T-Mobile to sell 16GB iPads with no downpayment

iPad Air display

Piggy-backing on Tuesday’s unveiling of the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display, the agile T-Mobile USA immediately tweeted out they’ll be carrying cellular models with a free 200MB plan. Today, the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier, the nation’s fourth-largest, has shed more light on its iPad strategy.

Your key takeaway: there will be no downpayment for those in the market for a cellular iPad Air or Retina iPad mini variant. However, the no-downpayment bait applies only to the entry-level models with sixteen gigabytes of storage. The full breakdown of T-Mobile’s UnCarrier offering is right below…

32GB/64GB iPads still require a downpayment.

For example, the 16/32GB iPad Air/Retina iPad mini models are available with a downpayment of $99/$199. Though T-Mobile doesn’t require a downpayment for the entry-level 16GB iPads, you’ll be paying off your hardware through monthly installments.

In the case of the 16GB iPad Air, you’ll be paying $26.25 per month over 24 months, or $22.08 for the iPad mini Retina display. The original iPad mini is $17.91 a month over 24 months, with no downpayment.

These monthly installments pretty much work out to Apple’s retail pricing.

For example, the 16GB iPad Air will ultimately set you back $630 (24 monthly payments of $26.25). As for the 16GB Retina iPad mini, 24 monthly payments of $22.08 work out to $530, matching Apple’s asking price.

Other totals: the 32GB/64GB iPad Air is $729.99/$829.99, the 32GB/64GB Retina iPad mini is $629.91/$729.91 and the original 16GB iPad mini 16 is $429.99.

Should you cancel your wireless service, the remaining balance on device becomes due.

Again, all of these prices are for cellular iPad models.

tmobile1
Chart via MacRumors.

T-Mobile’s press release states that every T-Mobile iPad user will receive 200 MB of free 4G LTE data for life – that is, “for as long as they own their iPad, even if they aren’t yet a T-Mobile customer”.

Other plans are available as well:

For T-Mobile voice customers, ‘always-on’ iPad plans start at just $10 a month for unlimited data including 500 MB of 4G LTE data each month. Customers can add even more 4G LTE data in 2 GB increments for just $10 more per month.

For customers who would rather have the flexibility of on-demand data, T-Mobile offers daily and weekly passes. Daily passes include unlimited data with 500 MB of 4G LTE data starting at just $5. The weekly passes include unlimited data with 1 GB of 4G LTE data for $10. No caps. No overages. Just simple value.

The iPad Air will land on Apple and carrier store shelves on November 1 in a few dozen countries. As for the Retina iPad mini model, Apple has not set release date yet beyond the vague “coming late in November” statement on its website.

Cody has detailed information on pricing and availability.