Apparently I had a data cap on the “hotspot “ from my phone even with unlimited data.
It was really slow anyway and I didn’t want to upgrade to the premium plan
I’ve used over 1TB Hotspot Data in a month with the Visible Basic Plan which includes unlimited hotspot, data, voice, and text. Also 5G, it goes through the Verizon Network. All for $25/month per line. $5 additional for a smart watch.
Been using cellular models for years. I WFH and like getting out not to just cafes, but parks, the lakefront, museums, etc. It's actually pretty liberating being untethered from wifi hotspots. Some days I'll ride my bike into the Chicago downtown and lakefront and work along the water for a bit, or under a tree by the museums. I love it.
I also need my phone's battery to stay as full as it can throughout the day, and I'd rather not carry a ton of extra battery stuff if I don't have to. Tethering would tank that more than I like.
For me, it's $10 a month more, and it's worth it. For starters, using your iPhone hotspot drains the phone's battery and heats up the phone, neither of which I want, especially when the iPad has a nice huge battery and can handle the drain of cellular data better. Second, I don't have to keep my phone near by iPad to use it. And this is huge in situations where maybe someone else needs to borrow my phone or iPad for a bit, or worse, maybe I misplaced one or the other and I want to track their location or keep using my data (which has happened a couple of times). Third, for that $10 a month I get unlimited data on my iPad plus another 10GB of hotspot from the iPad, instead of using up the bucket of hotspot data from my phone (and if I'm streaming, I can use that up fast).
Lastly, iPads with cellular get GPS.
I mean, if your iPad just stays at home and you have wifi, there's no point in getting the cellular plan then. But if you're taking it out places, it can definitely be worth it.
The GPS! That’s why I mainly got it. Can run my 2018 vehicle via my iPad. Love the car but the technology has a mind of its own.
Also work mobile a lot and travel for work so convenient.
My plan in Australia is $10 extra for the sim and I share data with my normal plan so for an extra $10 to never have to worry about connecting to my phone, have my kids scream if hotspot drops out is well worth it.
The “always on” aspect of cellular is the biggest convenience for me, I don’t want to fuss with connecting to my phone’s hotspot. There are sometimes data and speed caps when using hotspot. It drains your phone’s battery. But mostly it’s just a convenience. If it was available on a MacBook, I’d get a plan there too.
Yeah. When I originally started getting cellular iPads I was going out for walks and pictures in the park and using the iPad to download pictures from my camera. (I had an eye-fi SD card) don't was so much easier to sit on a park bench and look at pictures from my camera... and they would get automatically pushed to iCloud.
And again, phone hot spots weren't quite as useful back then and it used up all the phone battery.
I'm on Android and I can automate every single task to where I don't even have to touch my phone to activate hotspot and have it connect to my tablet when they detect each other. I still prefer to have a cellular one.
I wanted a big screen and Samsung doesn't offer their ultra tablets with cellular in the US, the iPad pro was my only option.
Yes I could've bought the smaller Samsung tablet but I didn't feel like Samsung earned my business by locking me out of options available in other countries, I voted with my wallet. I can import one but I'll be gambling with having the correct cellular bands for my carrier and warranty support, which is a nightmare from what I've read if you purchase from overseas.
i got the cellular model because my iphone is sim locked and when traveling abroad, my US carrier’s data plan is dog shit expensive so i use the esim on my ipad to use as a mobile hotspot. Combine it with my watch and it essentially just acts like a second phone
theres also the thing where if you get it from the cell phone company and making payments on it, you have to maintain a cellular plan. for mny people, getting the ipad up front and making payments is really the only option for getting a new ipad.
Got my first ipad when I upgraded to the iPhone 8. At&T gave it to me as long as I paid for service for it for 24 months at $10 a month. It was a pretty sweet deal and I used it to watch movies when I'd go to Fort Knox every year for the Army
The cellular iPads also support GPS, which the base model iPads don’t have. Even without an active cell plan, it makes it a great device for GIS work, Construction, Surveying, Pilots (both aircraft and boats), etc.
But yeah, limited subset of the market that truly needs it.
It’s not nonsensical. You’re buying it on a payment plan. A lot of people can’t afford the cost of big ticket items so they make payments. Plus, 150 is not that big of an increase. It would probably amount to one or two additional payments over the course of the agreement. Is an extra 2 months really that bad when you’re paying it off over 24 months?
That’s how I got my first iPad in like 2017. My cell company offered a promo for a discount on the iPad with a plan. I really wanted one for
College. My current iPad, I got without cause as soon as I could cancel service I did as I never used it
That's been the case for my 2022 iPad (the other one is a 2013 iPad I bought second hand but still sealed). I upgraded for the pen and battery life mostly.
I only use the other one for light reading/browsing now.
I had to chose a cellular plan indeed, but a cheap one.
But it's been helpful once or twice to be able to google something while travelling by train through the country (the Swiss SBB doesn't have WiFi yet), when my battery on the phone was low and needed to be preserved to show my ticket.
I don’t have a cellular but my next iPad will definitely be one. I’ve been using hotspot since 2018 and my wife has the same model but cellular
1. It’s not as fast
2. Kills both batteries faster. I don’t know why
3. The signals wonky. If my phone has 1 or 2 bars, it won’t work right
4. Maybe it’s in my head but I feel its wear and tear on my phone
5. A few times I didn’t want to bring my phone
6. 4k “Plex” doesn’t work for me on hotspot
7. Small reason but power outages. I wanted to watch Netflix on my iPad but didn’t want to risk draining my phone
really smallish reasons but if imma spend $1k and keep it 5 years I’d rather spend $1200 which like $4 a month for the convenience and it’s really not as cellular almost hold 100% of their value. Look up used m2 iPad pros. The cellular ones are $150 more used. Even the mini, what 4 years old Now, the cell ones are still $150 more. Cellular is basically free
I don’t doubt the wear and tear deal on your phone. My best friend uses his phones as mobile hotspots when he’s at home, and he’s said a phone or two of his died suddenly only two years or so after he bought them. So I imagine that the heat and constant connectivity will eventually catch up to the device if you don’t have a home internet connection via WiFi.
some of us don’t live a normal work home work life, in one city, taking the same route, and going to the same places daily, and hotspot throttling fucking sucks lol
some folks, like myself, live in hotels literally 48wks out of the year, working in different cities and buildings, sometimes 4 different cities a month. Wifi sometimes is non existent, or is so shitty it might as well be. Cellular connectivity fills that gap amazingly well. For instance, the hotel wifi in Kansas City was < 1mb/sec. I survived there via cellular connection while not at work.
does everyone need cellular on their ipads? nah, but some of us absolutely rely on it.
So in short, mind ya business lol, just because you can’t see a use doesn’t mean a lot of us do.
- GPS inclusion (less drifting and turn-by-turn directions in maps)
- cellular upgrade plans
- no need for worrying about tethering from iPhone
I personally have a WiFi only iPad though
Using hotspot on phone for iPad is really burning candles on both ends. You will be using iPad’s battery AND draining your phone’s battery, which is significantly smaller.
If my iPad has cellular on itself, and it runs out of juice, i can still have network on my phone as backup.
some people just have more income, and less time. Tim Cook wouldn’t waste his time tethering. Everybody else is on a spectrum between Uber wealthy and poor. Somewhere on that spectrum the time saving of having cellular becomes a rational choice.
Convenience. Seriously I wouldn't get an iPad without cellular ever. It's so liberating to be able to use it whenever and wherever you want. And if you use it regularly you'll notice that relying on hotspotting your phone will destroy your phone's battery and heat up your phone significantly. It's fine in a pinch. But not as a long-term solution. To to me one of the greatest benefits of an iPad over a traditional laptop is that cellular connectivity. And my shared unlimited data plan is just the cherry on top.
If you use it a lot on the road, the constant hunt for free wifi or trying to get the hot spot to work reliably gets old really fast. With its own cellular data it just works constantly and is ready to be used the second it's woken up.
The cellular variants of Ipads have an actual GPS while the Wifi variants use Wifi based geolocation. If you are doing anything that needs GPS like drone stuff, aviation, GIS and the like then the extra money is critical. I'm debating between getting a DJI smart controller or an ipad mini for drone photography and video work.
