AppleInsider Staff
After Apple unveiled the new iPad Air and Retina iPad mini, T-Mobile announced it will be offering the tablets to new customers with a free 200MB per month data allotment, a $15 savings from the carrier's closest competitor.
When the new iPads launch in November, T-Mobile will be the only big-four U.S. cellular providers to offer a data plan for free. After the 200MB cap is reached, the next tier starts at 2.5GB per month for $30.
The Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad Air and second-generation iPad mini will be the first Apple tablets to be sold through T-Mobile. Previously, users had to implement a workaround by using a T-Mobile SIM card in an unlocked iPad, as the carrier did not yet have access to the device.
Earlier in the day, chief executive John Legere tweeted out a message hinting that he had something up his sleeve regarding Apple's new LTE-capable iPads.
Yep! Proud to be launching iPad Air and new iPad mini! But how? Uncarrier way of course! #Disruption #Uncarrier #StayTuned
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) October 22, 2013
T-Mobile's latest "uncarrier" move to disrupt the cellular market comes after the telecom announced a new international coverage feature that allows for free global data roaming and texts. That plan will go into effect at the end of October.
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
25 Comments
For how long, just the first month?
Yeah, and hopefully it's not free 2G EDGE service.
If somebody is first going to spend $130 more for an LTE iPad, wouldn't they want to get more use out of it than a lousy 200 MB per month? That'll last how long? 15 minutes?
I guess that I just don't see the point in this 200 MB for free.
Even when your iPad is just sitting around, doing nothing, there's always traffic happening, like email notifications coming in etc..
It's good for pr, but how does the math work? So I use 200 mb, then I have to pay $30 for an additional 2.5 gb or is it really 2.3? AT&T still seems to have the best deal 3 gb for $30 I'm sure for normal use without Video streaming should last a month . For me I always get wifi cause I already pay for my unlimited data on my phone and don't want to double pay to use my iPad. Every hotel has wifi now and such so don't see a need for cellular but that's just me .
I like that T-Mobile is trying to upset the apple cart with offers that the others aren't offering but this seems a bit lame.
I understand the desire to have access to the internet when there is no wifi. But I carry an iPhone and that does fine in a pinch. Not perfect but, better than giving a telco another $15-$30/mo.
Chris Breen, of MacWorld, said he bought an iPad 2/3G and used the 3G twice in a year.
I'll just stick with the wifi version and save my $130.