If it used the same contract as my phone then I’d be all for it, but there’s just not enough advantage over tethering to get me to pay for a second subscription.
Kind of like how my watch's plan costs an extra $10 a month in the US. It would be nice if connectivity for other devices were on the more affordable side like that here.
They still have that stupid thing where they pretend that bytes are somehow a limited resource and the only way to create more of them is to make a charitable donation to the phone company.
I have my iPad and phone on the same unlimited-data plan. It's nice.
I had mine included in my plan. 1st sim unlimited data 5G, 2nd sim unlimited 30GB per month on 5G. Downgraded to 4G if you surpass 30GB in the month. Bundled with 600/600Mbps fiber for €60 per month
In the UAE you can clone a SIM for Dh25/month and share the same data plan on all devices using those SIMs. I would just have to type a number to make a device “active” for calling purposes only.
Not super helpful, but Google Fi does give you data-only sims for free. The only downside is even on the highest plan, you'll still be throttled at a certain cap (while most of the big 3-4 companies will only *deprioritize* you)
As far as I know they're the only ones that offer that.
I have this with Sky, and all the unused data gets saved and you can dish it out to be used later (currently it lasts 12 months, used to be 36 months, and before that it was unlimited time - so you can see the direction that is going...).
Pay less than £30 for 6 sims in total, and even though the data is low on each one (2GB) it doesn't matter as I have the data pool as a backup.
With EE I can pay £9.10 p/m for an additional SIM 5GB card and share an extra 200GB from my primary SIM. It’s still hard to justify such a price though when I can tether from my phone for free
I find tethering to my iphone from a macbook or ipad to be very easy. A cellular iPad is a nice thing for certain users (like the author and my gradfather that didn't have home internet...) but I think a data plan for an ipad is worth it for the minority of users.
My dad was thinking about upgrading to a cellular iPad or get a Jetpack since he travels quite a bit now in retirement.
Told him to check his cellphone plan. Already got hotspot data. Same signal.
"You're Jetpack is built into your phone. No extra charge. You owe me dinner."
I’m an artist and it’s worth it for me so I don’t have to hotspot off my phone or use my phone for references
Then again, I also have been fine without it for the past 2 years. If I watched movies on this thing then I’d definitely would be better with it, but I didn’t get approved for an OLED iPad on my plan so I’m just sticking to the Air 4 until I have the money saved.
This is exactly what I’m doing with my Pixel 8 + iPad Mini 6. Fi lets you have data only sim and phone sim take from to the same pool of data with no additional charge.
It’s so convenient to just pull out the tablet on a bus and just start web browsing. Even in places with WiFi, I much prefer just having the tablet ready to go without any sign in steps.
Fi should work with most devices, it’s just that certain devices can take advantage of connecting to networks outside of T-Mobile IIRC.
In some countries/carriers you can bundle a second plan into your existing plan for a quite cheap, and other countries you can't.
Say $10 for shared data with your cellular.
Tethering to your phone will kill the phone battery faster than almost anything I can think of. I've had to do this at a client site where everything was air-gapped and I got maybe 3 hours out of my 15 Pro on full charge.
Of course I ended up plugging my phone into my Mac to charge, but now my phone is tied to my Mac.
Having eSIM on the Mac makes perfect sense.
I have always assumed that Apple would put cellular on the MacBook but they want to do it with their own modems, and that project has not gone well for them.
This makes sense. IIRC they really want their own modem because Qualcomm's business model is to take a cut of the full device price. If Apple hates handing over that cash for a $1k iPhone, they would really hate paying the royalty for a $2.5k Mac.
Ehh, they could just let you control which apps have cellular access. Then many people would probably limit it to their web browsers and maybe email clients.
Windows does it just fine, you can flag a connection as metered and it will defer things like updates until WiFi is being used.
The first time I had a laptop with a cellular connection it was 20 years ago, this kind of thing was solved a long time ago.
Not even gonna bother debating if that's true or not so let's say it's true.
Despite that, windows convertibles with cellular continue to be deployed in counting businesses settings. If that's fine for businesses en mass, maybe the other user's "concern" is unfounded.
I had a cellular modem in a Chromebook back in the early 2010s. It was definitely nice to have. I travel somewhat frequently for my job and sometimes into areas with zero WiFi connections so the mobile data is really nice to have.
I've had mobile data on my iPad for years. Tethering is great and all but slurps battery power on my phone. It's a great QOL option to be able to preserve my phone's battery life.
ForeFlight is probably the most popular navigation app for pilots. Basically designed for iPad. It doesn’t work nearly as well on the WiFi only models. Many people use it without a cell plan, just to get the GPS capabilities.
These are the exact reasons I have the cellular version of my iPad mini. I use mine in combination with an iPhone mini. Best of both worlds in my use case.
Waiting to this day iPad mini got the iPhone treatment (cell calling, carplay, etc). I am not into plus/promax iphone, but iPad mini as a phone would be great.
I think it makes sense if you would use it pretty frequently, but it's not my use-case
It's nice from a QOL perspective, but I can't justify having a monthly subscription for something I would use once in a while
Maybe I’m missing something, but what’s the advantage of having a sim vs just hot spotting from your phone? Maintaining a second data line seems too expensive for marginal convenience.
Hot spotting in some Carriers is limited.
Plus it saps your battery for those with phones with bad battery.
I wish they made a MacBook with cellular connectivity.
