back to article Brits kept waiting as iPad Mini LTE arrives Stateside

The 4G LTE version of Apple's iPad Mini is set to hit US stores this weekend, and some pre-order customers are already starting to receive their slight slates. But over here buyers are being forced to wait until the end of the month. With Apple's 4G iPads and iPad Minis said to be rolling into Sprint stores Stateside even as …

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  1. Alan Denman

    Want to wait?

    Just maybe no one wants it?

    sub 720p iPad with GPS = approx £380 (+3G)

    720p Nexus 7 with GPS = £160

    Worth the wait?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Want to wait?

      Perhaps thay are making sure that there is enough to go around when it does go on sale?

      We will probably never know the real reason but hey that does not stop some people from ranting on.

      In case you think that I'm an fanboi and will be one of those queueing up to get one, then you are sadly mistaken. I have and Android tablet that does what I, repeat I want from it very well. It does not have GPS but that does not bother me at all and yes it is taken outside the home. At the moment it is with me in the middle East. The lack of GPS is not a failure in my view.

      Pretty well all the devices available today pretty well do 'what they say on the tin'. The choice in my opinion of what device to get is down to personal preference and usage pattern.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Want to wait?

      That Nexus is lacking one or two extras that the iPad has - you know, minor things like cellular radio or a large library of tablet optimised software.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Want to wait?

        "That Nexus is lacking one or two extras that the iPad has - you know, minor things like cellular radio "

        ok...

        sub 720p 32Gb iPad with GPS + 3G = £449

        720p 32Gb Nexus 7 with GPS + 3G = £239

        fixed that for you.

        maybe you'd care to explain this while you're here...

        Extra 16Gb in a Nexus = £40

        Extra 16Gb in an iPad mini = £80

        3G in a Nexus = £40

        3G in an iPad = £100

        So 16Gb wi-fi to 32Gb 3G is £80 in a Nexus and £180 in an iPad.

        those extra iPad fart apps... wow... worth it, aren't they?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Want to wait?

          Better, but you're still ignoring the fact that the Nexus only comes with 3G cellular. There might be limited coverage just now for 4G, but where you can get it the results are dramatically better. You want to replace your Nexus next summer? Oh, and you might want to talk about why the Nexus 7 gets low benchmark numbers when it's using flash memory. Cheap flash memory is cheap for a reason.

          The plaintive cry of "fart apps"? Should I comment on the number of screensaver apps in the Play store? Many big name apps on Android look dreadful on a Tablet because of all the empty space. This isn't just me saying that, plenty of Android fans link likewise.

          1. Arctic fox
            Trollface

            Re:"There might be limited coverage just now for 4G," Yeeees, true. However what do you........

            .........imagine the next Nexus will have when that issue is mass-market relevant and deliverable at a mass-market price, hmm? Yes Grasshopper if you actually try thinking you too will eventually attain wisdom.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Want to wait?

            Do not buy the iPad for 4G. It is limited to EE and possibly 3 only. The iPad 4G data plans with the nano SIM are, and I think will be, overpriced.

            Apple has pretty much tuned it for just US frequencies. However I have learned that advertising and feeling special is what matters.

            So those who wish to join a round of BDSM with Apple and EE, please queue at your nearest Apple store. And Obey.

            I look forward to your photos in the media.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Want to wait?

          You may as well say 'feature' in a Ford - £200 - 'feature' in a Ferrari = more. Surprise, surprise.

          It's pointless - you buy an iPad to get iOS and a massive library of 'better' tablet apps and if you have media in iTunes etc. There is nothing wrong with the nexus but it's not an exact like for like comparison anyway - so it really comes down to the apps you want and if you have existing media in iTunes.

          1. Mark .

            Re: Want to wait?

            Except here we can just as well say it's the Ferrari with the lower price.

            Android has 700,000 apps now. As i say in my other post, there is no distinction between smartphone and tablet on either platform. And if Apple apps were each designed for one specific size, then it's no good for this new 8"device anyway!

            And even if you use itunes, i don't see why that locks you into apple only devices. Unless you've let it scramble the files into its own format, and they're only tagged via itunes own format, in which case that's your own bad luck, that you now have to pay out £100 extra as a result.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Want to wait?

            Wow... you really believe this, don't you?

            "You may as well say 'feature' in a Ford - £200 - 'feature' in a Ferrari = more. Surprise, surprise.

            It's pointless - you buy an iPad to get iOS and a massive library of 'better' tablet apps and if you have media in iTunes etc. There is nothing wrong with the nexus but it's not an exact like for like comparison anyway - so it really comes down to the apps you want and if you have existing media in iTunes."

            So, what you're saying is, that having iTunes justifies a 150% higher price for a generic chip? Having more apps really is a reason for more expensive flash memory?

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Mark .

        Re: Want to wait?

        Sorry, what is tablet optimised? A tablet and smartphone are the same thing, just that one has the addition of a phone. If you're referring to size, then by that logic, there are no apps optimised for the ipad mini yet. If apps designed for a 5" phone don't work well, then apps designed for a 10" ipad won't work either. Just because they label it a tablet doesn't magically make them work the same.

        But android has the advantage, since there have long been many sizes of phones/tablets, developers design them to be scaled, as any competent developer does on any platform. On ios, we have apps only designed for a small iphone or 10" device. Also 7" android tablets have already been released for ages, whilst apple said they'd never do one.

        Oh, and by your logic, most the iphone apps won't work well on the latest apple phone, as they were all designed for 3.5".

