eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are offering consumers myriad options to buy or lease one of Apple’s new 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets as they go on sale from Apple this week.
AT&T is offering the iPad Pro that’s equipped with WiFi and cellular connectivity capabilities for $54 a month under a 20-month installment plan (total $1,080) or for $979.99 with a two-year contract. Customers can order the devices through AT&T’s Website or in its stores with shipments expected to begin on Nov. 16. AT&T customers can add iPad Pro to an existing Mobile Share plan for $10 per month. The tablets can be ordered in silver, space gray or gold.
T-Mobile is making the iPad Pro available to its customers starting Nov. 18 through its Jump! On Demand program, which lets users trade in their devices later for newer models at no extra upgrade cost. T-Mobile also is only offering the iPad Pro that is equipped with WiFi and cellular services for $199.99 up-front and $34 a month, or they can buy it with interest-free financing for $199.99 down and payments of $36.67 for 23 months, plus a final payment of $36.59 (total $1,079.99).
Verizon is offering the device for $44.99 a month for 24 months (total $1,079.76) in gray, silver or gold. Customers also can get one under a two-year contract for $979.99 or for the full retail price of $1,079.99, with shipments to start by Nov. 20.
The iPad Pro starts at $799 for a model without cellular connectivity and went on sale online at Apple’s Website today. It will be available in Apple stores and in select other stores later this week, according to a recent eWEEK report.
The iPad Pro, which the company announced at its Sept. 9 product launch event, is an enterprise-aimed machine featuring a 12.9-inch diagonal Retina display made up of 5.6 million pixels—more pixels than a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The iPad Pro, which runs the latest iOS 9 operating system, also includes Apple’s third-generation 64-bit A9X chip, which has two times the memory bandwidth of previous versions.
In addition, the iPad Pro has 10-hour battery life, includes Apple’s first-time-ever four-speaker audio system and weighs 1.57 pounds. It also features an 8-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera, a 5MP FaceTime HD camera, Touch ID and 802.11ac WiFi.
Two optional accessories—a $169 snap-on physical “Smart Keyboard” for users who desire the feel of real keys and the new $99 Apple Pencil, which allows users to “draw” on the iPad with a stylus for accurate inputs—are also available.
The iPad Pro models come in silver, gold and space gray and are priced from Apple at $799 for a 32GB device with WiFi, $949 for a 128GB version, or $1,079 for a 128GB model with both WiFi and LTE cellular connectivity.
The iPad Pro is Apple’s largest-ever iPad model. The iPad Air and Air 2 have 9.7-inch displays, while the iPad Mini 4 and iPad Mini 2 have 7.9-inch displays.
Samsung also recently joined the large-screen tablet wars with its consumer-focused Galaxy View tablet, which sports an 18.4 -inch Full HD display that the company hopes will create a new home entertainment niche for a large, mobile device. The Galaxy View tablet includes a kickstand for easy viewing and a host of preloaded streaming content sources where users can view movies and television shows on the fly, according to an earlier eWEEK report.