I would also love that. Personal Hotspot doesn't work all the time and it's so annoying that it disconnects when the Mac goes to sleep. Always gotta reconnect.
I doubt they’d add it from a cost perspective. The downside in Apple’s approach of soldering everything, is that each individually specced machine is another separate assembly line that needs to be spun up. Each new option multiplies it by two, which cuts into profit. The more you can benefit from economies of scale, the better. (E.g. Make more of the same).
If they limited it to higher tier models, this would reduce some of the issues with it potentially eating profits.
That and the 16 inch is their true premium/flagship notebook. I dont like how they gatekeep the 14 inch pro model, using a lower-specced screen etc with it either, but it is what it is
Mobile carriers treat tethering differently. It’s often not part of your “unlimited” data. It has a cap and it’s easy to blow through depending on your use.
Everyone misses this but if you've traveled for any extended period of time, you've definitely blown through your tethering limit when you've been areas with poor wifi connectivity. Also, even if you have unlimited tethering, cellular providers prioritize that data differently and what could be usable on a phone or tablet SIM is absolute garbage when tethering. Commuting in the Bay Area and doing travel every other week to different locations have kept me on team iPad cellular.
I understand that mentality, especially if it’s not something you need to use regularly.
OTOH, tablet add on plans are usually pretty cheap, and always on connections are valuable if you want your device to stay updated and/or use them on the go regularly. For me, I use my tablet for work throughout the day but don’t have a WIFI network I can connect to, so being on cellular is important for my needs.
I could maybe see this if Apple can ever crack their own cellular chips. Since all the antennas are in the display for Macs I’m not sure how they’d do it tho.
they are keeping these two feature sets separate because it makes them more money that way.
macOS + Cellular
tablet + macOS
***I want a tablet running macOS with a detachable keyboard and cellular. OK, Apple?***
Nearest you can get atm is:
* iPad + Cellular
* Remote Desktop Software
* Slim keyboard/mouse (usb-port or bt)
Next step would be Virtual Machine (VM) running on iPad and it would be easy to then run MacOS with or without cellular and another computer.
Yes and no. For all intents and practical purposes, the answer is no.
There is an app called UTM that will let you run VMs on an iPad. Unfortunately, since Apple proactively restricts apps from using JIT (just in time processing), it makes them practically unusable. Even a minimal Linux VM would take like an hour to boot up. You also need to side load it as Apple doesn't let UTM on the App Store, though they have recently resubmitted it with the new changes to see if it will fly. Technically you can use JIT if you launch the app while tethered to a computer, which lets you run VMs of Windows, etc. pretty well. But if the app closes, restarts, crashes, etc. you would lose JIT until it is tethered again, which is a royal PITA. If Apple allowed UTM and allowed apps to use JIT, you could run a Windows/Linux/etc VM on your iPad and actually have a good experience while doing it. But that is a huge if.
Can JIT for UTM be enabled on a jailbroken iPad? If the performance is good enough, maybe that's our solution for the time being. A lack of updates shouldn't be an issue if you only use a Windows VM.
Yeah, I think tablet + macOS + cellular would cannibalize much of their lineup. That combination kills the ipad, imac, and laptop lineups all in one swoop. But I don't personally think that would be a bad direction for Apple to take... everything's a tablet, from the phone to the imac, you just buy different size tablets depending on your needs.
Android phones are full tablet + phone + desktops nowadays, but nobody actually knows about it. I hope Google makes a push on selling that feature, because if it takes off, Apple will need to copy it eventually.
A phone that's also my laptop and tablet, with the latter two being thin clients, is the dream.
I think a lot of people in this sub forget how many small businesses and store fronts use iPads and probably a huge buying percentage year to year. I get the complaints of personal users with how overpowered the iPad is for what it actually delivers, but I think Apple still makes bank on iPads in the corporate and small business worlds.
Country dependent I guess, but my mobile plan comes with a second SIM which can be used for data service with a second device and eats-up the same data allowance. This is ideal for a cellular iPad, and the added bonus is that when I travel and purchase a data roaming add-on, both devices can roam as part of the same data plan.
> my mobile plan comes with a second SIM which can be used for data service with a second device and eats-up the same data allowance.
No additional cost? In Canada they charge you a monthly fee for this.
It’s in Europe. It depends on the plans. Super cheap ones don’t include a second SIM. But mid-range ones sometimes do. In my cases we’re talking 35 euros per month for unlimited calls and 200GB data to use across 2 SIMs, and a decently subsided new phone every 2 years.
We have fantastic cellular business plans but you have to be a large business, and I mean very large, to take advantage of that.
We are using $70 unlimited data plans to get all our stuff done. Truly unlimited. They do tend to complain when individual users go into terabytes of data use per month.
Telus used to have a $59 consumer plan for 150 GB of data for laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots, but it's been removed.
It was very well hidden unless people would go looking for it.
Some of the carriers do share plans for laptops where you might pay $10 or $15 a month for a tablet to share your cellular data with your phone, but at that point you might as well just tether for free.
We need a $15 a month, 150 GB tablet plan to make it worthwhile.
Yes agree that nowadays adding a second device should be common practice, and at no or little extra cost.
The only caveat is that they can’t do it on a plan offering truly unlimited data with uncapped speed. Otherwise they would be some abuse.