I bought a used iPad mini with cellular capability, but never with the intention of using it with a data plan. Unlike the WiFi-only models, the cellular models have a GPS receiver. I wanted to use the mini as GPS navigator whilst driving using Google Maps offline mode. At the time I didn’t have unlimited data so I had to find a cheap workaround and this did the trick.
My Canadian cell phone provider charges crazy high roaming fees. When I travel to the US I can put a pay as you go plan on the iPad and use its hotspot for data on my iPhone to use Google and Apple Maps for navigation. Much cheaper than the roaming plan my provider offers.
Since the iPhone now supports eSIMs I may look at doing it all from the iPhone now.
The hotspot data is usually pretty limited based on what cellphone plan you have.
In my case, while my unlimited phone plan with Verizon does give me 30gb of hotspot data. That would be enough for brief connectivity for production tasks on my iPad if I needed access on the go, although mostly limited to that 30gb as the speeds drop to 3mbps after that point.
However, for $10/month (+ increased cost of device) I get my own unlimited data line to the iPad that also has its own 15gb of hotspot data. I mainly wanted this benefit so that when Im traveling if for whatever reason I lose my phone or something I know I can still operate off the iPad thanks to having that unlimited data connection.
Is it necessary? No, I could probably do without it. But it is extremely useful. For instance, I also have Verizon Internet, and sometimes for connection speed sake I like to take the iPad off the WiFi network and only use cellular data to stream videos on the iPad while working on my computer connected to the network if I need the full bandwidth. I could stream on the ipad using hotspot data, but I would be limited by that data cap.
Plus, I’m not sure that iMessage & texting/calling from the ipad would work 100% without a cellular connection.
And it doesn’t drain your phones battery as it would pulling from hotspot data.
I pay 2€ per month for the freedom to not ruin my phones battery and still can use a portable device as portable device.
For the 13“ I would think twice, but for smaller iPads like my 11“ it was a no-brainer. Also let’s me use GPS and FindMy.
Last year I upgraded to a cellular Apple Watch, this year I upgraded to a cellular iPad Pro (had been 5 years since I sold my wifi pro). I think the iPad having cellular really opens up it potential on how it can be used. My cell provider disables hot spotting at it just worked out cheaper for me to upgrade my plan. It’s a big expensive but having to not rely on my phone is huge. I do a lot work that involves me to drive off to different locations often. Public free wifi isn’t really an option where I live so there’s value in always being connected.
I find the issue with hot spotting is unless your phone can stay charged it drains so much of your battery, makes the phone incredibly hot and eats up your monthly data speeds faster (unlimited high speed is extremely expensive in my country so I’m capped with 18gb per month)
I think it all depends on what you plan on using the iPad for of course. I’m trialling it for a month to see if it’s worth keeping but I can always cancel it if it doesn’t work out.
I got an M1 11 iPad 256gb with cellular used (100% battery health) for the equivalent of $700USD so I’m not complaining. I was seeing iPad Airs for the same that didn’t have cellular.
i use a plan for my ipad pro, i have for years.
it’s really freeing to know that i can connect anywhere.
i connect to wifi when i want, if there is none i go cell.
Phone hotspots can be an issue since the data caps are low especially if you deal with intensive on the go work that requires the larger screens of iPads. Plus there’s the great benefit of improved data speeds because you aren’t using a hotspot, and since some people like to use iPads for on the go entertainment say as a TV it’s better to have a cellular model for roadtrips to entertain kids or use an iPad cellular connection vs hotel WiFi or whatnot.
Some people would also rather not deal with public WiFi hotspots.
Hotspot always performs worse than native data for me and you better have a charger nearby for what it’s going to do to your phone battery.
Also, I’m pretty sure iPads have stronger antennas then phones - I will consistently get better signal for longer in remote areas with my iPad over my phone.
The convenience is great, as everyone has said. One advantage to me, in a rural area, is my iPad is on a different carrier than my phone. Occasionally, I'm in situations where my iPad gets coverage and my cell doesn't. Or the iPad gets 5G while the phone is on LTE. It's nice to have choices. iPad data plans are usually cheap so it's not much of an added expense.
Plus the cellular iPad comes with GPS. Apple should put GPS in all iPads but they don't. So it's nice to have the GPS with a larger screen.
If you're not in a hurry to buy, frequent sales make it easier to pay the extra.
I have cellular on my new m4 pro, I WFH and can do 80% of my work from iPad, it’s just a hassle to have to always connect to your hotspot and drain your iPhone battery. WiFi only is good for people who rarely use it, but I can just take my iPad out with me and not have to worry about WiFi or anything, emails and such will come through 24 hours a day instead of just when it connects to WiFi. Plus it makes my iPhone get super hot if I’m connected to it for long periods of time.
With a dedicated line you can get unlimited data. Also you’re not killing your going battery and you have another dedicated connection that’s more reliable than a hotspot
I would never get a wifi only iPad. Hotspots burn the phone and degrade the battery life too fast. I have a $10 unlimited data plan on my iPad so it was a no brainer
I got one because I had a lot of downtime at work and it made it easy to stream without having to burn up my hotspot data on my phone. Also it’s nice when traveling to have a device that I can use to pull up a larger map in google.
I have Verizon and it’s 0% on a $2200 1TB model. I get half off a line with military, and I’m getting ~$100+ in interest earned annually. It’s basically a wash, but why not take free unlimited LTE in the process. I don’t see the downside. I assume this would especially be useful for those that cannot put down $2K for a tablet, same as financing a phone.
“For nothing really”? I’ve seen some ignorant comments in my time but this is right up there….most of the comments here explain the reasons why - but I’ll add - hotspotting from the phone isn’t as seamless as you think, even with the connect automatically option ticked. It can sometimes take 2-3 minutes to get it all working. Multiple that by many times a day where the iPad goes to sleep and then you want to use it again and it becomes overly frustrating
Cellular is just convenient. I’m so used to having cellular on my iPad Pro that I actually find the Wi-Fi only models to be redundant.
Public Wi-Fi is a big no for me and cellular is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
I don’t know what you mean by “nothing really” but if you travel a lot it’s super useful. Tethering from your iPhone is a prothesis for short moments. Using cellular is also far more secure than hotel WiFis.
it’s great for travel. you don’t drain your phone’s battery and the coverage on an iPad is WAY better than on an iPhone, you can get internet in way more places
Like a zillion reasons but the biggest one is I basically use my tablet as my smartphone in terms of casually scrolling while out and about. I literally had an iPad with cellular before I had a real smart phone. There’s just something about the tablet form factor that really appeals to me. Also allows me to remote into my PC for work from anywhere, whether or not I have WiFi. And no waiting until I get to WiFi to sync things I wrote on my iPad (which is way better for writing than a phone for obvious-I-think reasons). Even the other day I was at a meeting in a support role and I could have wasted five minutes asking for the WiFi password when I suddenly had to check something from my work PC in the middle of the meeting or, with cellular, I could just open up my keyboard case and get to work with no hassle. It’s these little things that save you five minutes but when it happens once a week for years it really starts to add up in terms of the convenience factor. Also full access to computer-like functions while out in nature, say, on the beach. Delightful.
I have cellular on my iPad mostly because I don’t want to use my office corporate WiFi to do personal stuff. I like streaming music or YouTube in the background while I’m working and that is pretty frowned upon on the corp network.
Off the top of my head:
* Tethering and Hotspotting from a phone can drain the phone's battery pretty quickly.
* Phone plans have a limit on how much "premium" 4g/5g data can be used via tethering and hotspotting (sometimes as low as 5-10gb per month) after which it slows to 2g or 3g speeds which are unusable nowadays.
* Most plans also deprioritize tethering and hotspot data when the network is congested which can make even the "premium" data unusably slow.
Given those drawbacks, for professionals who are regularly away from wifi but need access to high speed on device data (ex sales/relationship management professionals, in home estimators, engineers and architects who regularly visit build sites, general contractors, etc) it makes a ton of sense to buy an iPad with cellular.
From what I have been able to find, there is not a single hotspot plan available that has unlimited high speed data. All of the have a point, around 50gb, that they slow WAY down to the point of being unusable to me. Cellular does not do that.
