iPad Pro Opinions on cellular Pro

[lightfire]

Go to settings: cellular data: select carrier: T-Mobile: it gives 3 choices 1) add a line to an EXISTING account, which if you click it then asks for phone number (this is what apple support told me to until it showed one HAS to enter phone number 2) PREPAID Plan 3) Transfer service. There is no way to add a regular tablet data plan. Apple/t-mobile
promotion is not qualified by prepaid plans. Only postpaid data plans. I cerrtainly wouldn’t be interested in a prepaid plan where the 200 promotion wouldn’t apply.

 

[jdb8167]

Only postpaid data plans. I cerrtainly wouldn’t be interested in a prepaid plan where the 200 promotion wouldn’t apply

Well that’s a different issue than what you originally posted. You certainly can sign up for a prepaid plan on the iPad. Not getting the $200 promotion because you aren’t meeting the requirements is somewhat different.

 

[rui no onna]

Go to settings: cellular data: select carrier: T-Mobile: it gives 3 choices 1) add a line to an EXISTING account, which if you click it then asks for phone number (this is what apple support told me to until it showed one HAS to enter phone number 2) PREPAID Plan 3) Transfer service. There is no way to add a regular tablet data plan. Apple/t-mobile
promotion is not qualified by prepaid plans. Only postpaid data plans. I cerrtainly wouldn’t be interested in a prepaid plan where the 200 promotion wouldn’t apply.

That's a specific promo, though. Personally, I'd rather just pay the extra $100-140 (after accounting for activation fee and cost of unnecessary service) than jump through hoops the carriers make you go through.

 

[lightfire]

That's a specific promo, though. Personally, I'd rather just pay the extra $100-140 (after accounting for activation fee and cost of unnecessary service) than jump through hoops the carriers make you go through.

Not at all. I never mentioned a PREPAID plan. The majority who bought the M1 cellular went for the 200 promotion and I do believe, in fact, that swayed many towards the cellular model. If someone only wants an extremely limited plan, better to have a cell phone with tethering for these limited times - way less expensive. Bottom line is one CANNOT sign up for one of these plans on the iPad Itself. Of course when I called apple the dummy said “of course you can” until I walked him through it.

 

[LogicalApex]

So I am currently using a new 11 inch M1 pro. I opted for the 512gb with WiFi only. After using for a couple weeks, I am weighing my options again prior to the return window closing.

My alternative would be a step down in memory with the addition of 5G. On the memory side, I’m thinking that 512 is overkill for my uses (though I am loving not giving a passing thought to storage due to my surplus). I also really like the idea of a 5G iPad but the benefits would all be felt during travel for the most part. I typically travel constantly for work but that obviously dropped off last year. While I don’t think it will ever get back to the level it was at, i am assuming it will pick up again soon.

So I know it’s totally a case by case scenario but I am curious on people’s thoughts on the cellular models. Did you go with or skip cellular and why? Also curious about your thoughts on battery life with those models. I know apple quotes roughly 10 percent less life but is that purely while on something other than WiFi or can we expect to get slightly worse battery life at all times due to those hardware changes?

Another thing fueling my thought process is the apple rebate promo on cell models ends tomorrow. As luck would have it, it’s lining up perfectly with my return window.

Appreciate your thoughts ahead of time.

I went with the cellular model this time due to the T-Mobile rebate option and no need to keep service after I get my rebate. Made me OK with opting for it since it was extremely reduced cost.

If you can’t get the cellular model at a next to $0 cost then I would say you should pass on it. If your current carrier has a weak plan or they throttle your tethering and you are far away from WiFi a lot. Sure. But if that were the case you wouldn’t be asking us as you’d know it would be useful already.

Cellular service adds up. A simple $10/m plan can add $240 to the iPad cost over 2 years. That could be the same money you use to upgrade after selling the current one...

For me, I get unlimited 5G on my iPhone and 40GB/m of 5G tethering. Not worth wasting money on a plan in my use case.

 

[lightfire]

For Pay As You Go $10/5GB/5 month prepaid plan, all I needed was an email address.

Maybe if you're trying to setup a postpaid plan, then it needs a T-Mobile cellphone number.

Exactly. The 200 promotion is not for prepaid plans.