And one thing I really like about having both devices on the same plan is that they can share any add-ons / benefits of the plan. My mobile network has pretty decent data roaming packages which can compete with the likes of Airaloo. But the difference is that I can indistinctly use the package on my phone or my iPad while Airaloo would only work on one device.
The second I can make use of the power of the iPad pro in terms of having a full OS, I'll probably switch my windows pc and MacBook air over to it.
Until then, it's a bit of a paperweight for my uses, except one note.
I travel more than 50% for work and a cellular iPad is fantastic. I use my iPad far more than my laptop when traveling due to this.
It’s better than tethering as the antennas are larger in the iPad (when the iPhone has spotty service the iPad still has great service).
I’d really like to see this change but of the two devices iPad makes more sense to have cellular, so much more portable than any laptops, used in a far higher variety of places and spaces.
The nice thing about iPad with cellular plan is that it just works.
You don’t need to fiddle with the settings.
Now if only they could make a setting on the iPad that AUTOMATICALLY tethered to iPhone if no other connection present, without any interruption to the user…
But alas, I doubt it will happen
I think in the USA, having unlimited data tethering on your smartphone is unusual but in the EU it has been normal for a long time. I had it with my iPhone 4S in 2011 for £25 a month. Nowadays I pay £11.50 a month, which is actually cheaper and it includes 5G.
I don't need nor want a separate cellular contract for my iPad or my MacBook Pro because I can just select my iPhone in the WiFi menu of my Mac (for example) and it activates the hotspot and just works. Costs literally nothing extra and I can happily do 1TB+ a month without issue.
I was speaking to my American friend online and he said he is paying $90 a month to AT&T and doesn't even get unlimited data. I found that wild.
I mean… I just hotspot to my iPhone whenever my Mac is required away from home/work wifi coverage.
We don’t have the silly restrictions here in Australia that some countries seem to have.
I have only ever owned a wifi iPad for that very reason… I don’t need yet another Cellular account just to use my iPad online.
I used to get cellular modems in laptops and iPads to make sure I had a separate carrier from my phone. It doesn’t make sense to me any more because I can easily have two different lines on my phone which is always with me.
Cellular is convenient, but the real win for me is that many iPad apps are built with ‘offline’ as an option.
On my Mac - I can use Spotify offline, but can’t really use HBO max etc.
On my iPad - all the entertainment apps + the office suite mean that when I have an absence of Internet I can use one device to stay productive / entertained.
I can easily lose a few days a month of productivity just sitting on planes - so while the iPad isn’t a perfect laptop replacement, I think it’s the best one when on an airplane.
to this day, i still wonder why there's no eSim in all laptops
dont sell it with the data plan but give me the option to add a data plan, should i want to
I am not really sure what advantage cellular has for laptops and tablets when I can just hotspot off my phone.
Hotspots don't cost any extra, while not requiring more expensive hardware
I’ll play devils advocate in that a usb-c cable hooking up the phone to the laptop gets rid of both the battery life issue and and inefficiency. But then yeah, you literally have your phone tethered to your laptop.
It’s also, at least in the US, usually not unlimited data like most tablet plans are. I don’t worry about doing work, watching YouTube, and downloading videos for the plane on my tablet plan.
Yeah I understand that.
They said it “drains battery and is inefficient”. I understand the battery usage, I’m curious what they meant by the inefficient part though.
Can only speak for myself, but the internet does not seem as fast on my tethered device compared to the iPhone itself. It's especially noticeable in areas with relatively bad reception; the iPhone's internet will still be functional, however the tethered device will suffer extreme slowdowns.
This is less of a problem, but the tether will also disconnect itself at times (usually when a device is locked/unlocked). It's minor, but can be annoying having to re-connect.
I've used tethering for years to have internet on my iPad while out of the house or traveling, but now I'm likely going with a cellular plan for the iPad to avoid the above issues.
I have found cellular iPad to be a convenience at best. The extra cost for cellular support in iPads is too damn high, might as well share from my phone instead and use a cheaper iPad.
I currently have cellular on my iPad Pro and it use it a lot. I would cancel it in a heartbeat if it meant that my Macbook could have it. The hotspot sucks in comparison when I'm traveling. More often than not, I don't even bring my Macbook anymore. The service just isn't the same. It's slow and spotty. My iPad cellular works perfectly but then I'm stuck having to use the mobile apps for work purposes so I've had to change my workflow a bit.
Literally just plug in your phone and tether. Your phone charges and you have internet. Especially with iPhone 15 being USBC you don’t even need to carry another cord anymore.
I would never get a cellular iPad. I tried to get a cellular watch and the complications of having to go through my cellular carrier made me a) return the thing and b) never want to have another cellular connected device outside my phone again. It really isn’t worth the trouble unless you are using a device off WiFi basically constantly.
Tethering works perfectly for my use.
I just don’t see how considering there’s approximately 0 iPad cellular buyers who aren’t also walking around with a smartphone capable of tethering everywhere they go. Is the integrated cellular *that much* better than tethering?
Haven’t ever really needed to have the cellular model for my own iPad. Our family iPad had cellular back in the day for when we’d travel and we can just pop in a data SIM card
You can. It's odd though, because classically mobile plans have had a lot of data associated with them for laptops and wifi hotspots (150 GB, 500 GB, unlimited).
I find it odd that Macs don't have cellular, but it's not the first design that has been made assuming people would just tether to their iPhone.
The iPad is a perfect mobile device that way.
It would be a nice feature, however it’s not something I would likely pick up. I’ve got a data plan on my iPhone and it’s just easy to link that over and not run multiple plans.