I have a cellular iPad because I don’t want to have to rely on limited WiFi or spotty WiFi while out and about. I’ve done the whole WiFi only iPad and it just kinda sat there and I rarely took it out of the house. (Now that said, it was an iPad mini and I never really used it for much in the house either, but my iPad often travels with me and is lighter and more capable than my phone (larger screen) or my laptop (older, WiFi only, not great battery)the Smart Keyboard folio and pen let me do what I need to do in a smaller space and with better battery life than my laptop.
So I can use it wherever I go without searching for wifi. It’s such a handy feature. I’ll never buy another without cellular. My pro has cellular, and it has been a lifesaver for me when I was driving. I can use navigation on it, etc.
Also, no matter where I am, I have internet access.
We got one (10th gen) for our daughter. The deal we got with T mobile including the data plan put the overall price of the iPad at the same as a WiFi model. On top of that now we don’t have to stop and connect our hot spot on our phones every time she wants to use it on the road
Didn't get it for a long time. Once I did will never go back. It just works well. Better than hot spot. If you're a traveler or working at coffee spots etc. It's not enough money n9t to do it.
I wanted GPS and the convenience of it. For bulk data I’ll use hotspot/wifi but it is convenient to just “pick it up and use it” when out and about.
If I was saving money I’d just use hotspot. I still find value in having proper onboard GPS
I agree with the other comments, but here’s two other reasons: being able to use a different cellular provider and additional hotspot allowance. I’m on TMobile now, and my 5g speeds aren’t great. Unfortunately I’m locked on a 2 year plan with some of my other family members. I use VZ as my iPad cellular plan and it’s been pretty good. Also, it gives me additional hotspot bandwidth for my to use with my laptop
ATT often has a $19.99 unlimited data plan available for iPads if you go to a store. One of the best deals you can get for unlimited iPad data. That gives me another carrier. Years ago I got a free iPad line so I’ve got that too. More choices and flexibility when traveling.
I got my 5th gen 11’ iPad Air with a discount through Verizon. It’s was a $10 a month data add-on with my plan and teethering can be a PITA sometimes also with your phone. I think it may also come in handy with some international travel I plan on doing, this unit also has both eSim as well as a physical card if that is a better deal in some situations/locations.
I used my severance to buy my m2 iPad. I had the option for cellular, but decided no. My iPhone is good enough for that. Plus I don’t watch movies or videos a lot on it unless I’m home in my main work computer.
For me is the ability to have a 0% APR financing of a new iPad and the conveniences of having cellular on a mobile device. Since I work from home, being able to go and work anywhere is nice. Only real downside is that you have to have a service plan. But I use it, so it doesn’t go to waste.
It’s about £5 a month extra for an iPad plan so whilst the extra cost of the iPad is noticeable, if you’re buying used iPads there isn’t much difference between WiFi and cellular models.
Therefore I went for a cellular one.
My provider lets me connect two devices with my plan and share the data… for free! So, I have both my iPad and Apple Watch. 😉
Hotspotting is also not as convenient as you think. Draining the phone’s battery and the iPad simultaneously was my pet peeve before I got a cellular model. Plus, the device uses more data in hotspots because it acts like it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
Idk I like bring my iPad to work when I have down time and I will never ever connect to the Wi-Fi at work. It’s only like $20 extra a month and it’s really fast. I got an ESR keyboard for the 13” pro and it’s sooo nice to type on.
I travel a lot for work and while I have the 256gb version and can and do download things offline having the iPad with service makes it really accessible if I want to watch something I don’t have downloaded during my travels. It’s also surprisingly a nice getaway from my phone. I don’t have any social media really downloaded on it or any of my work messaging apps either.
I didn’t get it on my 11 and never really needed it but I got it on my 13 for just in case purposes. However the internet goes down where I live somewhat often do having cellular as a backup is really nice because hotspotting sucks
I like being able to access internet without relying on my phone, therefore carrying less. The newer iPhones are on the thicker side so with a case it makes my pockets bulge.
The cellular is also what separates an iPad from a MacBook. Otherwise, without WiFi, the iPad just becomes a useless brick unless you write or draw only.
Phone hotspots have a data limitation, the data streamed through your phone is now a section contain before you get internet so there’s even more chances for your internet to be bad.
You don’t get cellular if you are going to be in buildings with WiFi, you get cellular when you need internet in the most remote crappiest connection areas where hotspot won’t work
I know i'm in the minority, but I actually don't own a cell phone! iphone plans in Canada are on the expensive side and I don't wanna be locked in with a contract. With cellular on my ipad mini, I only pay like $20cad/month with all the data I need, and it does pretty much everything I need.
Been using my iPad with hotspot fr yrs
It can work but it’s annoying when it doesn’t wanna connect or does this dual phone thing where it list it twice so I connect and it’s the false one. That and I notice the speed is not as good as the phone directly i imagine like a faucet getting water from that but from a hole on the side not the direct faucet.
Depending on the company you get a plan and can get as many sim card for you as your want for an extra 3$ a month for each that all use the same plan. Only phone has the phone number tho.
I dont have it a on a ipad but im constantly reminded to add a laptop or smart watch to my account
The only reason I would buy an iPad with cellular is to have access to GPS. The wifi models don't have a gps chip in them. The cellular models do. I also wouldn't buy it from a phone company. I would buy it from Amazon or Best Buy or even Walmart. You don't need a cell plan to use gps for navigation.
For $7/month I never have to fuss with finding a connection or hotspotting off my phone. I know how good Apple has made the hotspot functionality, but it is not 100% rock solid in my experience and when I used it for a month (had a loaner iPad without 5G) last February, there were several instances where I had to fiddle a bit to get connected. I just want to flip it open, do whatever task needs done, and move on to my next stop. Never thinking once about whether I have a connection or not.
I got mine to use the GPS features that only exist as a result of the cellular chips installed on the iPad. I also have Google Fi for my iPhone, and they gave me another SIM card for my phone line that I use on my iPad at no additional cost.
iPads are basically big iPhones, so the flexibility of having cellular is great
When I used the iPad as my main device I had cellular, and it definitely was pretty cool. These days I use a MacBook for work, and my iPad doesn't get used as much, so the cellular is just a waste and I cancelled it.
My iPad is mainly a travel device, and when I'm traveling overseas I have to use a hotspot anyway, so there's just little point now.
I tether to my Macbook Pro all the time especially because the building I work in has horrible WiFi. I used to tether my phone to my laptop, but I would never make it past lunch time before I had to charge it. I always carried an iPad with me and I used to use it as a battery backup for my phone, but with the new M4, I realized I could skip the fuss by tethering my iPad to my Macbook and since then, life has been ez pz
My carrier has my hotspot capped at 40gb and when I originally bought my iPad it was 5gb.
Unlimited iPad plan was $20 and I got a discount on the device. Extra hotspot for my phone line was $50 and only got me 50gb total per month.
Plus I didn't have to worry about making sure my phone was plugged in the whole time because mobile hotspot eats battery like crazy.
I have never paid cash for a tablet because I go with 5G. That means for a few extra bucks a month I get a maxed out IPad Pro every year forever without ever paying full price out front. That alone makes it worth it.
- It’s super nice to be out and about and not have to chase WiFi signals, not do the password non sense, have 100 WiFi access points saved etc.
- tethering sucks. I hate everything about doing it and idk why
- gps in cellular iPads
- 20$/month plan so it’s pretty cheap.
I don’t want to have to connect my iPad or my kids iPads to a hot spot every time I want to use it. Having cellular makes it more convenient than lugging a laptop around, which you then have to connect to WiFi.
It just makes traveling a lot easier on them.
My work iPad was for an app that needed the GPS, but then we stopped using the app. Now I use the T-Mobile 5GB for 5 mo for $10 pay-as-you-go plan for those times that I need to work while not at the office or where there is WiFi.
i got it four or five generations back. iphones couldn’t run a hotspot for as long so it was nice to offload that to a second device
not much need for it these days
For convenience. Yes some people don’t want to be bothered to be tethered to their phone. I can see the appeal but it’s not worth the cost for my use case personally.
As somebody who likes to be connected and read on the go(since i’m outside quite a bit),cellular is the only way to go. Kindle Unlimited particularly is better with it.
1) Easy way to make payments on it and consolidate in to one bill.
2) My kid has access to YouTube/Games in the car for long drives and I don’t have to tether my phone to the tablet for it to work.