 

[jdb8167]

Not at all. I never mentioned a PREPAID plan. The majority who bought the M1 cellular went for the 200 promotion and I do believe, in fact, that swayed many towards the cellular model. If someone only wants an extremely limited plan, better to have a cell phone with tethering for these limited times - way less expensive. Bottom line is one CANNOT sign up for one of these plans on the iPad Itself. Of course when I called apple the dummy said “of course you can” until I walked him through it.

Your original post was replying to an endorsement of a prepaid plan. You only mentioned your promotion issue several posts later.

 

[lightfire]

I went with the cellular model this time due to the T-Mobile rebate option and no need to keep service after I get my rebate. Made me OK with opting for it since it was extremely reduced cost.

If you can’t get the cellular model at a next to $0 cost then I would say you should pass on it. If your current carrier has a weak plan or they throttle your tethering and you are far away from WiFi a lot. Sure. But if that were the case you wouldn’t be asking us as you’d know it would be useful already.

Cellular service adds up. A simple $10/m plan can add $240 to the iPad cost over 2 years. That could be the same money you use to upgrade after selling the current one...

For me, I get unlimited 5G on my iPhone and 40GB/m of 5G tethering. Not worth wasting money on a plan in my use case.

“If you can’t get the cellular model at a next to $0 cost then I would say you should pass on it” Good advice, unless one is using many hours a week. The price differential is simply not worth it. Which is why the promotion should be a part of this discussion.

 

[lightfire]

Your original post was replying to an endorsement of a prepaid plan. You only mentioned your promotion issue several posts later.

The promotion is a very discussed issue, and again, most with any knowledge of the systems would not buy one of these for only sometimes every few months cellular connection due to the expense and it being far less costly to just tether for those instances. The MAJORITY who purchased these did so so as to obtain the cellular capability for either a direct need which wouldn’t be a teeny bit of data, or to add it at a low cost using the promotion. As the gentleman above posted, best advice is only if one can get the cellular for little to zero cost. With the promotion I don’t think it is exactly zero, but it certainly is little cost differential between wifi and cellular version.

 

[rui no onna]

“If you can’t get the cellular model at a next to $0 cost then I would say you should pass on it” Good advice, unless one is using many hours a week. The price differential is simply not worth it. Which is why the promotion should be a part of this discussion.

The promo is only for new lines and has a 12-month minimum on Verizon and I believe 30-month minimum on AT&T.

T-Mobile is the only carrier that doesn't have a minimum service requirement but even then, you're probably on the hook for 1-2 months plus activation fee. I checked their tablet-only unlimited plan and iirc, it's $60+ if you don't have cellphone service with them.

I've had cell service on iPads since 2012 so signing up for add-a-line to qualify for the promo would actually cost me more than the $200. If I sign up for T-Mobile temporarily, I'd only save probably $100 at best. To me, that's not worth the stress dealing with carriers' "customer service".

There are already a couple of threads discussing the promo offer. For example:

WARNING! Check your 5G iPad Pro $200 rebate status

Since it’s been a month, I decided to check the status of my $200 rebate using the Tracking ID supplied by T-Mobile. To my horror, the webpage showed by status as “Denied. No eligible device purchased.” This felt almost like a gut-punch as paid a high price for this 1TB iPad Pro! Then I noticed...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[LogicalApex]

T-Mobile is the only carrier that doesn't have a minimum service requirement but even then, you're probably on the hook for 1-2 months plus activation fee. I checked their tablet-only unlimited plan and iirc, it's $60+ if you don't have cellphone service with them.

T-Mobile doesn’t charge activation fees unless activated via phone support or in store.

I am a T-Mobile customer so adding a line wasn’t a challenge and cutting it out won’t take much time. That said, I don’t think people should waste money on a cellular iPad without a genuine need for a cellular iPad. If I were on a crappy carrier like AT&T or whatnot I could understand as they are painful to their customers for tethering.

The iPad/iPhone makes tethering super easy and seamless. You don’t even have to touch your phone if it is in range.

If someone is looking for a reason for a cellular iPad. I genuinely think they should save that money and buy something else.

 

[jdb8167]

T-Mobile doesn’t charge activation fees unless activated via phone support or in store.

