June 8, 2010 – Apple’s iPad has turned out to be a huge success. They sold 1 million iPads in just 28 days and hit the 2 million mark in less than 60 days. Apple began shipping the iPads internationally on May 28th and they’ve proven to be a huge hit over seas as well. Within the first month of launch the only model available was the iPad with Wi-Fi. Many people held out for the iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G for the ability to connect to the internet whenever and wherever they wanted using the AT&T mobile network.
When Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs first announced the iPad back in January of 2010, I like many were very excited to get my hands on this device. I purchased the 16 GB Wi-Fi only model and received it on April 3rd. I wanted the 3G but just couldn’t wait, I figured maybe I would just buy the 3G model later on and give the Wi-Fi to my wife. Well now I’m not so sure I would buy the 3G model at all! The powers that be at AT&T decided to change the data plans for the iPad and no longer offer an Unlimited Data Plan option.
During the press event Steve Jobs announced they were partnering with AT&T again to bring wireless connectivity to the iPad. At first there were a lot of groans in the audience but when he announced the plans and pricing the audience changed their tune. The wireless service would be pre-paid, buy as you go with no commitment or contracts. You could get 250 MB of bandwidth for $14.99 per month and $29.99 per month for an “unlimited data plan”.
To me those numbers seemed fair, you just buy what you need when you need it. If you’re going to be traveling for a week and wanted to bring the iPad to stay connected, no problem, just purchase your data plan right on the iPad and you’re set. The iPad is the perfect device for web browsing, email, reading books, listening to music, watching movies and playing games. It’s the perfect travel companion. Heck, if you had a NetFlix account you could stream movies right to the iPad for hotel room entertainment. Well those short lived days of streaming video have just come to an end.
On June 2, 2010 AT&T announced a change to the iPad data plans. Following suit with their new iPhone and SmartPhone data plans, you can get 200 MB of data for $15 per month or 2 GB of data for $25 per month. The Unlimited Plan for $29.99 per month is no longer an option.
If you’re an existing iPad 3G user and had an active unlimited plan before these changes, be sure to renew your plan. You will automatically be grandfathered in and as long as you don’t let the plan laps you can keep it indefinitely. If you should let the plan expire then you’re S.O.L! You will be subject to the same data plans as new iPad 3G users.
Some may say 2 GB of data is more than enough, why do you need unlimited? For the most part they’re correct. The average user will do just fine with either the 200 MB plan or the 2 GB plan. But what if you’re not the average user? The iPad is a content consumption device, designed to listen to streaming music from Pandora or watch YouTube videos until 3:00 am. A NetFlix movie can be anywhere from 500 to 750 MB in size. If you stream just one movie per month you have just used approximately 1/4 of your monthly allowance. Sure you can pay $10 extra for an additional 2 GB of data but now you’re up to $35 per month for 4 GBs.
What burns me about all of this is Steve Jobs said their is no commitment or contract to have 3G service on the iPad. Well the no contract part of it is still true, but if you want to keep the Unlimited Plan going you have to “commit” to spending $29.99 per month whether you’re using the data or not. The promise of being able to buy unlimited data when you needed it and pay nothing when you don’t is gone.
There still may be a small glimmer of light in the AT&T darkness. If you’re a current iPhone user and are paying $30 a month for the unlimited data plan, you are grandfathered in and can keep the plan if you want to. With the release of iOS4 (iPhone OS version 4) later this month, AT&T will be supporting Tethering at an additional cost of $20 per month. I haven’t been able to confirm all the details yet because the announcements are only a day old, but theoretically for an additional $20 you can turn on the tethering feature and use your iPhone as a hot-spot and connect your iPad to the internet either through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. With the unlimited data plan on the iPhone, you’re good to go and can watch movies and surf the internet on the iPad until your heart’s content. There are some technical drawback to tethering but we’ll leave that for another article.
Here’s a link to learn more about AT&T’s iPhone and SmartPhone data plan changes.
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Founder of Current Photographer, co-host of The Digital Photography Cafe Show, Designer, Photographer, and overall tech geek.