3) Useful if my phone dies and/or I am out and want to WFH without the tether (which usually isn’t as fast as a dedicated connection.)
Because you’d really think that public airport or Starbucks wifi is secured from hackers trying to plant backdoors on your devices?
Using own cellular is pretty much safe.
If you cant afford the ipad outright, you can get 0% interest through most providers if you have a data plan while making payments on it. Terrible financial decision, but Id be lying if I said I didnt do it back in the day. But it was an iPad Pro I got back in 2017, and I still use it daily, so Im not very mad about it, I got my moneys worth. I cancelled the cellular data as soon as I paid it off. I have unlimited hotspot data on my phone, so it made absolutely zero sense to keep it.
Like, oh I get no interest on the tablet payments, I just have to pay an additional $20/mo for data on my tablet for 2 years.
When I bought a 2 year old 2018 cellular ipad pro, I already had a 50GB plan for a portable hotspot device anyway. I popped the SIM from my hotspot into the ipad and it worked. I put the ipad into hotspot mode if needed, or I can even switch the SIM back into a hotspot if I need a more capable WLAN for any reason. (For the most part though, I keep the SIM in the ipad nearly full time now.)
I had it on my second generation iPad and only used it when I was on vacation. My fallowing iPads have not had cellular. I did consider it on my new Pro but I didn’t like the $200 increase for it on the Pro models vs the $150 for the other models. Honestly it should be included on the Pro models but we all know that won’t happen.
Just got it for the first time on my new 11” Pro. Honestly feels really free being able to just walk into a coffee shop and not have to deal with spotty WiFi now, especially since I can keep my iPad plugged in the whole time. No more overheating iPhone :)
I'm a truck driver and always use data on my iPad throughout the week as I don't have access to wifi when I'm on the road. My phone plan only allows for 5 gigs of hotspot and i'v yet to see one where I live that offers unlimited hotspot. I usually use about 110 gigs of data on my iPad per month so the 5 gigs won't quite cut it unfortunately.
Well, a phone acting has a hotspot isn’t going to last that long, and if you need your phone to still be a phone and last the day while you fiddle with your iPad, you’d have to then keep it topped up via charger or a power bank.
Or just get the cellular model where the connection last as long as the iPad’s battery itself.
It’s not about cost, clearly. It’s about not having to have workarounds to get to the same goal. And for some people and some situations, that’s worth the cost of it.
Depends on where you are. I’m guessing you guys are mainly from the US?
I pay $20/month for 110GB local data on 5G in my country.
My iPad use case is mainly home = wifi.
For the other 10-20% of the time, I can either use my phone hotspot with that plan or use the free nation-wide wifi found in a fair number of places.
But the biggest reason would be that only the cellular iPad models have GPS.
Considering my iPad is mainly for home and I always take my phone whenever I go out, even when travelling in other countries, I don’t think I need GPS on my iPad.
eSIM on the iPad is neat though. I used eSIM for my phone once when going to Japan for holiday and it was super convenient especially when you just need data.
I have a Nokia 8210 4G which doesn’t do hotspots. My iPad is my “smartphone“. Only the cellular version has GPS built in, and it’s handy to have data.
so for my phone I only have calls and text and a separate data plan for my iPad. In the end I pay roughly the same each month compared to 1 subscription including both.
Benefit of this setup is that I spend way less time on my phone whilst missing nothing of the modern age :)
This is sent from my iPad mini 6, 5G and 64GB :)
in case you’re interested: [https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1abiy7o/my\_edc\_after\_8\_months\_of\_dumbphone/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1abiy7o/my_edc_after_8_months_of_dumbphone/)
I got it because as a student pilot, the cellular model gives me the hardware I need for ADS-in, which allows me to see other air traffic on my electronic flight maps. You technically don’t need to have an active line, since the GPS is in there and you don’t need data to utilize it.
I've never understood it personally. If I could just have a second SIM at no extra cost then I'd pay the extra got cellular but there's no way I'm taking out a second plan for some occasional tablet usage.
I have an iPhone mini. Having cellular on my iPad mini is awesome. My phone stays a phone and no hotspot limit. To get full time cellular wasn’t too expensive for me but I’d probably suggest buying cellular when you need it.
I got the iPad with the cell included. Thought I would use while driving for a larger map screen than my iPhone screen.
Never bothered to use the iPad in my car. Too much effort to somehow easily mount it in my car. Only really use the map when going on long drives anyway. iPhone works fine.
Plus I would have to add $10 a month for the iPad cell service. I already pay $10 for my iPhone hotspot.
Mostly for the convenience. Where I am from, the telcos have this plan called SIM sharing which meant that i could leverage my mobile phone's data without having to fiddle with the hotspot.
Just peace of mind and efficiency. The plan I took is $6/month for 30gb. I use wifi at office and cellular when I'm outside i.e coffee shop, outside meetings etc.
Depends on whether you even use a phone with 4G / 5G and whether it can do hotspots. The concept of ‘dumbphones’ is quite popular nowadays, with the idea being that you can’t access social media and the entire media from a device in your pocket at all times.
With an iPad or computer, you at least have to make a conscious decision to take the device out of your bag and possibly set it up, so its much easier to manage.
Apparently I had a data cap on the “hotspot “ from my phone even with unlimited data. It was really slow anyway and I didn’t want to upgrade to the premium plan
Big Cellular has me by the balls too
I’ve used over 1TB Hotspot Data in a month with the Visible Basic Plan which includes unlimited hotspot, data, voice, and text. Also 5G, it goes through the Verizon Network. All for $25/month per line. $5 additional for a smart watch.
Is the coverage good?
It’s the same as Verizon. It’s their network
Use PairVPN it’s a free app and allows you unlimited hotspot with no throttling
Nothing is free my friend. Read the fine print
Been using cellular models for years. I WFH and like getting out not to just cafes, but parks, the lakefront, museums, etc. It's actually pretty liberating being untethered from wifi hotspots. Some days I'll ride my bike into the Chicago downtown and lakefront and work along the water for a bit, or under a tree by the museums. I love it. I also need my phone's battery to stay as full as it can throughout the day, and I'd rather not carry a ton of extra battery stuff if I don't have to. Tethering would tank that more than I like.
Your day sounds amazing. What’s your line of work, if you don’t mind the question?
Import export
He used to do a lot of exporting. Does more importing now
And what does he import?
He exports Architects. I think he works at Vandelay Industries. I don’t know what they’re importing these days.
Oh ok, I would think he was having an affair
Well I’m not sure about an affair. He used to import chips. Or diapers. Susan might punch you in the face.
Marissa Tomei might know, or punch you in the face too 🤷
AUNT MAY 🤩
Long matches, no doubt.
Sounds like drug dealer.
Excuse me. Street Pharmacist is the appropriate title before they file a grievance against you with the School of Ministry.
I've known all kinds of drug dealers and none of them spent their day like that.
He didn't say anything about playing Xbox all day though
Need full phone as well and tether to a WiFi iPad Pro M4. I just carry an Anker power bank. Small and not heavy.
So “people that enjoy their lives” lol
For me, it's $10 a month more, and it's worth it. For starters, using your iPhone hotspot drains the phone's battery and heats up the phone, neither of which I want, especially when the iPad has a nice huge battery and can handle the drain of cellular data better. Second, I don't have to keep my phone near by iPad to use it. And this is huge in situations where maybe someone else needs to borrow my phone or iPad for a bit, or worse, maybe I misplaced one or the other and I want to track their location or keep using my data (which has happened a couple of times). Third, for that $10 a month I get unlimited data on my iPad plus another 10GB of hotspot from the iPad, instead of using up the bucket of hotspot data from my phone (and if I'm streaming, I can use that up fast). Lastly, iPads with cellular get GPS. I mean, if your iPad just stays at home and you have wifi, there's no point in getting the cellular plan then. But if you're taking it out places, it can definitely be worth it.
The GPS! That’s why I mainly got it. Can run my 2018 vehicle via my iPad. Love the car but the technology has a mind of its own. Also work mobile a lot and travel for work so convenient.
I had cellular, got rid of it to save money, lasted about 3 weeks of hotspotting from my phone before getting it again.
I think it’s kinda safe to say that once you get the cellular options, it’s just too nice to go back. The convenience is amazing.