I am a T-Mobile customer so adding a line wasn’t a challenge and cutting it out won’t take much time. That said, I don’t think people should waste money on a cellular iPad with a genuine need for a cellular iPad. If I were on a crappy carrier like AT&T or whatnot. I understand they are painful to their customers for tethering.

The iPad makes tethering super easy and seamless. You don’t even have to touch your phone if it is in range.

If someone is looking for a reason for a cellular iPad. I genuinely think they should save that money and buy something else.

Disagree. The cellular option is tremendously convenient. I don’t have to worry about my phone battery and I can leave cellular on all the time. It’s there and I just use my iPad Pro—I don’t have to even think about it. There are many times that I leave my phone at home and just use my Apple Watch with AirPods and my iPad Pro. The iPhone becomes redundant.

 

[Ladon08]

The promo is only for new lines and has a 12-month minimum on Verizon and I believe 30-month minimum on AT&T.

T-Mobile is the only carrier that doesn't have a minimum service requirement but even then, you're probably on the hook for 1-2 months plus activation fee. I checked their tablet-only unlimited plan and iirc, it's $60+ if you don't have cellphone service with them.

I've had cell service on iPads since 2012 so signing up for add-a-line to qualify for the promo would actually cost me more than the $200. If I sign up for T-Mobile temporarily, I'd only save probably $100 at best. To me, that's not worth the stress dealing with carriers' "customer service".

There are already a couple of threads discussing the promo offer. For example:

WARNING! Check your 5G iPad Pro $200 rebate status

Since it’s been a month, I decided to check the status of my $200 rebate using the Tracking ID supplied by T-Mobile. To my horror, the webpage showed by status as “Denied. No eligible device purchased.” This felt almost like a gut-punch as paid a high price for this 1TB iPad Pro! Then I noticed...

forums.macrumors.com

When I submitted for Verizon, it said there was a 45 day requirement for a new active lone…not 12 months….

 

[rui no onna]

When I submitted for Verizon, it said there was a 45 day requirement for a new active lone…not 12 months….

I remember reading the fine print and it saying they can charge you for the rebate if service isn't kept for 12 months.

 

[Ladon08]

I remember reading the fine print and it saying they can charge you for the rebate if service isn't kept for 12 months.

I don’t recall how fine the print I read was, but it was there in black and white a few hours ago

 

[rui no onna]

T-Mobile doesn’t charge activation fees unless activated via phone support or in store.

I am a T-Mobile customer so adding a line wasn’t a challenge and cutting it out won’t take much time. That said, I don’t think people should waste money on a cellular iPad with a genuine need for a cellular iPad. If I were on a crappy carrier like AT&T or whatnot. I understand they are painful to their customers for tethering.

The iPad makes tethering super easy and seamless. You don’t even have to touch your phone if it is in range.

If someone is looking for a reason for a cellular iPad. I genuinely think they should save that money and buy something else.

Tethering isn't as reliable as built-in cellular. It disconnects to save battery so pretty much every time the iPad goes on standby for a little bit, you have to wait for it to reconnect.

The auto-hotspot feature doesn't always work either and I've gotten the message "could not enable hotspot on iPhone" often enough when I try to manually connect from iPad sometimes requiring toggling airplane mode on and off or a reset on the iPhone.

Besides, thanks to its massive battery, the iPad works better as a hotspot for laptops and other wifi-only devices than my iPhone SE or 12 mini with their teeny tiny battery.

I use the iPad far more than the iPhone. To me, not having cellular on iPad would be like using a smartphone without a data plan. Yes, the $10-20/mo adds up but I'd rather cut some other things out from the budget than lose the convenience of cellular iPad.

 

[rui no onna]

I don’t recall how fine the print I read was, but it was there in black and white a few hours ago

It's on the Apple website.

We reserve the right to charge the amount of the Verizon e-Gift Card to your Verizon Wireless account if service is canceled within 12 months or change your price plan from an eligible plan.

 

[Ladon08]

It's on the Apple website.

line before the one you pointed out says 45 days is required. They “reserve the right…” with 12 months.

