New iPad Can Max Your Data Plan In 10 Minutes

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As much as I would like to kick Apple in the nuts for something like this, isn't this the case with ANY device/phone/tablet on a crappy data plan offered by AT&T and Verizon?

One careless download of a 1080p high-definition movie from the iTunes Store over 4G could eat up your entirely monthly plan and then some. In fact, if you could achieve download speeds at the theoretical maximum 72Mbps of LTE, you could blow through a 5GB plan in just under 10 minutes, and Verizon's largest 10GB tier in about 20. Real-world speeds of course are actually going to be somewhat lower, but we're still talking about the potential to obliterate your entire expensive monthly data plan in much less than a single day.
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Not Apples fault, it's the service providers fault for the low data caps.
 
You can easily max out your data plan just streaming music every day on 3g (from personal experience), for an amt of 5gb monthly allocation. Getting 4G and LTE only helps in doing it even faster. Wireless providers need to rethink their strategy. I highly doubt they are incapable of supporting everyone's wireless traffic and are just in it for more ways to screw ppl for more $.
 
Verizon's LTE isn't hitting anything close to 72mbps anywhere but a laboratory at this time. It's very fast, but I've never seen anything even half of that speed.
 
The fastest I have seen Verizons LTE go is 27Mbps on my brothers Samsung 4G phone.
 
we're still talking about the potential to obliterate your entire expensive monthly data plan in much less than a single day.
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and NOW you know exactly why "data caps" exist in the 1st place :eek:

Do you really think the carriers didn't see this shit coming a long time ago ? Now they believe they can totally justify charging their customers insane amounts of $$$ for every single byte of data....... the phones that could enable this situation are now available, and they are loving every friggin minute of it !
 
While not inherently Apples fault, the fact they're showcasing the additional resolution of the iPad3 as a major selling feature really points to increase bandwidth consumption. Again not Apple's fault, but horse/buggy here.

However the article is stupid for talking "theoretical" speeds, since you know your carrier is going to throttle your speed after the first 100MB is downloaded anyways.
 
Old news for me, I've had Verizon LTE since the day it launched on December 5, 2010 with a USB modem, I've got the 10 GB plan. LTE is awesome but the pricing severely limits it's full potential.
 
Bandwidth caps are freaking retarded. Companies need to upgrade their networks rather than implementing caps.
 
These data caps and tiered plans have got to stop. They largely negate the advantages of having a portable device when you're constantly in fear of going over the cap. This is just like the final days of dial-up and 'counting the minutes' of usage each month. I can think of all sorts of uses for tablets on the go but being gimped into some sort of crazy data cap scheme makes them much less attractive. And it's only worse with LTE as you finally have speeds that make using them on the go as not only practical, but pleasant.
 
Caps are whack. And for the people who like to make the argument that you should pay for what you use... in theory it's better for the carriers when you're on unlimited data. If you pay $30 month, that should be able to cover you maxing out your line 24/7 for the entire month. Since 99.999% of the people aren't going to be doing this, the carrier is charging you for bandwidth you're never going to use. Better for them, right?

But obviously the carriers prefer it the current way because they can charge you $0.01 a megabyte and their networks won't ever get hosed. That's better than the $0.0000013 per megabyte they'd get on unlimited LTE. Who wouldn't want to ramp up the price by 10,000x while simultaneously reducing costs?
 
This is precisely why you should never spend extra $ to get a device with built in cellular. Get a hotspot that works with all of your devices (including linux), and get one with unlimited 4G/LTE/etc. Currently, I think Clearwire offers the best service, with unlimited 4G and no contracts.
 
Decided to finally pick up an iPad 3 (convenient for traveling to scientific conferences :) but would *never* pay extra for one with cellular connectivity, especially given that the price is not subsidized and they're currently restricted to a single carrier. I would expect that many people interested in using the iPad on a cellular network already own a smartphone capable of tethering...
 
Since when did real world ever come close to theoretical? The new iPad will top out at ~20Mbps down just like every other LTE device.
 
well if you have an ipad you have lots of money and you like to spend said money on stupid things anyway...
 
The fastest I've also ever gotten was 40mbps down on Verizon's LTE, and only in a couple of places across town, far from my home. At home, I get around half that.

If I ever lose my precious, worth-its-weight-in-gold unlimited data plan, I wouldn't care if I had 20, 40 or above mbps down. Those fast speeds are useless to me with such puny caps these carriers are touting these days.

I love how they keep advertising faster and faster data speeds such as 84mbps HSPA+ that has been proposed and then a 2gb cap, what a pathetic joke.
 
Screw Verizon, screw AT&T, screw T-mobile, and screw Sprint (even though they talk about having an unlimited plan, the price sucks).