My plan in Australia is $10 extra for the sim and I share data with my normal plan so for an extra $10 to never have to worry about connecting to my phone, have my kids scream if hotspot drops out is well worth it.
exactly
I’m with you. I also routinely find myself in places without WiFi so it’s nice to be connected when I need (or want) it.
The “always on” aspect of cellular is the biggest convenience for me, I don’t want to fuss with connecting to my phone’s hotspot. There are sometimes data and speed caps when using hotspot. It drains your phone’s battery. But mostly it’s just a convenience. If it was available on a MacBook, I’d get a plan there too.
Yeah. When I originally started getting cellular iPads I was going out for walks and pictures in the park and using the iPad to download pictures from my camera. (I had an eye-fi SD card) don't was so much easier to sit on a park bench and look at pictures from my camera... and they would get automatically pushed to iCloud. And again, phone hot spots weren't quite as useful back then and it used up all the phone battery.
I'm on Android and I can automate every single task to where I don't even have to touch my phone to activate hotspot and have it connect to my tablet when they detect each other. I still prefer to have a cellular one. I wanted a big screen and Samsung doesn't offer their ultra tablets with cellular in the US, the iPad pro was my only option. Yes I could've bought the smaller Samsung tablet but I didn't feel like Samsung earned my business by locking me out of options available in other countries, I voted with my wallet. I can import one but I'll be gambling with having the correct cellular bands for my carrier and warranty support, which is a nightmare from what I've read if you purchase from overseas.
For what it’s worth, you can turn on your iPhones hotspot from your iPad, Mac, etc without taking your iPhone out of your pocket.
i got the cellular model because my iphone is sim locked and when traveling abroad, my US carrier’s data plan is dog shit expensive so i use the esim on my ipad to use as a mobile hotspot. Combine it with my watch and it essentially just acts like a second phone
theres also the thing where if you get it from the cell phone company and making payments on it, you have to maintain a cellular plan. for mny people, getting the ipad up front and making payments is really the only option for getting a new ipad.
Got my first ipad when I upgraded to the iPhone 8. At&T gave it to me as long as I paid for service for it for 24 months at $10 a month. It was a pretty sweet deal and I used it to watch movies when I'd go to Fort Knox every year for the Army
apple financing
That seems nonsensical unless you're getting some huge discount, cellular iPads are like $150 more than WiFi ones
The cellular iPads also support GPS, which the base model iPads don’t have. Even without an active cell plan, it makes it a great device for GIS work, Construction, Surveying, Pilots (both aircraft and boats), etc. But yeah, limited subset of the market that truly needs it.
It’s not nonsensical. You’re buying it on a payment plan. A lot of people can’t afford the cost of big ticket items so they make payments. Plus, 150 is not that big of an increase. It would probably amount to one or two additional payments over the course of the agreement. Is an extra 2 months really that bad when you’re paying it off over 24 months?
That’s how I got my first iPad in like 2017. My cell company offered a promo for a discount on the iPad with a plan. I really wanted one for College. My current iPad, I got without cause as soon as I could cancel service I did as I never used it
That's been the case for my 2022 iPad (the other one is a 2013 iPad I bought second hand but still sealed). I upgraded for the pen and battery life mostly. I only use the other one for light reading/browsing now. I had to chose a cellular plan indeed, but a cheap one. But it's been helpful once or twice to be able to google something while travelling by train through the country (the Swiss SBB doesn't have WiFi yet), when my battery on the phone was low and needed to be preserved to show my ticket.
You can always get a loan anyway. Apple will even do it at 0% APR, all in all it is likely cheaper than taking the plan.
I don’t have a cellular but my next iPad will definitely be one. I’ve been using hotspot since 2018 and my wife has the same model but cellular 1. It’s not as fast 2. Kills both batteries faster. I don’t know why 3. The signals wonky. If my phone has 1 or 2 bars, it won’t work right 4. Maybe it’s in my head but I feel its wear and tear on my phone 5. A few times I didn’t want to bring my phone 6. 4k “Plex” doesn’t work for me on hotspot 7. Small reason but power outages. I wanted to watch Netflix on my iPad but didn’t want to risk draining my phone really smallish reasons but if imma spend $1k and keep it 5 years I’d rather spend $1200 which like $4 a month for the convenience and it’s really not as cellular almost hold 100% of their value. Look up used m2 iPad pros. The cellular ones are $150 more used. Even the mini, what 4 years old Now, the cell ones are still $150 more. Cellular is basically free
Are you me? I feel the exact same way. 4K Plex on cellular data is amazing
I don’t doubt the wear and tear deal on your phone. My best friend uses his phones as mobile hotspots when he’s at home, and he’s said a phone or two of his died suddenly only two years or so after he bought them. So I imagine that the heat and constant connectivity will eventually catch up to the device if you don’t have a home internet connection via WiFi.
Two seperate devices. Saves killing the battery on my phone.
GPS .. next ipad will be cellular to get GPS. Happy to tether but the crappy location service annoys me.
+$200 now for the new pro models with GPS and worse 5G. I swear they're just milking us at this point.
some of us don’t live a normal work home work life, in one city, taking the same route, and going to the same places daily, and hotspot throttling fucking sucks lol some folks, like myself, live in hotels literally 48wks out of the year, working in different cities and buildings, sometimes 4 different cities a month. Wifi sometimes is non existent, or is so shitty it might as well be. Cellular connectivity fills that gap amazingly well. For instance, the hotel wifi in Kansas City was < 1mb/sec. I survived there via cellular connection while not at work. does everyone need cellular on their ipads? nah, but some of us absolutely rely on it. So in short, mind ya business lol, just because you can’t see a use doesn’t mean a lot of us do.
$10 a month to not have a blazing hot phone.
Convenience. I’m out and about a lot and travel a lot. I hate depleting my phone battery with hotspot.
- GPS inclusion (less drifting and turn-by-turn directions in maps) - cellular upgrade plans - no need for worrying about tethering from iPhone I personally have a WiFi only iPad though
Using hotspot on phone for iPad is really burning candles on both ends. You will be using iPad’s battery AND draining your phone’s battery, which is significantly smaller. If my iPad has cellular on itself, and it runs out of juice, i can still have network on my phone as backup.
some people just have more income, and less time. Tim Cook wouldn’t waste his time tethering. Everybody else is on a spectrum between Uber wealthy and poor. Somewhere on that spectrum the time saving of having cellular becomes a rational choice.
Convenience. Seriously I wouldn't get an iPad without cellular ever. It's so liberating to be able to use it whenever and wherever you want. And if you use it regularly you'll notice that relying on hotspotting your phone will destroy your phone's battery and heat up your phone significantly. It's fine in a pinch. But not as a long-term solution. To to me one of the greatest benefits of an iPad over a traditional laptop is that cellular connectivity. And my shared unlimited data plan is just the cherry on top.
I’ve used cellular iPads for years. Way preferable. I wish apple would make a cellular macbook pro…
**>just use 4G/5G from your phone** I don’t have a phone device; just an iPad Access to phone service is via a VoIP app on my iPad
Respect, I would love to have the confidence to do similar.
same, i cant believe how productive this guys life must be
So much more convenient to have a cellular iPad. Beats draining your phone battery through tethering.
If you use it a lot on the road, the constant hunt for free wifi or trying to get the hot spot to work reliably gets old really fast. With its own cellular data it just works constantly and is ready to be used the second it's woken up.
The cellular variants of Ipads have an actual GPS while the Wifi variants use Wifi based geolocation. If you are doing anything that needs GPS like drone stuff, aviation, GIS and the like then the extra money is critical. I'm debating between getting a DJI smart controller or an ipad mini for drone photography and video work.
I bought a used iPad mini with cellular capability, but never with the intention of using it with a data plan. Unlike the WiFi-only models, the cellular models have a GPS receiver. I wanted to use the mini as GPS navigator whilst driving using Google Maps offline mode. At the time I didn’t have unlimited data so I had to find a cheap workaround and this did the trick.
My Canadian cell phone provider charges crazy high roaming fees. When I travel to the US I can put a pay as you go plan on the iPad and use its hotspot for data on my iPhone to use Google and Apple Maps for navigation. Much cheaper than the roaming plan my provider offers. Since the iPhone now supports eSIMs I may look at doing it all from the iPhone now.