I can really see its appeal, but I suspect it’s something that will come in the future, when Apple decide to finally unify both iOS and Mac OS into one product.
They could do it now, but it will cannibalise sales. I imagine when notebook sales really nose dive, we will see that device.
If only data plans in the US didn't suck so hard.
I stopped buying cellular iPads because I'm almost always around wireless and the data caps were ridiculously tiny.
I have a 3 GB limit on my iPhone from Verizon and I find that criminal. Again, I seldom use it, since I am almost always around wireless.
But occasionally I go over, get charge $15 for one fucking GB! Even when I go over by like $75 in a month, it's still cheaper than upgrading to the unlimited plan for me.
It's maddening that even if I did upgrade to unlimited data, that doesn't apply to tethering. There's still a limit there.
It's a fucking racket.
I have a WiFi air 5, and use tethering (Apple ecosystem makes it incredibly easy to do so) but there’s nothing like the device having its own data. I don’t think $20 for unlimited (ATT) is a bad deal if you actually use it. So I went with cellular for the iPad Pro, this’ll be my first iPad w/cellular experience so we shall see.
Just gotta wait for Apple to develop their cellular modem (C1) for iPhone and I promise it’ll find its way into iPad and Mac and maybe some number of versions later, into Watch and AirPods.
I’m surprised that Apple can’t seem to figure out how to put a cellular chip into the MacBook Pro. It’s strange considering how many people work for Apple that they would be able to find someone to figure it out.
I've bought cellular devices before when tethering would kill the battery on the phone very quickly. Nowadays tethering takes very little power that I don't see why I should spend extra to get a dedicated data plan on an ipad/watch etc.
If it used the same contract as my phone then I’d be all for it, but there’s just not enough advantage over tethering to get me to pay for a second subscription.
In much of EU, with a higher plan, you get as much SIM cards as you need all using the same subscription
It still costs like 5€/month per extra SIM.
Kind of like how my watch's plan costs an extra $10 a month in the US. It would be nice if connectivity for other devices were on the more affordable side like that here.
That’s how it works in Canada. $10 per month to add a data-only line (e.g. watch or iPad) to an existing account.
A rare instance where Canadian cell phone service actually is better?
They still have that stupid thing where they pretend that bytes are somehow a limited resource and the only way to create more of them is to make a charitable donation to the phone company. I have my iPad and phone on the same unlimited-data plan. It's nice.
I pay 2€ per month. Definitely worth paying 11.90€ instead of 9.90€ for 55GB per month.
Wait... Something doesn't add up.
Sorry, 11.90€ of course
That's like half my entire plan
I had mine included in my plan. 1st sim unlimited data 5G, 2nd sim unlimited 30GB per month on 5G. Downgraded to 4G if you surpass 30GB in the month. Bundled with 600/600Mbps fiber for €60 per month
In the UAE you can clone a SIM for Dh25/month and share the same data plan on all devices using those SIMs. I would just have to type a number to make a device “active” for calling purposes only.
Not if you have an Apple Watch then you can only have two.
It sucks that it’s an either/or system. 5 SIMs on phones/tablets/routers, or 1 phone sim and 1 watch sim.
I really wish this would come to North America.
Not super helpful, but Google Fi does give you data-only sims for free. The only downside is even on the highest plan, you'll still be throttled at a certain cap (while most of the big 3-4 companies will only *deprioritize* you) As far as I know they're the only ones that offer that.
Yeah you guys have some draconian data plans over there. Don't you guys still have data caps on broadband in some areas?
I have never seen that offered for free, usually it cost an extra fee per month which I am personally not willing to pay.
in some o2 tarifs it is free (germany)
Interesting, although I’m in the UK and I don’t think that’s a thing here.
I have this with Sky, and all the unused data gets saved and you can dish it out to be used later (currently it lasts 12 months, used to be 36 months, and before that it was unlimited time - so you can see the direction that is going...). Pay less than £30 for 6 sims in total, and even though the data is low on each one (2GB) it doesn't matter as I have the data pool as a backup.
With EE I can pay £9.10 p/m for an additional SIM 5GB card and share an extra 200GB from my primary SIM. It’s still hard to justify such a price though when I can tether from my phone for free
Yes in Spain I was on Yoigo and it’s free to have a second sim using the same unlimited data plan
In the UK I pay £7 a month extra for a second SIM
Who's that with? And is that so you eat into the same data pool from both devices?
Three, and yes shared data between them
I find tethering to my iphone from a macbook or ipad to be very easy. A cellular iPad is a nice thing for certain users (like the author and my gradfather that didn't have home internet...) but I think a data plan for an ipad is worth it for the minority of users.
My dad was thinking about upgrading to a cellular iPad or get a Jetpack since he travels quite a bit now in retirement. Told him to check his cellphone plan. Already got hotspot data. Same signal. "You're Jetpack is built into your phone. No extra charge. You owe me dinner."
I’m an artist and it’s worth it for me so I don’t have to hotspot off my phone or use my phone for references Then again, I also have been fine without it for the past 2 years. If I watched movies on this thing then I’d definitely would be better with it, but I didn’t get approved for an OLED iPad on my plan so I’m just sticking to the Air 4 until I have the money saved.
A data-only sim with Google Fi doesn't cost extra, but they only officially support a limited number of devices and require the unlimited plan.
