Mikey Campbell
U.S. carriers Sprint, AT&T and Verizon have announced they will begin selling Apple's newest 4G LTE iPads on Friday, though Sprint warned initial supply will be constrained as demand for the tablets continue to outstrip supply.
According to Sprint, customers who are not able to purchase the popular tablets on Friday will have the option to buy a $50 gift card to guarantee a spot on the telecom's reservation list. The money will be put towards the cost of the device upon arrival.
All LTE-equipped models of both the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad will be offered with month-to-month plans, meaning there will be no subsidy, however existing smartphone subscribers can add the tablet to their plan at a discounted rate of $10 for 100MB and $15 for 1GB. Regular monthly data plans range from $14.99 for 300MB of data and go up to $79.99 for 12GB, and the Sprint online store notes that the activation fee for all 3G and 4G LTE tablets will be waived.
Customers who preordered the cellular-capable iPad mini in October began receiving shipments of the tablet on Thursday, roughly one week after Apple sent out emails saying the devices would be arriving in five business days.
Last week, AT&T announced that it would be offering a $100 "promotional discount" for Apple's new LTE-enabled iPads purchased with a two-year service agreement.
"Our customers are increasingly connecting their devices to the mobile internet and our new Mobile Share plans allow them to add a tablet for just 10 dollars a month," said Glenn Lurie, president of Emerging Enterprises and Partnerships at AT&T Mobility. "We're thrilled to offer iPad mini to our customers on the nation's largest 4G network."
Verizon will presumably also be selling the iPad mini at its stores today, but the company did not issue a formal announcement as of Friday morning. However, the iPad mini is available for sale on Verizon's website.
The LTE-capable iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad are also available available in Apple's retail stores.
Apple opened up pre-orders for the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad on Oct. 26, with Wi-Fi models of the smaller 7.9-inch tablets selling out in 35 hours. The full-size iPad followed suit and saw launch day stockouts four days after being made available.
According to Apple, total sales of the Wi-Fi-only devices reached 3 million units in their first three days.
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
5 Comments
Since it's not on contract, I wonder if American buyers will get the CDMA version simply because it offers more cellular options than the GSM model has: Model A1454* GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) LTE (Bands 4 and 17) Model A1455* CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25) Data only3 802.11a/b/g/n Wi?Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz) Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology [LIST] [*] [URL=http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/]http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/[/URL] [/LIST]
Since it's not on contract, I wonder if American buyers will get the CDMA version simply because it offers more cellular options than the GSM model has:
The choice is determined by if somebody is planning to use LTE through AT&T or Verizon or Sprint.
[quote name="PhilBoogie" url="/t/154347/at-t-sprint-start-sales-of-lte-ipad-mini-and-4th-gen-ipad-on-friday#post_2233366"]Since it's not on contract, I wonder if American buyers will get the CDMA version simply because it offers more cellular options than the GSM model has: Model A1454* GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) LTE (Bands 4 and 17) Model A1455* CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25) Data only3 802.11a/b/g/n Wi?Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz) Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology [LIST] [*] [URL=http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/]http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/[/URL] [/LIST][/quote] 1) Adding to what [B]Apple ][[/B] stated I would imagine most buyers will buy the version for the carrier they prefer in the US market. I doubt most really understand (or care) that if they buy the Verizon version they can then use it outside the US with more ease do to the bands used for LTE. 2) I bet Apple can't wait until they can have one cellular module for all markets.
AT&T in puerto Rico does not ave them, looks like another week for me...
Good thread!!!