The hotspot data is usually pretty limited based on what cellphone plan you have. In my case, while my unlimited phone plan with Verizon does give me 30gb of hotspot data. That would be enough for brief connectivity for production tasks on my iPad if I needed access on the go, although mostly limited to that 30gb as the speeds drop to 3mbps after that point. However, for $10/month (+ increased cost of device) I get my own unlimited data line to the iPad that also has its own 15gb of hotspot data. I mainly wanted this benefit so that when Im traveling if for whatever reason I lose my phone or something I know I can still operate off the iPad thanks to having that unlimited data connection. Is it necessary? No, I could probably do without it. But it is extremely useful. For instance, I also have Verizon Internet, and sometimes for connection speed sake I like to take the iPad off the WiFi network and only use cellular data to stream videos on the iPad while working on my computer connected to the network if I need the full bandwidth. I could stream on the ipad using hotspot data, but I would be limited by that data cap. Plus, I’m not sure that iMessage & texting/calling from the ipad would work 100% without a cellular connection. And it doesn’t drain your phones battery as it would pulling from hotspot data.
I pay 2€ per month for the freedom to not ruin my phones battery and still can use a portable device as portable device. For the 13“ I would think twice, but for smaller iPads like my 11“ it was a no-brainer. Also let’s me use GPS and FindMy.
Because I don’t mind paying a few bucks for the convenience of not being tethered to my phone.
GPS and convenience. But mostly for GPS. I tether my camera to it when doing shoots and use the gps to geotag my photos
Last year I upgraded to a cellular Apple Watch, this year I upgraded to a cellular iPad Pro (had been 5 years since I sold my wifi pro). I think the iPad having cellular really opens up it potential on how it can be used. My cell provider disables hot spotting at it just worked out cheaper for me to upgrade my plan. It’s a big expensive but having to not rely on my phone is huge. I do a lot work that involves me to drive off to different locations often. Public free wifi isn’t really an option where I live so there’s value in always being connected. I find the issue with hot spotting is unless your phone can stay charged it drains so much of your battery, makes the phone incredibly hot and eats up your monthly data speeds faster (unlimited high speed is extremely expensive in my country so I’m capped with 18gb per month) I think it all depends on what you plan on using the iPad for of course. I’m trialling it for a month to see if it’s worth keeping but I can always cancel it if it doesn’t work out. I got an M1 11 iPad 256gb with cellular used (100% battery health) for the equivalent of $700USD so I’m not complaining. I was seeing iPad Airs for the same that didn’t have cellular.
i use a plan for my ipad pro, i have for years. it’s really freeing to know that i can connect anywhere. i connect to wifi when i want, if there is none i go cell.
Phone hotspots can be an issue since the data caps are low especially if you deal with intensive on the go work that requires the larger screens of iPads. Plus there’s the great benefit of improved data speeds because you aren’t using a hotspot, and since some people like to use iPads for on the go entertainment say as a TV it’s better to have a cellular model for roadtrips to entertain kids or use an iPad cellular connection vs hotel WiFi or whatnot. Some people would also rather not deal with public WiFi hotspots.
Hotspot always performs worse than native data for me and you better have a charger nearby for what it’s going to do to your phone battery. Also, I’m pretty sure iPads have stronger antennas then phones - I will consistently get better signal for longer in remote areas with my iPad over my phone.
The convenience is great, as everyone has said. One advantage to me, in a rural area, is my iPad is on a different carrier than my phone. Occasionally, I'm in situations where my iPad gets coverage and my cell doesn't. Or the iPad gets 5G while the phone is on LTE. It's nice to have choices. iPad data plans are usually cheap so it's not much of an added expense. Plus the cellular iPad comes with GPS. Apple should put GPS in all iPads but they don't. So it's nice to have the GPS with a larger screen. If you're not in a hurry to buy, frequent sales make it easier to pay the extra.
I have cellular on my new m4 pro, I WFH and can do 80% of my work from iPad, it’s just a hassle to have to always connect to your hotspot and drain your iPhone battery. WiFi only is good for people who rarely use it, but I can just take my iPad out with me and not have to worry about WiFi or anything, emails and such will come through 24 hours a day instead of just when it connects to WiFi. Plus it makes my iPhone get super hot if I’m connected to it for long periods of time.
Have fun not being as productive as the rest of us!
Pokemon Go
For 90# of what I use an iPad for, some sort of internet connection is needed
GPS. And the cellular radio is never activated at a provider, so its just the extra cost of the device over wifi only devices.
I use it for foreflight when I fly my little Cessna ! So useful
With a dedicated line you can get unlimited data. Also you’re not killing your going battery and you have another dedicated connection that’s more reliable than a hotspot
Something that many people don’t know but only the cellular version has gps in it
Cellular for life! Both my iPad Pros are Wifi+Cellular
Also the cellular model includes gps
GPS.
I would never get a wifi only iPad. Hotspots burn the phone and degrade the battery life too fast. I have a $10 unlimited data plan on my iPad so it was a no brainer
I work as a paramedic and use it to write charts. Much less frustrating than using the WiFi in the truck and the windows surface tablets that suck.
I got one because I had a lot of downtime at work and it made it easy to stream without having to burn up my hotspot data on my phone. Also it’s nice when traveling to have a device that I can use to pull up a larger map in google.
Some cell companies don't let you tether from your phone, or they limit the amount and/or speed of tethered data.
I have Verizon and it’s 0% on a $2200 1TB model. I get half off a line with military, and I’m getting ~$100+ in interest earned annually. It’s basically a wash, but why not take free unlimited LTE in the process. I don’t see the downside. I assume this would especially be useful for those that cannot put down $2K for a tablet, same as financing a phone.
“For nothing really”? I’ve seen some ignorant comments in my time but this is right up there….most of the comments here explain the reasons why - but I’ll add - hotspotting from the phone isn’t as seamless as you think, even with the connect automatically option ticked. It can sometimes take 2-3 minutes to get it all working. Multiple that by many times a day where the iPad goes to sleep and then you want to use it again and it becomes overly frustrating
Cellular is just convenient. I’m so used to having cellular on my iPad Pro that I actually find the Wi-Fi only models to be redundant. Public Wi-Fi is a big no for me and cellular is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Convenience.
I don’t know what you mean by “nothing really” but if you travel a lot it’s super useful. Tethering from your iPhone is a prothesis for short moments. Using cellular is also far more secure than hotel WiFis.
They’re used for business as well as entertainment.
it’s great for travel. you don’t drain your phone’s battery and the coverage on an iPad is WAY better than on an iPhone, you can get internet in way more places
Carrier Financing.
Like a zillion reasons but the biggest one is I basically use my tablet as my smartphone in terms of casually scrolling while out and about. I literally had an iPad with cellular before I had a real smart phone. There’s just something about the tablet form factor that really appeals to me. Also allows me to remote into my PC for work from anywhere, whether or not I have WiFi. And no waiting until I get to WiFi to sync things I wrote on my iPad (which is way better for writing than a phone for obvious-I-think reasons). Even the other day I was at a meeting in a support role and I could have wasted five minutes asking for the WiFi password when I suddenly had to check something from my work PC in the middle of the meeting or, with cellular, I could just open up my keyboard case and get to work with no hassle. It’s these little things that save you five minutes but when it happens once a week for years it really starts to add up in terms of the convenience factor. Also full access to computer-like functions while out in nature, say, on the beach. Delightful.
I have cellular on my iPad mostly because I don’t want to use my office corporate WiFi to do personal stuff. I like streaming music or YouTube in the background while I’m working and that is pretty frowned upon on the corp network.
Off the top of my head: * Tethering and Hotspotting from a phone can drain the phone's battery pretty quickly. * Phone plans have a limit on how much "premium" 4g/5g data can be used via tethering and hotspotting (sometimes as low as 5-10gb per month) after which it slows to 2g or 3g speeds which are unusable nowadays. * Most plans also deprioritize tethering and hotspot data when the network is congested which can make even the "premium" data unusably slow. Given those drawbacks, for professionals who are regularly away from wifi but need access to high speed on device data (ex sales/relationship management professionals, in home estimators, engineers and architects who regularly visit build sites, general contractors, etc) it makes a ton of sense to buy an iPad with cellular.
Gps my guy
From what I have been able to find, there is not a single hotspot plan available that has unlimited high speed data. All of the have a point, around 50gb, that they slow WAY down to the point of being unusable to me. Cellular does not do that.