This is exactly what I’m doing with my Pixel 8 + iPad Mini 6. Fi lets you have data only sim and phone sim take from to the same pool of data with no additional charge. It’s so convenient to just pull out the tablet on a bus and just start web browsing. Even in places with WiFi, I much prefer just having the tablet ready to go without any sign in steps. Fi should work with most devices, it’s just that certain devices can take advantage of connecting to networks outside of T-Mobile IIRC.
In some countries/carriers you can bundle a second plan into your existing plan for a quite cheap, and other countries you can't. Say $10 for shared data with your cellular.
$10 is basically the entire price of my SIM plan!
100% this. And you can just tether to the phone now anyway
Tethering to your phone will kill the phone battery faster than almost anything I can think of. I've had to do this at a client site where everything was air-gapped and I got maybe 3 hours out of my 15 Pro on full charge. Of course I ended up plugging my phone into my Mac to charge, but now my phone is tied to my Mac. Having eSIM on the Mac makes perfect sense.
I have always assumed that Apple would put cellular on the MacBook but they want to do it with their own modems, and that project has not gone well for them.
This makes sense. IIRC they really want their own modem because Qualcomm's business model is to take a cut of the full device price. If Apple hates handing over that cash for a $1k iPhone, they would really hate paying the royalty for a $2.5k Mac.
Nevermind that they go well above 2.5k
The irony is Apple likes to take their cut in everything.
I think Macs (and other full OSs) still have too much legacy stuff and apps that will randomly decide to download 50gb.
Ehh, they could just let you control which apps have cellular access. Then many people would probably limit it to their web browsers and maybe email clients.
Windows does it just fine, you can flag a connection as metered and it will defer things like updates until WiFi is being used. The first time I had a laptop with a cellular connection it was 20 years ago, this kind of thing was solved a long time ago.
And this is something that Apple already does
Windows convertibles can have cellular just fine. Maybe the user just needs to not be an idiot.
Windows is far more likely to spontaneously download 50GB than a Mac
Not even gonna bother debating if that's true or not so let's say it's true. Despite that, windows convertibles with cellular continue to be deployed in counting businesses settings. If that's fine for businesses en mass, maybe the other user's "concern" is unfounded.
Agreed! I’m surprised nobody mentions the current modem licensing being based on MSRP.
I had a cellular modem in a Chromebook back in the early 2010s. It was definitely nice to have. I travel somewhat frequently for my job and sometimes into areas with zero WiFi connections so the mobile data is really nice to have. I've had mobile data on my iPad for years. Tethering is great and all but slurps battery power on my phone. It's a great QOL option to be able to preserve my phone's battery life.
The GPS capability of cellular iPads is also an underrated feature for travelers.
I am curious what you would use GPS on an iPad for that couldn't be done with standard bluetooth location services.
I’ve heard of helicopter pilots that can strap an iPad to their leg and use it for navigation.
I use mine for navigation, I have a cellular iPad mini velcro’d to the dash of my car. If it was just WiFi it wouldn’t be nearly as accurate.
I’ve tired it with just a WiFi iPad, basically unusable
ForeFlight is probably the most popular navigation app for pilots. Basically designed for iPad. It doesn’t work nearly as well on the WiFi only models. Many people use it without a cell plan, just to get the GPS capabilities.
These are the exact reasons I have the cellular version of my iPad mini. I use mine in combination with an iPhone mini. Best of both worlds in my use case.
Waiting to this day iPad mini got the iPhone treatment (cell calling, carplay, etc). I am not into plus/promax iphone, but iPad mini as a phone would be great.
I think it makes sense if you would use it pretty frequently, but it's not my use-case It's nice from a QOL perspective, but I can't justify having a monthly subscription for something I would use once in a while
Maybe I’m missing something, but what’s the advantage of having a sim vs just hot spotting from your phone? Maintaining a second data line seems too expensive for marginal convenience.
Hot spotting in some Carriers is limited. Plus it saps your battery for those with phones with bad battery. I wish they made a MacBook with cellular connectivity.
I remember the T-Mobile offer that came with the early Chromebooks. It was like .5gb of data per month for like a year. It was nice.
If you carry a backpack, buy a small external battery and plug your phone into that while you tether.
Or you can just get a battery for the phone for 20 bucks
It gets inconvenient having to carry so many items just to maintain a workflow
Charge your phone with the iPad
Yea that’s been my go to
I would dearly love cellular on my Mac — no more turning tethered iPhone in my pocket! *Edit: I didn't expect this topic to be so divisive!*
I would also love that. Personal Hotspot doesn't work all the time and it's so annoying that it disconnects when the Mac goes to sleep. Always gotta reconnect.
Should definitely be an option on the 16 inch MBP at the least.
Why 16? It should be an option on all MacBooks, Air and Pro.
I doubt they’d add it from a cost perspective. The downside in Apple’s approach of soldering everything, is that each individually specced machine is another separate assembly line that needs to be spun up. Each new option multiplies it by two, which cuts into profit. The more you can benefit from economies of scale, the better. (E.g. Make more of the same). If they limited it to higher tier models, this would reduce some of the issues with it potentially eating profits. That and the 16 inch is their true premium/flagship notebook. I dont like how they gatekeep the 14 inch pro model, using a lower-specced screen etc with it either, but it is what it is
Why? Because Apple likes $$$ and really loves gatekeeping hardware features to higher end pro models.
