“On the original iPad, AT&T offered two monthly options: 250MB of data for $15 or 2GB for $25. Once that prepaid data plan was used up, people could either wait until the next month or just pay again and start a new month of service,” Ina Fried reports for AllThingsD.
“With the new iPad, there are a couple additional options,” Fried reports. “In addition to offering the same options it did with the original iPad, AT&T is adding a second option, where users get billed at the end of the month. Users pay the same amount for the two data plans, but instead of buying a new plan if they run over their monthly allotment, users are billed at $10 per gigabyte for overages.”
Fried reports, “Finally, the iPad 2 also comes in a Verizon option. Verizon has several monthly plans ranging from $20 per month to $80 per month and anywhere from 1GB to 10GB of data.”
Full article, with a chart of all the plans and their costs, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “JES42” for the heads up.]
And this is why, when I get an iPad, I will be buying the wi-fi only version. I will not buy a 3G version until they reintroduce the unlimited data plan.
I’d buy the 3G ipad simply because it has built in GPS, which the wifi-only ipad does not.
Fair enough, but I’d just use the GPS on my iPhone 4. 😉
I am grandfathered in, but I wish I could use the tethering feature without loosing me unlimited…. that is the only reason I might switch to Verizon, they will let me do that.
Jailbreak.
I’m with you. enough with these monthly fees. wifi is where its at
so if you already have an iPhone 4 and AT&T it’s wayyy cheaper to just buy the personal hotspot option at an extra $20 +2GB, sharing your 4GB between phone and iPad with an extra $10/1GB overage.
This is what I’m doing.
And I get a discount on the plan on top of that.
I never go anywhere without my iPhone, I do leave the iPad at home sometimes.
Wherever my iPad is, I have either wifi or my iPhone.
You’re right but with one caveat. You’ll be draining both batteries instead of just the device you’re actually using. Even still, probably the better option for most people.
10 hr life on iPad, I charge mine about every other day.
My iPhone lasts all day with juice to spare.
The 5-10 minutes I would need to setup a hotspot… Meh.
I’ve been back and forth on getting the 3G or not. I won’t get it. I won’t be walking down the street with the iPad out, I can’t use it at work anyway. 99% of my iPad use is at home or someplace I have wifi.
If I don’t have wifi, it’s cause I’m in the middle of a lake… Or in the woods. Neither place I’d bring the iPad…
The only downside is the lack of GPS in the WiFi iPad. Can’t use those cute stargazer apps without it.
Otherwise, I don’t really understand the need for a 3G iPad and an iPhone 4.
The real question is how much storage should I get with the iPad 2? Decisions, decisions.
It was the astronomy programs that pushed me over the edge to by my iPad. Didn’t activate the 3G until I heard the unlimited plan was going away so I locked it in.
You’re right – there really is no need for a 3G iPad vs. just a regular wi-fi one. But the iPhone 4 has a lot more features above and beyond the iPhone 3GS and certainly the iPhone 3G. I definitely want one of those! 😀
I want to know if there is going to be any way to take my unlimited plan from my iPad and transfer it to my iPad 2. If there is no official means, what prevents me from pulling the sim out of the iPad and putting it in the iPad 2?
I’d call AT&T and ask.
One would assume you could save it…
The author doesn’t have his history correct.
I’m getting wifi only because I already pay them for data on my iPhone. Why should I pay them again? But I won’t add the personal hot spot either, because I refuse to give up my unlimited plan. The only way I’d give up unlimited is if they offered roll-over data plans or only pay for what you use. Right now you feel you got ripped off when you had data left over this month and ripped off again because you go over the next month. How about charging for it like other utilities… Pay for what you use!
…”How about charging for it like other utilities… Pay for what you use!”
You can do that now. Don’t buy a data plan for your phone, and pay for data at $0.1 per MB (about $100 per GB). If you use only very little data (a few text-only e-mails per month), it is cheaper than these data plans…
How do you get data without signing up for a data plan?
He is talking about a reasonable pay-as-you-go plan. Perhaps a nominal base fee to subscribe to the wireless service and then a flat-rate or tiered plan based on consumption.
I wonder if that would put any pressure on web developers to cut the excessive bling from their sites? It would certainly make ad blocking a smart thing to do for consumers (beside just being the smart thing to do to reduce page loading time and preserve your sanity).
I’m going with a WIFI iPad2 and a Clear Clearspot 4G+ unit. It will provide a small portable WIFI network for my home and be my on-the-go source at much faster speeds than pokey 3G.
One thing you have to remember is the AT&T prepaid plans are good if you don’t use it too much. If it takes you 3 months to use 2GB so be it. You don’t pay for what you don’t use. I like that. Of course 10GB would $125 so it would be cheaper to get a Verizon one if you did that but for me I think this will work. I have a WiFi Ipad 1 and don’t want to lose unlimited on my IPhone since I stream all the time so the AT&T prepaid is a nice option to have.
I may be incorrect here. Is the prepaid $25 bucks a month even if you don’t use all the 2GB or can it go over a month (which is what prepaid means to me)???
Now that’s what I call a loose cannon ;^)
It’s a flat-fee, so you won’t be charged less if you don’t use all the data.
What about those people like me that have the original AT&T unlimited plan? Can we transfer that plan to the upgraded iPad? Anyone’s heard about this?
dont see why not just take out your sim and put it in the new one
uhhh they already told people this…. you go over and you pay $10 for another gig of data.. this is not new
Just because they told you they were going to pick your pocket doesn’t change the fact that they’re stealing your wallet!
Unbelievable. data traffic costs the big guys .01-.03 (1 to 3 cents) per GB. It’s bloody criminal that they can charge these rates for bandwidth…
This miserly rationing of data allotments by the mobile carriers is deeply offensive to me. They’re milking their customers for every penny they can steal. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but Apple needs to bring these suckers down!
You pay $25 per 2GB at AT&T. If you use only say
500MB in one month, that’s it. You have to fork over
another $25. Unused MBs don’t roll over. That sucks
major league! I would like to pay $25 for 2GB and
my access would be good till I use up all of 2GB
without a month time limit. Would that be asking
too much of AT&T? Wishful thinking? Only a dream?
🙁
Yeah, I like the rollover idea. Maybe they can pilot such a program with those who have the grandfathered unlimited plan (iPad or iPhone) and then see what happens.
Give me an iPad 3 with a wifi hot-spot feature.
Then give me a unlimited 4G data plan for less than $30.
A boy can dream can’t he?
Put gps in the wifi-only version, and I’m set. Seems dumb to leave it out.
I use a Virgin mifi 2200 with the $40 a month unlimited prepaid plan. I use around 125 gb of data a month and never get throttled or turned off. So I’m going for a 32gb wifi only iPad2. To replace my 16 iPad.
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bad to say: but jailbreak and get MyFi if you have unlimited so you dont have to change plan (pay more)
Verizon for this would suck i think, cause as u get a call your ipad connection stops working if you use the hot spot feature + AT&T data connection is way faster than Verizon’s, i did a bunch of speed test around Boston and AT&T is always better… u should try ur self and see what i mean
sorry i meant MyWi not MyFi…. :-/
sorry, i meant MyWi not MyFi