and the random disconnects when iPad goes to sleep is a little frustrating.

Do you think I should spring for the cellular version? Is this a good deal? Do you think it will go lower in price? I do have price protection for my credit card so I’d get reimbursed for the difference if it does drop within 90 days.

Thank you in advance for the input!
Click to expand...

WiFi Only, better on battery and, you don’t have worry about Sims working or not working.
 
Totally worth it to me. The 5 GB for 5 month deal with T-Mobile for $10 is what I use and then FreedomPop 500 MB for backup if T-Mobile isn’t working. I find it very useful for me as I’m not always around Wi-Fi and almost everything I do on it requires an internet connection.

Plus, like mentioned, public Wi-Fi is hard to trust so using a cellular connection is something I prefer.
 
I guess it would depends on what your needs are? For me I went with Wifi only because I have wifi everywhere I go with my iPad and not have to worry about spending monthly on data when I barely even use cellular. Heck even with my iPhone, I'm barely on Cellular and always on wifi.
 
rdunlap said:
I recently received a nice little bonus at work and would like to treat myself. I’m looking at the iPad Pro 11” 256GB Space Gray. The trouble I’m having is deciding whether or not to spring for the more expensive model with cellular which is $950 right now on Amazon. It looks like it’s a good $150 off the regular price. I’ve seen some deals around $799 for the WiFi only version but don’t know when that would come around again. My plan if I get the cellular is to buy a prepaid sim kit and fill it up as needed when I travel or go somewhere where I know I won’t have access to WiFi. I can tether to my phone but it is a battery hog and the random disconnects when iPad goes to sleep is a little frustrating.

Do you think I should spring for the cellular version? Is this a good deal? Do you think it will go lower in price? I do have price protection for my credit card so I’d get reimbursed for the difference if it does drop within 90 days.

Thank you in advance for the input!
Click to expand...
Definitely worth it!
 
I wish this topic would become a sticky for this board. It’s being discussed too often and usually it’s just the same users over and over again explaining something works for them.

For me personally it makes no sense as my iPads almost always live in a WiFi range and I don’t like paying for contracts especially with a wireless carrier.

In the unlikely scenario of me wanting to use my iPads I’ll connect to my iPhone hotspot no problem. If I then get concerned about battery- no problem. Because whenever I do want to use my iPad it’s usually somewhere inside and usually there’s a spot where I can hook my phone up to its charger - and I have the time anyway as I just decided to work on my iPad, right? ;)
 
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Freakonomics101 said:
Totally worth it to me. The 5 GB for 5 month deal with T-Mobile for $10 is what I use and then FreedomPop 500 MB for backup if T-Mobile isn’t working. I find it very useful for me as I’m not always around Wi-Fi and almost everything I do on it requires an internet connection.

Plus, like mentioned, public Wi-Fi is hard to trust so using a cellular connection is something I prefer.
Click to expand...

Is the 5GB for 5 months plan still available? I’m very interested in this.

Thank you!
 
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