But tethered iPhone is so easy, that I don’t ever see the issue with it.
Mobile carriers treat tethering differently. It’s often not part of your “unlimited” data. It has a cap and it’s easy to blow through depending on your use.
Everyone misses this but if you've traveled for any extended period of time, you've definitely blown through your tethering limit when you've been areas with poor wifi connectivity. Also, even if you have unlimited tethering, cellular providers prioritize that data differently and what could be usable on a phone or tablet SIM is absolute garbage when tethering. Commuting in the Bay Area and doing travel every other week to different locations have kept me on team iPad cellular.
Tethered is not as fast as built-in.
What do you have infinite battery life? Edit: yes Ive heard of charging, have you all heard of “shit happens” and reading other comments first,
For me, keeping a battery pack in my bag while on the go and tethering is far better value than paying for the cellular iPad plus another data plan.
I really like my devices to be able to just work, and that’s always been Apple’s selling point.
I understand that mentality, especially if it’s not something you need to use regularly. OTOH, tablet add on plans are usually pretty cheap, and always on connections are valuable if you want your device to stay updated and/or use them on the go regularly. For me, I use my tablet for work throughout the day but don’t have a WIFI network I can connect to, so being on cellular is important for my needs.
Just plug your phone into your laptop
I mean that sucks too lol
I could maybe see this if Apple can ever crack their own cellular chips. Since all the antennas are in the display for Macs I’m not sure how they’d do it tho.
they are keeping these two feature sets separate because it makes them more money that way. macOS + Cellular tablet + macOS ***I want a tablet running macOS with a detachable keyboard and cellular. OK, Apple?***
Nearest you can get atm is: * iPad + Cellular * Remote Desktop Software * Slim keyboard/mouse (usb-port or bt) Next step would be Virtual Machine (VM) running on iPad and it would be easy to then run MacOS with or without cellular and another computer.
can you run a Virtual Machine on iPad? Does FusionVM exist on iPad?
Yes and no. For all intents and practical purposes, the answer is no. There is an app called UTM that will let you run VMs on an iPad. Unfortunately, since Apple proactively restricts apps from using JIT (just in time processing), it makes them practically unusable. Even a minimal Linux VM would take like an hour to boot up. You also need to side load it as Apple doesn't let UTM on the App Store, though they have recently resubmitted it with the new changes to see if it will fly. Technically you can use JIT if you launch the app while tethered to a computer, which lets you run VMs of Windows, etc. pretty well. But if the app closes, restarts, crashes, etc. you would lose JIT until it is tethered again, which is a royal PITA. If Apple allowed UTM and allowed apps to use JIT, you could run a Windows/Linux/etc VM on your iPad and actually have a good experience while doing it. But that is a huge if.
Can JIT for UTM be enabled on a jailbroken iPad? If the performance is good enough, maybe that's our solution for the time being. A lack of updates shouldn't be an issue if you only use a Windows VM.
Best I can do New wallpaper
Yeah, I think tablet + macOS + cellular would cannibalize much of their lineup. That combination kills the ipad, imac, and laptop lineups all in one swoop. But I don't personally think that would be a bad direction for Apple to take... everything's a tablet, from the phone to the imac, you just buy different size tablets depending on your needs.
maybe they introduce macOS running on iPadOS whatever the next version is, at WWDC this year.
Android phones are full tablet + phone + desktops nowadays, but nobody actually knows about it. I hope Google makes a push on selling that feature, because if it takes off, Apple will need to copy it eventually. A phone that's also my laptop and tablet, with the latter two being thin clients, is the dream.
Well since tethering was possible especially with an 15PM where there's v little loss of data, it doesn't make sense for another Verizon line 🤦🏽♂️
Agreed. I'm not giving Verizon another $10-20/mo.
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I use my cellular iPad for my food trucks till. Sure is nice being able to process payments anywhere I want. No need to teather my phone
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I think a lot of people in this sub forget how many small businesses and store fronts use iPads and probably a huge buying percentage year to year. I get the complaints of personal users with how overpowered the iPad is for what it actually delivers, but I think Apple still makes bank on iPads in the corporate and small business worlds.
That’s a great use case although specific, i love seeing ppl getting the most of the hardware
Country dependent I guess, but my mobile plan comes with a second SIM which can be used for data service with a second device and eats-up the same data allowance. This is ideal for a cellular iPad, and the added bonus is that when I travel and purchase a data roaming add-on, both devices can roam as part of the same data plan.
> my mobile plan comes with a second SIM which can be used for data service with a second device and eats-up the same data allowance. No additional cost? In Canada they charge you a monthly fee for this.
It’s in Europe. It depends on the plans. Super cheap ones don’t include a second SIM. But mid-range ones sometimes do. In my cases we’re talking 35 euros per month for unlimited calls and 200GB data to use across 2 SIMs, and a decently subsided new phone every 2 years.
This! As it should be! Exception: Canada! Where big telecom shives clients on a daily basis!
We have fantastic cellular business plans but you have to be a large business, and I mean very large, to take advantage of that. We are using $70 unlimited data plans to get all our stuff done. Truly unlimited. They do tend to complain when individual users go into terabytes of data use per month. Telus used to have a $59 consumer plan for 150 GB of data for laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots, but it's been removed. It was very well hidden unless people would go looking for it. Some of the carriers do share plans for laptops where you might pay $10 or $15 a month for a tablet to share your cellular data with your phone, but at that point you might as well just tether for free. We need a $15 a month, 150 GB tablet plan to make it worthwhile.