 

[Shadowbech]

For me, I'm going to stick with the Wifi only. I regret purchasing the cellular model when I got the 2018 model and I barely even take my iPad outside of my home and even if I do, there's always a wifi access I can use. I also reach for my iPhone over an iPad when I'm out an about. This time I went with the 11" 2021 512 GB.

 

[LogicalApex]

Tethering isn't as reliable as built-in cellular. It disconnects to save battery so pretty much every time the iPad goes on standby for a little bit, you have to wait for it to reconnect.

The auto-hotspot feature doesn't always work either and I've gotten the message "could not enable hotspot on iPhone" often enough when I try to manually connect from iPad sometimes requiring toggling airplane mode on and off or a reset on the iPhone.

Besides, thanks to its massive battery, the iPad works better as a hotspot for laptops and other wifi-only devices than my iPhone SE or 12 mini with their teeny tiny battery.

I use the iPad far more than the iPhone. To me, not having cellular on iPad would be like using a smartphone without a data plan. Yes, the $10-20/mo adds up but I'd rather cut some other things out from the budget than lose the convenience of cellular iPad.

Thanks to a typo or autocorrect my message was a bit less clear. I think people should skip the cellular version unless they have a genuine need or can get it for barely any extra cost.

For me, my last iPad was a cellular version and I was committed to not buying it this time around. I only did buy cellular due to the rebate and went “sure, I’ll pay a month of service to get enhanced GPS support”. For me, in my 7 years with my iPad Air I used cellular very very rarely. After the first 6 months or year I cancelled it and didn’t notice it missing. Tethering on my iPhone was super easy and worked perfectly fine. I never had any issues with it. Even worked perfectly while I was traveling across Europe since T-Mobile is the best with roaming! But I also live in a major US city and I don’t spend time in rural areas without coverage on my carrier so not trying to use the iPad to give coverage on another carrier and etc that people can encounter.

I also don’t need the iPad connected to hotspot while it is sleeping. Notifications for me come to my iPhone first so if I need to wake up my iPad to respond to an email when I’m out and about that’s fine.

All that said, it sounds like you have a genuine need for cellular. If someone is asking if they need cellular, then they don’t have a genuine need IMHO. Since we all have cellular phones we know the benefit that it brings so we all will know immediately if we are in the zone where it is needed. It is like the 16GB or 32 of RAM on a Mac question. If you’re asking it then you likely don’t have a need for it.

 

[Ladon08]

Thanks to a typo or autocorrect my message was a bit less clear. I think people should skip the cellular version unless they have a genuine need or can get it for barely any extra cost.

For me, my last iPad was a cellular version and I was committed to not buying it this time around. I only did buy cellular due to the rebate and went “sure, I’ll pay a month of service to get enhanced GPS support”. For me, in my 7 years with my iPad Air I used cellular very very rarely. After the first 6 months or year I cancelled it and didn’t notice it missing. Tethering on my iPhone was super easy and worked perfectly fine. I never had any issues with it. Even worked perfectly while I was traveling across Europe since T-Mobile is the best with roaming! But I also live in a major US city and I don’t spend time in rural areas without coverage on my carrier so not trying to use the iPad to give coverage on another carrier and etc that people can encounter.

I also don’t need the iPad connected to hotspot while it is sleeping. Notifications for me come to my iPhone first so if I need to wake up my iPad to respond to an email when I’m out and about that’s fine.

All that said, it sounds like you have a genuine need for cellular. If someone is asking if they need cellular, then they don’t have a genuine need IMHO. Since we all have cellular phones we know the benefit that it brings so we all will know immediately if we are in the zone where it is needed. It is like the 16GB or 32 of RAM on a Mac question. If you’re asking it then you likely don’t have a need for it.

I see your point. I can always justify it with my work. It’s only going to help me. The question for me was more of the day to day stuff that comes along with it like battery impact (while connected and disconnected from WiFi) and whether or not those who do have this version simply keep data on constantly or do they toggle it as needed.

 

[rui no onna]

All that said, it sounds like you have a genuine need for cellular. If someone is asking if they need cellular, then they don’t have a genuine need IMHO. Since we all have cellular phones we know the benefit that it brings so we all will know immediately if we are in the zone where it is needed. It is like the 16GB or 32 of RAM on a Mac question. If you’re asking it then you likely don’t have a need for it.

