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Infiniteconstancy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 9, 2017
140
78
I have never had a WiFi + Cellular model. Trying to see if I should keep my 12.9 256 WiFi model or get the cellular version as well. Help!
 
the age-old question.

Have you ever had the situation where you had your iPad out and about and got fed up with tethering to your phone or hunting for a wifi hotspot?

If yes, get the LTE model.

It's not required to pay for the LTE plan every month, so you can buy it for the option. You can add it to your cell plan or something if you need internet access down the line.
 
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I agree with Hector, could the times in which your wifi only iPad was not cut out to do the job. If its worth the premium to you, then get the LTE. If the number of times is minimal, go with the wifi only. I have an LTE mini 4, and while I did occasionally have some use for the LTE, i dont think I would be getting another one with LTE without incentive.
 
I get it because it's only $10/mo for 2GB on T-Mobile and I like that it keeps my iPad updated with notifications and everything else no matter where I go. I don't have to tether to my iPhone and then wait for it to catch up. I also like using it on the road without draining my iPhone and using it as a big map with the GPS while road tripping.
 
ALWAYS LTE for me. When we had hurricanes and WiFi was toast with out power for 5 days, ATT cellular saveed my life mentally. Would never be without it. Having real GPS is also a good thing.
 
Another vote for LTE here. I travel fairly often and it’s great for hotels with crappy WiFi, wifi-less conference halls, cafes the charge for WiFi, etc. Plus I live in a rural area and we lose power a lot more than I’d like. Not having to deal with trying to tether everything all the time saves a ton of time.
 
So if I want to use an iPad in the car for Google Maps navigation, can’t I just tether it to my phone via my mobile hotspot?

Will the iPad require more than a network connection to operate Maps?
 
So if I want to use an iPad in the car for Google Maps navigation, can’t I just tether it to my phone via my mobile hotspot?

Will the iPad require more than a network connection to operate?
The WiFi-only models don’t have GPS. So you’ll have much more accurate mapping with the cellular model.
 
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I love having LTE on my iPad. The convenience of just turning it on and using it as I wish and not worrying about wifi, hot spotting, etc. That convenience alone is worth it for me. In addition to the GPS.
 
I have had both. I went LTE version this time because I have found even walking around the campus I work that sometimes I am out of WiFi range and it bugs me. I don't know if I will even add a Simcard but I wanted the option.

I also felt that getting an 11" WiFI+LTE 256GB was a good future proofing option/good resale option.
 
I have been grandfathered in on the AT&T iPad unlimited data plan since 2010. Just keep transferring it to each new iPad. So yeah, definitely LTE for me. It really comes in handy when out and about.
 
After not buying LTE and thinking I would just hotspot, I'm now replacing to LTE.

I will most likely just get a pre-paid sim card to go with it. And even if I only top that up when I am going to conferences and the like.

Not going to happen, but it would be great if your iPad just detected you were not on WiFi and had an option to auto-hotspot to your phone. But that would eat into their LTE iPad sales too much.
 
I always got LTE and then T-Mobile discontinued their free 200mb a month deal. Since I typically only needed more than that 2 or 3 months a year that was perfect for me. My 10.5 pro is just WiFi and haven’t missed it since teathering has been good enough.
 
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I would always pay extra for the LTE.

I know I can tether with my phone, but then I would need to keep my phone’s battery in mind.
 
You never know when you’ll need it... And because of the pre-installed Apple SIM even if you don’t have any SIM already installed you can buy data from one of the providers that supports the built in SIM straight away.
 
The questions you need to ask are if you live in a country where data caps are not a big issue or if you travel a lot and plan to use local prepaid SIMs. I like not having to turn on hotspots on phones etc if WiFi is not available. It turns the iPad from a "gotta make sure I have WiFi" device to "don't worry about it, I'll just use LTE". I've had the feature on my past two iPads and have liked it.
 
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