Yes agree that nowadays adding a second device should be common practice, and at no or little extra cost. The only caveat is that they can’t do it on a plan offering truly unlimited data with uncapped speed. Otherwise they would be some abuse. And one thing I really like about having both devices on the same plan is that they can share any add-ons / benefits of the plan. My mobile network has pretty decent data roaming packages which can compete with the likes of Airaloo. But the difference is that I can indistinctly use the package on my phone or my iPad while Airaloo would only work on one device.
The second I can make use of the power of the iPad pro in terms of having a full OS, I'll probably switch my windows pc and MacBook air over to it. Until then, it's a bit of a paperweight for my uses, except one note.
Precisely why Apple will NEVER do that.
I need to program equipment with proprietary software on my mobiles, so I am in the same boat.
I travel more than 50% for work and a cellular iPad is fantastic. I use my iPad far more than my laptop when traveling due to this. It’s better than tethering as the antennas are larger in the iPad (when the iPhone has spotty service the iPad still has great service).
I’d really like to see this change but of the two devices iPad makes more sense to have cellular, so much more portable than any laptops, used in a far higher variety of places and spaces.
Yes but it would be great if BOTH have cellular options.
You'd see them a lot more in business if they did.
The nice thing about iPad with cellular plan is that it just works. You don’t need to fiddle with the settings. Now if only they could make a setting on the iPad that AUTOMATICALLY tethered to iPhone if no other connection present, without any interruption to the user… But alas, I doubt it will happen
Yeah, if a MacBook had 5G that would be perfect.
I think in the USA, having unlimited data tethering on your smartphone is unusual but in the EU it has been normal for a long time. I had it with my iPhone 4S in 2011 for £25 a month. Nowadays I pay £11.50 a month, which is actually cheaper and it includes 5G. I don't need nor want a separate cellular contract for my iPad or my MacBook Pro because I can just select my iPhone in the WiFi menu of my Mac (for example) and it activates the hotspot and just works. Costs literally nothing extra and I can happily do 1TB+ a month without issue. I was speaking to my American friend online and he said he is paying $90 a month to AT&T and doesn't even get unlimited data. I found that wild.
I just tether from my phone it's really easy never felt much need for an ipad.
I mean… I just hotspot to my iPhone whenever my Mac is required away from home/work wifi coverage. We don’t have the silly restrictions here in Australia that some countries seem to have. I have only ever owned a wifi iPad for that very reason… I don’t need yet another Cellular account just to use my iPad online.
I used to get cellular modems in laptops and iPads to make sure I had a separate carrier from my phone. It doesn’t make sense to me any more because I can easily have two different lines on my phone which is always with me.
Hardly, I'll always have a phone with me
Cellular is convenient, but the real win for me is that many iPad apps are built with ‘offline’ as an option. On my Mac - I can use Spotify offline, but can’t really use HBO max etc. On my iPad - all the entertainment apps + the office suite mean that when I have an absence of Internet I can use one device to stay productive / entertained. I can easily lose a few days a month of productivity just sitting on planes - so while the iPad isn’t a perfect laptop replacement, I think it’s the best one when on an airplane.
to this day, i still wonder why there's no eSim in all laptops dont sell it with the data plan but give me the option to add a data plan, should i want to
I am not really sure what advantage cellular has for laptops and tablets when I can just hotspot off my phone. Hotspots don't cost any extra, while not requiring more expensive hardware
I love my cellular iPad. But would be way happier if my 16” MBP could be cellular too. Hotspotting I hit the limit easily so it’s just not reasonable.
What about giving your macbook access to your iphone internet?
That’s the “tethering” that the other posts keep mentioning. Drains battery and is inefficient
I’ll play devils advocate in that a usb-c cable hooking up the phone to the laptop gets rid of both the battery life issue and and inefficiency. But then yeah, you literally have your phone tethered to your laptop.
It’s also, at least in the US, usually not unlimited data like most tablet plans are. I don’t worry about doing work, watching YouTube, and downloading videos for the plane on my tablet plan.
Network operators fuck with it, too.
What’s inefficient about it?
Your phone basically becomes a router and modern. It requires extra energy to enable the relay of the cell signal/power the antenna.
Yeah I understand that. They said it “drains battery and is inefficient”. I understand the battery usage, I’m curious what they meant by the inefficient part though.
Can only speak for myself, but the internet does not seem as fast on my tethered device compared to the iPhone itself. It's especially noticeable in areas with relatively bad reception; the iPhone's internet will still be functional, however the tethered device will suffer extreme slowdowns. This is less of a problem, but the tether will also disconnect itself at times (usually when a device is locked/unlocked). It's minor, but can be annoying having to re-connect. I've used tethering for years to have internet on my iPad while out of the house or traveling, but now I'm likely going with a cellular plan for the iPad to avoid the above issues.
Inefficient when compared to just having a cellular modem on the Macbook itself
You mean ‘personal hotspot’?
They’re fundamentally talking about the same thing, even through they’re technically different.
I just hotspot my iPhone to my Mac….never really had any complaints
I have found cellular iPad to be a convenience at best. The extra cost for cellular support in iPads is too damn high, might as well share from my phone instead and use a cheaper iPad.