While it would be nice to have a data plan (if I didn't feel like I was getting bent over and f#@k3d in the a$$ for it) I'll wait for something like WiMax that covered a whole metropolitan area at a hundred megabit rates or so, provided for free.
 
The 10 minute claim is basically impossible, the important thing is even paying $80.00 a month you get three high-def movies on netflix before you are tapped for the month.

For those saying it isn't Apple's fault, they are right. But it doesn't mean they had no control over it. You think AT&T is giving out free 3g access to Kindles out of the kindness of their hearts? No, Amazon made that happen. Yes, the kindle consumes virtually no data when compared to streaming a movie but Apple could have made efforts for their customer's experience.

The prices of tablets are inconsequential when compared to the data plans. If I am going to spend $646.50 (3g/4g version with tax) on a tablet I'm going to want to use enough to get my moneys worth. But by watching two movies a month (over 3g/4g a 10GB plan becomes mandatory - costing $1000.00+ annually, after fees/taxes, assuming I never go over, it becomes un-affordable.

These companies are ravaging us and put efforts to suppress competition through exclusivity. Think boost mobile or Ting or metroPCS will ever see an ipad? Not if AT&T / Verizon have anything to say about it.

Can't get a better deal if no where else sells it.

TL;DR: Too many big companies shit on their only source of income.
 
How many LTE devices have there been before the iPad 3 again? Did people suddenly remember how to do math now that Apple's releasing a device that can use LTE?
 
LstOfTheBrunnenG said:
How many LTE devices have there been before the iPad 3 again? Did people suddenly remember how to do math now that Apple's releasing a device that can use LTE?
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This^

Put it in the fanboy bin next to "2048x1536 rez? Pffft... It's not like they're the first to do it (despite the fact they totally are)... My droid phone has better DPI... There are absurdly priced full-size monitors that can do better rez..."

If Apple does something first, its a yawnfest. If someone beats Apple to something, they then use that something to beat on Apple. Fanboy is as fanboy does.
 
If they are gonna call the blog this came from "today in tech" the could go and do something like figure out how fast the realistic speed of the 4g would break the data cap. Using the theortical max speed is lazy as hell. I guess 10 minutes is more of a attention grabbing headline.
 
xSystemFailurex said:
This^

Put it in the fanboy bin next to "2048x1536 rez? Pffft... It's not like they're the first to do it (despite the fact they totally are)... My droid phone has better DPI... There are absurdly priced full-size monitors that can do better rez..."

If Apple does something first, its a yawnfest. If someone beats Apple to something, they then use that something to beat on Apple. Fanboy is as fanboy does.
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Excuse me, but I think you have the wrong thread. This isn't a thread about the announcement of the new iPad or all its awesome features. I actually think that the high resolution screen is really cool and the standardized inclusion of 4G connectivity (no special, obscure, and carrier-exclusive models that come out a year after the original device) is a good step forward. I am 100% willing to give credit where credit is due, but that's not the topic of this thread.

The topic of this thread is an article where someone suddenly discovers that the theoretical max speeds of an LTE device will eat through your bandwidth allotment in a matter of hours. This isn't news. There have been Android phones and full laptops using 4G LTE for a while now. Maybe you're not a fan of these devices - unlike you, I'm not going to assume one way or the other - but most corners of tech journalism are not strangers to them. These sorts of questions should have come up when reviewing those devices.
 
Acoustique said:
well if you have an ipad you have lots of money and you like to spend said money on stupid things anyway...
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^^This + anyone watching 1080p on an 8" screen while mobile is also an idiot.

But but I want to be entertained! All the TIME!!! No wonder the country is a shambles. The idiots are running the asylum.
 
mrpc9886 said:
^^This + anyone watching 1080p on an 8" screen while mobile is also an idiot.
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I don't understand that either. If you're going to watch a high quality picture, why not put it on a huge freaking screen with surround and actually enjoy it? :confused:
 
Crappy data plans + Fancy devices + Fast speed + Extremely high overage charges = Very happy and greedy telco's

However,

Telco happyness α Customer satisfaction.

So as customers, we are NEVER going to be happy.
 
kllrnohj said:
Since when did real world ever come close to theoretical? The new iPad will top out at ~20Mbps down just like every other LTE device.
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Cellular networks vary greatly. In my area Verizon's LTE has reached 55Mbps downstream before. Now Sprint, in some areas I hear they can even hit 1,000Kbps, but here before I dropped them speedtests had dropped so low they were 50-60Kbps (not a type, not KBps, but 50-60Kbps eg ~0.05Mbps)

Droid Charge:
134454478.png
 
kllrnohj said:
Since when did real world ever come close to theoretical? The new iPad will top out at ~20Mbps down just like every other LTE device.
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That's a good point. Instead of 10 minutes to wipe out a 5 GB plan, it's around 36 minutes which is a considerable difference worth nothing over the course of any given month.
 
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