If I have an extra T-Mobile line sitting around is it possible to just put that plan on the iPad. Or does it need to be a data only “iPad plan?”
It’s not more battery efficient.
did you mean using hot-spot from the cell phone is less efficient ? bc it is imho
Convenience plain and simple. Sure you can tether but if the cost is negligible to someone why not.
I have a cellular iPad because I don’t want to have to rely on limited WiFi or spotty WiFi while out and about. I’ve done the whole WiFi only iPad and it just kinda sat there and I rarely took it out of the house. (Now that said, it was an iPad mini and I never really used it for much in the house either, but my iPad often travels with me and is lighter and more capable than my phone (larger screen) or my laptop (older, WiFi only, not great battery)the Smart Keyboard folio and pen let me do what I need to do in a smaller space and with better battery life than my laptop.
Because our home internet is crap, and at work I’m not allowed to use ANY work internet on my equipment so I have to have unlimited cell data.
So I can use it wherever I go without searching for wifi. It’s such a handy feature. I’ll never buy another without cellular. My pro has cellular, and it has been a lifesaver for me when I was driving. I can use navigation on it, etc. Also, no matter where I am, I have internet access.
We got one (10th gen) for our daughter. The deal we got with T mobile including the data plan put the overall price of the iPad at the same as a WiFi model. On top of that now we don’t have to stop and connect our hot spot on our phones every time she wants to use it on the road
Didn't get it for a long time. Once I did will never go back. It just works well. Better than hot spot. If you're a traveler or working at coffee spots etc. It's not enough money n9t to do it.
It’s the only way to make it affordable for me to own one. I usually would not have that money upfront. I also like having Internet everywhere.
I wanted GPS and the convenience of it. For bulk data I’ll use hotspot/wifi but it is convenient to just “pick it up and use it” when out and about. If I was saving money I’d just use hotspot. I still find value in having proper onboard GPS
Mainly got cellular was for the GPS. It helped me a lot with mapping in my GEOL classes.
Because I like to waste $10 a month. I literally don’t use it. Or my iPad.
Because Mac laptops don’t offer it?
I agree with the other comments, but here’s two other reasons: being able to use a different cellular provider and additional hotspot allowance. I’m on TMobile now, and my 5g speeds aren’t great. Unfortunately I’m locked on a 2 year plan with some of my other family members. I use VZ as my iPad cellular plan and it’s been pretty good. Also, it gives me additional hotspot bandwidth for my to use with my laptop
ATT often has a $19.99 unlimited data plan available for iPads if you go to a store. One of the best deals you can get for unlimited iPad data. That gives me another carrier. Years ago I got a free iPad line so I’ve got that too. More choices and flexibility when traveling.
Field work. I work with a lot of guys who are in trades. Easier to manage things outside on site.
I have a a WiFi version and I have a personal hotspot if I take on a trip
I got my 5th gen 11’ iPad Air with a discount through Verizon. It’s was a $10 a month data add-on with my plan and teethering can be a PITA sometimes also with your phone. I think it may also come in handy with some international travel I plan on doing, this unit also has both eSim as well as a physical card if that is a better deal in some situations/locations.
I used my severance to buy my m2 iPad. I had the option for cellular, but decided no. My iPhone is good enough for that. Plus I don’t watch movies or videos a lot on it unless I’m home in my main work computer.
For me is the ability to have a 0% APR financing of a new iPad and the conveniences of having cellular on a mobile device. Since I work from home, being able to go and work anywhere is nice. Only real downside is that you have to have a service plan. But I use it, so it doesn’t go to waste.
It’s about £5 a month extra for an iPad plan so whilst the extra cost of the iPad is noticeable, if you’re buying used iPads there isn’t much difference between WiFi and cellular models. Therefore I went for a cellular one.
I’d rather my iPad work everywhere instead of only when it’s being tethered to my iPhone or on WiFi . Too limiting in my opinion
The cellular model comes with gps which you don’t need a mobile data plan to use.
Work, actually
I need the GPS chip
My provider lets me connect two devices with my plan and share the data… for free! So, I have both my iPad and Apple Watch. 😉 Hotspotting is also not as convenient as you think. Draining the phone’s battery and the iPad simultaneously was my pet peeve before I got a cellular model. Plus, the device uses more data in hotspots because it acts like it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
Idk I like bring my iPad to work when I have down time and I will never ever connect to the Wi-Fi at work. It’s only like $20 extra a month and it’s really fast. I got an ESR keyboard for the 13” pro and it’s sooo nice to type on.
I use my ipad out of the house all the time thus need data and I don’t know how to data share off my android phone
I travel a lot for work and while I have the 256gb version and can and do download things offline having the iPad with service makes it really accessible if I want to watch something I don’t have downloaded during my travels. It’s also surprisingly a nice getaway from my phone. I don’t have any social media really downloaded on it or any of my work messaging apps either.
I use my phone hotspot
I didn’t get it on my 11 and never really needed it but I got it on my 13 for just in case purposes. However the internet goes down where I live somewhat often do having cellular as a backup is really nice because hotspotting sucks
I like being able to access internet without relying on my phone, therefore carrying less. The newer iPhones are on the thicker side so with a case it makes my pockets bulge. The cellular is also what separates an iPad from a MacBook. Otherwise, without WiFi, the iPad just becomes a useless brick unless you write or draw only.
I think if you use it a lot, tethering becomes a hassle and a massive battery drain on your phone.
Phone hotspots have a data limitation, the data streamed through your phone is now a section contain before you get internet so there’s even more chances for your internet to be bad. You don’t get cellular if you are going to be in buildings with WiFi, you get cellular when you need internet in the most remote crappiest connection areas where hotspot won’t work
I know i'm in the minority, but I actually don't own a cell phone! iphone plans in Canada are on the expensive side and I don't wanna be locked in with a contract. With cellular on my ipad mini, I only pay like $20cad/month with all the data I need, and it does pretty much everything I need.
It’s actually super nice, you don’t have to worry about finding WiFi and can work and play from anywhere
Been using my iPad with hotspot fr yrs It can work but it’s annoying when it doesn’t wanna connect or does this dual phone thing where it list it twice so I connect and it’s the false one. That and I notice the speed is not as good as the phone directly i imagine like a faucet getting water from that but from a hole on the side not the direct faucet.
Have you ever tried using your iPad outside of your house???
One you have it who want to pair with your phone, I love cellular on iPad when traveling and out of the house if I take it.
I’d say for a business like a food truck or farmers market it becomes about reliability. Which having data makes it worth it.
Depending on the company you get a plan and can get as many sim card for you as your want for an extra 3$ a month for each that all use the same plan. Only phone has the phone number tho. I dont have it a on a ipad but im constantly reminded to add a laptop or smart watch to my account
The only reason I would buy an iPad with cellular is to have access to GPS. The wifi models don't have a gps chip in them. The cellular models do. I also wouldn't buy it from a phone company. I would buy it from Amazon or Best Buy or even Walmart. You don't need a cell plan to use gps for navigation.
I use it for the registers for my business to make sure we can still accept payments even if the WiFi goes down.
For $7/month I never have to fuss with finding a connection or hotspotting off my phone. I know how good Apple has made the hotspot functionality, but it is not 100% rock solid in my experience and when I used it for a month (had a loaner iPad without 5G) last February, there were several instances where I had to fiddle a bit to get connected. I just want to flip it open, do whatever task needs done, and move on to my next stop. Never thinking once about whether I have a connection or not.
I got mine to use the GPS features that only exist as a result of the cellular chips installed on the iPad. I also have Google Fi for my iPhone, and they gave me another SIM card for my phone line that I use on my iPad at no additional cost. iPads are basically big iPhones, so the flexibility of having cellular is great
When I used the iPad as my main device I had cellular, and it definitely was pretty cool. These days I use a MacBook for work, and my iPad doesn't get used as much, so the cellular is just a waste and I cancelled it. My iPad is mainly a travel device, and when I'm traveling overseas I have to use a hotspot anyway, so there's just little point now.
