My 9.7-inch LTE iPad Pro comes with an embedded Apple SIM, which is awesome for those folks who don’t want to bother fiddling with those tiny Nano SIMs Apple like to use. For those who DO like to fiddle with them, however (like me), there is also the option of using the onboard SIM to sign up for T-Mobile’s awesome $10 plan that gives you 5GB to use over 5 months, along with 200MB per month free for the life of the device. I tried to find a link to this plan but it only shows up when you go to the signup page from inside the Settings app on the iPad.
I also have an AT&T SIM that’s attached to an account that harkens back to the days of the first iPad launch 7 years ago. Back then, AT&T offered an unlimited data for $30/mo plan that I signed up for and never stopped using. I moved this SIM to the iPad Mini that serves as my in-car nav console (no, I don’t leave it in my car 24/7, so don’t bother breaking in), but can now move it back to my Pro when I travel.
Moving between SIMs is super-easy: just to go into the Settings app and tap on “Cellular Data.” You’ll see both your SIMs there, and can switch between the two.
My main reason for having the T-Mobile plan, however, is to have a means of tracking my iPad if it were to get lost or stolen. That 200MB/mo isn’t much in terms of data (a single YouTube video can chew that down), but it’s plenty to help me track my iPad via the Find my iPhone system.
To make sure I always have enough data available on my T-Mobile plan, I turned off the use of Cellular Data for all but that one app.
There. Now I have plenty of data available for that tracking goodness.
Side note: I did go ahead and buy the iPad Baby Pro, despite lusting after the Big Pro. I’ll explain why later…