Not necessarily. My parents are non-techies and I buy them cellular iPads because they can’t be bothered with messing with hotspot. Auto hotspot works OK for the most part but, say, when it fails while they’re vacationing in the Philippines, I’m not always there to help with troubleshooting.

Of course, I can make that decision for them since I pay for both the device and service.

Mind, I tend to make recommendations based partly on personality. Most everyone I know, I don’t even bother mentioning cellular since I doubt majority would be willing to pay a monthly fee for service. The only person I’ve actually recommended getting the cellular iPad is my aunt since I know she’ll appreciate the convenience and the $10-20 service per month is negligible for her.

 

[LogicalApex]

Not necessarily. My parents are non-techies and I buy them cellular iPads because they can’t be bothered with messing with hotspot. Auto hotspot works OK for the most part but, say, when it fails while they’re vacationing in the Philippines, I’m not always there to help with troubleshooting.

Of course, I can make that decision for them since I pay for both the device and service.

Mind, I tend to make recommendations based partly on personality. Most everyone I know, I don’t even bother mentioning cellular since I doubt majority would be willing to pay a monthly fee for service. The only person I’ve actually recommended getting the cellular iPad is my aunt since I know she’ll appreciate the convenience and the $10-20 service per month is negligible for her.

I can understand that for sure. In that case, I’d buy them the Cellular iPad, but only add a plan for them when they are traveling.

But I’m not aiming to rank anyone’s individual benefits from cellular. Ultimately, we’ll all buy what we want

I see your point. I can always justify it with my work. It’s only going to help me. The question for me was more of the day to day stuff that comes along with it like battery impact (while connected and disconnected from WiFi) and whether or not those who do have this version simply keep data on constantly or do they toggle it as needed.

Tethering works well and doesn’t cause significant battery drain or need to be toggled on or off. You can get significant battery drain and heat if you’re doing something heavy though. I still have my cellular plan for now, but it won‘t be there next month. I am sure this would have made my iPhone a bit more warm when I uploaded 20GB of RAW photos from a shoot in NYC yesterday to iCloud. But that is an extreme edge case. Few people would be transferring gigs upon gigs of data away from WiFi anyway (and if they were carriers would bend them over the coals in monthly fees).

 

[Ladon08]

I can understand that for sure. In that case, I’d buy them the Cellular iPad, but only add a plan for them when they are traveling.

But I’m not aiming to rank anyone’s individual benefits from cellular. Ultimately, we’ll all buy what we want



Tethering works well and doesn’t cause significant battery drain or need to be toggled on or off. You can get significant battery drain and heat if you’re doing something heavy though. I still have my cellular plan for now, but it won‘t be there next month. I am sure this would have made my iPhone a bit more warm when I uploaded 20GB of RAW photos from a shoot in NYC yesterday to iCloud. But that is an extreme edge case. Few people would be transferring gigs upon gigs of data away from WiFi anyway (and if they were carriers would bend them over the coals in monthly fees).

My question regarding the battery drain on a cellular iPad. Say I am at home so I am definitely not using cell service. I am on wifi. In that scenario, are other users simply turning off cell data until it is needed? Reason I ask is because during my first battery cycle, under the battery stats, "no cell coverage" was about 15-20 percent of my loss despite being on wifi the entire time. Now it is worth noting, that my place has awful cell service in my home AND this was also it's first battery draining. Can't take any meaningful extrapolations from that.

 

[rui no onna]

My question regarding the battery drain on a cellular iPad. Say I am at home so I am definitely not using cell service. I am on wifi. In that scenario, are other users simply turning off cell data until it is needed? Reason I ask is because during my first battery cycle, under the battery stats, "no cell coverage" was about 15-20 percent of my loss despite being on wifi the entire time. Now it is worth noting, that my place has awful cell service in my home AND this was also it's first battery draining. Can't take any meaningful extrapolations from that.

I’ve got full bars at home. Besides, one of the reasons I get cellular is for Find My so I’ve never bothered disabling cellular.

We have both wifi-only and LTE iPad 5th gen at home. Seems to have more or less similar battery life.

No idea if there’s significant battery life difference with the 5G-capable 2021 iPP. On my 5G model, I seem to get around 10-15% standby battery drain a day.