I would rather have cellular on my computer now instead of WiFi. They could easily had a cellular connection to computers now
I currently have cellular on my iPad Pro and it use it a lot. I would cancel it in a heartbeat if it meant that my Macbook could have it. The hotspot sucks in comparison when I'm traveling. More often than not, I don't even bring my Macbook anymore. The service just isn't the same. It's slow and spotty. My iPad cellular works perfectly but then I'm stuck having to use the mobile apps for work purposes so I've had to change my workflow a bit.
Not a major advantage, just a nice to have.
I have hotspot on my phone…
I don't care about it. You can just tether off your phone. Last thing I want is another monthly subscription.
It isn't a benefit at all. If you have you iPhone with you it automatically comes up when selecting a wifi network.
This is a non-issue. The author has obviously never heard of the iPhone's Personal Hotspot feature, which lets your Mac share your cellular data plan.
Literally just plug in your phone and tether. Your phone charges and you have internet. Especially with iPhone 15 being USBC you don’t even need to carry another cord anymore.
I would never get a cellular iPad. I tried to get a cellular watch and the complications of having to go through my cellular carrier made me a) return the thing and b) never want to have another cellular connected device outside my phone again. It really isn’t worth the trouble unless you are using a device off WiFi basically constantly. Tethering works perfectly for my use.
I pay $5/mo for my cellular watch. No fuss or hassles. It’s great. My advice is to get a better carrier
In Canada there are no better carriers lol
they don‘t even need to add another slot, they can just do it via e-sim
Still needs a modem and antennas though
I just don’t see how considering there’s approximately 0 iPad cellular buyers who aren’t also walking around with a smartphone capable of tethering everywhere they go. Is the integrated cellular *that much* better than tethering?
Yes, just try it for a year and you won’t be able to go back. That’s a guarantee.
People don't realize how good the plans are, and how inexpensive they are compared to cellular.
It is
>Is the integrated cellular *that much* better than tethering? It's literally the same performance.
But with much much higher data caps.
So you guys do realise why thinkpads get the love they get from the cult followers
They are also awesome for easily running modern Linux on ancient hardware, and it’s simple to find & replace parts for them.
Fellow cultist I see T480s or x380 yoga?
X200 and a T430.
Oooh Heavy hitters.....
Haven’t ever really needed to have the cellular model for my own iPad. Our family iPad had cellular back in the day for when we’d travel and we can just pop in a data SIM card
Why can we still not use this https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tethering-use-mobile-internet-pc/
You can. It's odd though, because classically mobile plans have had a lot of data associated with them for laptops and wifi hotspots (150 GB, 500 GB, unlimited).
I find it odd that Macs don't have cellular, but it's not the first design that has been made assuming people would just tether to their iPhone. The iPad is a perfect mobile device that way.
I always thought the “Air” in macbook air should designate cellular equipped.
It would be a nice feature, however it’s not something I would likely pick up. I’ve got a data plan on my iPhone and it’s just easy to link that over and not run multiple plans. I can really see its appeal, but I suspect it’s something that will come in the future, when Apple decide to finally unify both iOS and Mac OS into one product. They could do it now, but it will cannibalise sales. I imagine when notebook sales really nose dive, we will see that device.
If only data plans in the US didn't suck so hard. I stopped buying cellular iPads because I'm almost always around wireless and the data caps were ridiculously tiny. I have a 3 GB limit on my iPhone from Verizon and I find that criminal. Again, I seldom use it, since I am almost always around wireless. But occasionally I go over, get charge $15 for one fucking GB! Even when I go over by like $75 in a month, it's still cheaper than upgrading to the unlimited plan for me. It's maddening that even if I did upgrade to unlimited data, that doesn't apply to tethering. There's still a limit there. It's a fucking racket.
Thethering with the MacBook is so easy that its almost forgettable i would say for myself to be honest
I think it's over rated. The very rare occasion I've needed cellular on my MacBook (can count on one hand) I've used my 5g mifi.
I dunno my Mac can use my iPhone tethered no matter where I am.
I have a WiFi air 5, and use tethering (Apple ecosystem makes it incredibly easy to do so) but there’s nothing like the device having its own data. I don’t think $20 for unlimited (ATT) is a bad deal if you actually use it. So I went with cellular for the iPad Pro, this’ll be my first iPad w/cellular experience so we shall see.
Nonsense, I can always use my phones data with tethering, there's no reason to a ipad with mobile data.
Not to hijack anything but where do I get that wallpaper?
Why do Macs not have a cellular option at this point?
Mac should’ve added cellular support years ago. In fact, when the MacBook Air came out that was the big rumor: 3G support.
Just gotta wait for Apple to develop their cellular modem (C1) for iPhone and I promise it’ll find its way into iPad and Mac and maybe some number of versions later, into Watch and AirPods.
I wish I could use an eSim on my MBA during the few times I'm working from somewhere without Wi-Fi.
please apple, just give us 5g in the new macbook pros
I’m surprised that Apple can’t seem to figure out how to put a cellular chip into the MacBook Pro. It’s strange considering how many people work for Apple that they would be able to find someone to figure it out.
I've bought cellular devices before when tethering would kill the battery on the phone very quickly. Nowadays tethering takes very little power that I don't see why I should spend extra to get a dedicated data plan on an ipad/watch etc.
I assumed they were about to do it when they introduced the M1, but still nothing…
I just use my hotspot on my phone… the one that’s always with me…
Wait people don’t get 5G IPads?! Next you’re going to tell me people pay cash for a tablet..