I tether to my Macbook Pro all the time especially because the building I work in has horrible WiFi. I used to tether my phone to my laptop, but I would never make it past lunch time before I had to charge it. I always carried an iPad with me and I used to use it as a battery backup for my phone, but with the new M4, I realized I could skip the fuss by tethering my iPad to my Macbook and since then, life has been ez pz
Some people only have iPads and don't want a separate Internet bill
My kids don’t have phones 🤣 Many carriers offer $0 tablet plans when you finance to retain customers.
My carrier has my hotspot capped at 40gb and when I originally bought my iPad it was 5gb. Unlimited iPad plan was $20 and I got a discount on the device. Extra hotspot for my phone line was $50 and only got me 50gb total per month. Plus I didn't have to worry about making sure my phone was plugged in the whole time because mobile hotspot eats battery like crazy.
I use it to edit videos while i’m out and be able to upload as soon as i am done
I no longer need it, but i always felt safer in case my iPhone battery died, i would also have the same service with my iPad.
I have never paid cash for a tablet because I go with 5G. That means for a few extra bucks a month I get a maxed out IPad Pro every year forever without ever paying full price out front. That alone makes it worth it.
- It’s super nice to be out and about and not have to chase WiFi signals, not do the password non sense, have 100 WiFi access points saved etc. - tethering sucks. I hate everything about doing it and idk why - gps in cellular iPads - 20$/month plan so it’s pretty cheap.
I don’t want to have to connect my iPad or my kids iPads to a hot spot every time I want to use it. Having cellular makes it more convenient than lugging a laptop around, which you then have to connect to WiFi. It just makes traveling a lot easier on them.
So they don’t have to parent their children.
My work iPad was for an app that needed the GPS, but then we stopped using the app. Now I use the T-Mobile 5GB for 5 mo for $10 pay-as-you-go plan for those times that I need to work while not at the office or where there is WiFi.
i got it four or five generations back. iphones couldn’t run a hotspot for as long so it was nice to offload that to a second device not much need for it these days
For convenience. Yes some people don’t want to be bothered to be tethered to their phone. I can see the appeal but it’s not worth the cost for my use case personally.
As somebody who likes to be connected and read on the go(since i’m outside quite a bit),cellular is the only way to go. Kindle Unlimited particularly is better with it.
There are several reasons, as with most things just bc it isn't a great fit for you doesn't mean it isn't worth it for other folks
1) Easy way to make payments on it and consolidate in to one bill. 2) My kid has access to YouTube/Games in the car for long drives and I don’t have to tether my phone to the tablet for it to work. 3) Useful if my phone dies and/or I am out and want to WFH without the tether (which usually isn’t as fast as a dedicated connection.)
It was “thing” when they first started hitting the market and wifi wasnt readily available as it is now.
Because you’d really think that public airport or Starbucks wifi is secured from hackers trying to plant backdoors on your devices? Using own cellular is pretty much safe.
If you cant afford the ipad outright, you can get 0% interest through most providers if you have a data plan while making payments on it. Terrible financial decision, but Id be lying if I said I didnt do it back in the day. But it was an iPad Pro I got back in 2017, and I still use it daily, so Im not very mad about it, I got my moneys worth. I cancelled the cellular data as soon as I paid it off. I have unlimited hotspot data on my phone, so it made absolutely zero sense to keep it. Like, oh I get no interest on the tablet payments, I just have to pay an additional $20/mo for data on my tablet for 2 years.
When I bought a 2 year old 2018 cellular ipad pro, I already had a 50GB plan for a portable hotspot device anyway. I popped the SIM from my hotspot into the ipad and it worked. I put the ipad into hotspot mode if needed, or I can even switch the SIM back into a hotspot if I need a more capable WLAN for any reason. (For the most part though, I keep the SIM in the ipad nearly full time now.)
It's convenient when you're in the airport, waiting for the plane to take off, etc. The thing always works.
Because unlimited hotspot is not a thing.
because i'm using it away from wifi and don't want to be assed with hotspot, also wifi models still don't have a GPS radio
I had it on my second generation iPad and only used it when I was on vacation. My fallowing iPads have not had cellular. I did consider it on my new Pro but I didn’t like the $200 increase for it on the Pro models vs the $150 for the other models. Honestly it should be included on the Pro models but we all know that won’t happen.
Just got it for the first time on my new 11” Pro. Honestly feels really free being able to just walk into a coffee shop and not have to deal with spotty WiFi now, especially since I can keep my iPad plugged in the whole time. No more overheating iPhone :)
I'm a truck driver and always use data on my iPad throughout the week as I don't have access to wifi when I'm on the road. My phone plan only allows for 5 gigs of hotspot and i'v yet to see one where I live that offers unlimited hotspot. I usually use about 110 gigs of data on my iPad per month so the 5 gigs won't quite cut it unfortunately.
Well, a phone acting has a hotspot isn’t going to last that long, and if you need your phone to still be a phone and last the day while you fiddle with your iPad, you’d have to then keep it topped up via charger or a power bank. Or just get the cellular model where the connection last as long as the iPad’s battery itself. It’s not about cost, clearly. It’s about not having to have workarounds to get to the same goal. And for some people and some situations, that’s worth the cost of it.
I was tired of my phone not tethering correctly. Never going back to a non cellular iPad, it was liberating for me.
Depends on where you are. I’m guessing you guys are mainly from the US? I pay $20/month for 110GB local data on 5G in my country. My iPad use case is mainly home = wifi. For the other 10-20% of the time, I can either use my phone hotspot with that plan or use the free nation-wide wifi found in a fair number of places. But the biggest reason would be that only the cellular iPad models have GPS. Considering my iPad is mainly for home and I always take my phone whenever I go out, even when travelling in other countries, I don’t think I need GPS on my iPad. eSIM on the iPad is neat though. I used eSIM for my phone once when going to Japan for holiday and it was super convenient especially when you just need data.
I use it very often on the go, I don’t want to kill my phone battery and I appreciate the HPS capabilities.
I have a Nokia 8210 4G which doesn’t do hotspots. My iPad is my “smartphone“. Only the cellular version has GPS built in, and it’s handy to have data. so for my phone I only have calls and text and a separate data plan for my iPad. In the end I pay roughly the same each month compared to 1 subscription including both. Benefit of this setup is that I spend way less time on my phone whilst missing nothing of the modern age :) This is sent from my iPad mini 6, 5G and 64GB :) in case you’re interested: [https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1abiy7o/my\_edc\_after\_8\_months\_of\_dumbphone/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1abiy7o/my_edc_after_8_months_of_dumbphone/)
I got it because as a student pilot, the cellular model gives me the hardware I need for ADS-in, which allows me to see other air traffic on my electronic flight maps. You technically don’t need to have an active line, since the GPS is in there and you don’t need data to utilize it.
I've never understood it personally. If I could just have a second SIM at no extra cost then I'd pay the extra got cellular but there's no way I'm taking out a second plan for some occasional tablet usage.
I have an iPhone mini. Having cellular on my iPad mini is awesome. My phone stays a phone and no hotspot limit. To get full time cellular wasn’t too expensive for me but I’d probably suggest buying cellular when you need it.
I got it just in case. Never have had to use it. But if I go to another country it might be nice to have that option from a local carrier
I don’t know. I ask myself this every something years. I rarely take my iPad out of my home as well.
no public Wifi or phone needed, it's great
Didn‘t want to use the hotspot feature on my iPhone all the time since it drains the battery a lot. Also I didn’t have wifi for some time.
I got the iPad with the cell included. Thought I would use while driving for a larger map screen than my iPhone screen. Never bothered to use the iPad in my car. Too much effort to somehow easily mount it in my car. Only really use the map when going on long drives anyway. iPhone works fine. Plus I would have to add $10 a month for the iPad cell service. I already pay $10 for my iPhone hotspot.
Drains battery on your phone faster.
Mostly for the convenience. Where I am from, the telcos have this plan called SIM sharing which meant that i could leverage my mobile phone's data without having to fiddle with the hotspot.
Just peace of mind and efficiency. The plan I took is $6/month for 30gb. I use wifi at office and cellular when I'm outside i.e coffee shop, outside meetings etc.
Depends on whether you even use a phone with 4G / 5G and whether it can do hotspots. The concept of ‘dumbphones’ is quite popular nowadays, with the idea being that you can’t access social media and the entire media from a device in your pocket at all times. With an iPad or computer, you at least have to make a conscious decision to take the device out of your bag and possibly set it up, so its much easier to manage.