    3. MGman
      Thumb Down

      Re: Want to wait?

      Seriously? Was that worth posting?

      Do you go to car forums too and say buy a (insert cheap car make) over that super car. It may look nice but it costs loads more and it's terribly uneconomic....

      Actually, can I downvote myself for being drawn into it...

    4. This post has been deleted by its author

    5. LPF
      Meh

      Re: Want to wait?

      Alan grow up, it's a bit of kit, you have your preference, some people prefer apple, let it go man!

    6. Peter 48

      Re: Want to wait?

      or £239 for a 32GB nexus 7 with 3G? Although you will have to wait for that one too as it is currently sold out

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    am I missing something?

    If you buy direct from Apple, you won't get a 4G sim?

    Am I missing something, but, I can't see any sim-only deals on the EE website...

    Even if you buy from EE, on one of their hideously expensive contracts, you can only use them in a handful of places. I live in one of the chosen few cities, although not in an area of that city that can get 4G. So, can't use it at home, or work.

    In fact, seems the only places you can get 4G are city centres, where there are lots of Costa Coffees and Starbucks.

    Ahh... tablets for baristas.

    May as well buy a 3G tablet for a lot less, or just stick to wi-fi as most people will only use them at home.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: am I missing something?

      They're under to category "mobile broadband". Still pricy mind you.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    4G

    Mugs game at the moment

    1. Colin Wilson 2

      Re: 4G

      When I bought my iPhone 5 from on a 2 year contract from T-Mobile in September it was advertised as '4g ready'. They now tell me that if I want to use 4g I have to start a new contract, and that there's no point anyway because its not available in my area (Reading).

      So yeah. 4G's a mugs game at the moment. And I'm one of the mugs :(

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Local fondleslab fans face fortnight of envy"

    Envy? Of what?

  5. Charlie Stross
    Facepalm

    Unless you DESPERATELY need 4G LTE service, it's significantly cheaper to buy a PAYG MiFi from 3 (such as the Huawei E586) and leave it in a pocket for when you're away from wifi. The premium for LTE in the iPad Mini is around £120, while the Mifi, on PAYG, is at most £70.

    And the wifi-only iPad Mini is intermittently available in shops. (Saw a bunch in John Lewis last Sunday; by the time I'd finished wavering they'd gone, dammit, but fresh stock will be along eventually.)

    Note also that Apple want an extra £80 per 16Gb of FLASH in their iPads. While iPads work just fine with pocket wifi NAS devices like the Maxell AirStash. Upshot: 16Gb iPad Mini and an AirStash with a 64Gb SDHC card cost about £100 less than a 64Gb iPad Mini.

    So the sweet spot may well be a low-end iPad mini plus an airstash and a mifi, which you can buy in the shops, right now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      !ti oD ,!ti oD

      Apple DEFINITELY need to put LTE into ALL their products now. I mean RIGHT NOW, it's

      REAL IMPORTANT to include it. Trust me ;)

      Perhaps someone could subliminally backwards-record the phrase "Do It, Do It" into Mr Cook's iPod :P

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Kingston do a 64Gb wi-drive for about £70 or Seagate do a 500Gb Satellite wifi hard drive for about £140.

      Or can't you just use the camera connection kit - delete stuff off your iPad and then import it via that?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    To bring this thread back on topic (isn't that what the comments section is for?), I have been wondering if Apple will be prioritising shipments based on when they were ordered. Or will they have enough stock to ship them all out roughly at the same time regardless of when they were ordered?

    Because of course, I ordered mine on launch day so I want it first!!

  7. Nifty Silver badge
    Go

    it's for the missus - whats money got to do with anything?

    Waiting for this for the missus. She's already part of the iCosystem. The extra £100-£150 on a spec for spec comparison is no news at all. For me it means: Restore all her iApps on the mini, sync and she thinks I've done magic.

    Sometimes you pays your money and you makes your choice.

    1. Displacement Activity

      Re: it's for the missus - whats money got to do with anything?

      The extra £100-£150 on a spec for spec comparison is no news at all.

      £210, actually (my real Nexus 7 32GB cellular, vs. "two weeks" iPad mini cellular, £239 vs £449). In fact, if you got your missus two Nexus 7 cellulars, and 145 tracks from Amazon or Google, it would cost exactly the same as one iPad mini cellular, and 145 tracks from iTunes. Perhaps you'd better not tell her that. On the other hand, you could get her a Nexus 4 phone, and and a Nexus 7 cellular, and a bunch of flowers with the change from £449.

      Don't know what an iCosystem is, but my Galaxy Nexus phone and Nexus-7 sync apps automatically, with no intervention on my part. Any my wife thinks I've done magic as well. The apps on my phone just appeared on the Nexus 7 during installation. And the display on the Nexus 7 is proper HD, at 1280x800, and you have to dick about to pretend to show HD on the mini's 1024x768 display.

      And LTE (ie. what the marketing guys call "4G")? Good luck with that. I can barely get internet access from Vodafone, even when I'm connected on HSPA+. When I do get a connection I'm lucky to get a couple of hundred kbits/s. It has taken over 12 years to get to this state on 3G - by the time the operators have agreed on what 4G is and have installed all the new kit, and have any bandwidth, all my current kit will be landfill.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Delivery estimate confirmed

    Just to confirm folks, my order is now stated as to be delivered "30th November to 7th December"

    http://blog.charlespinker.com/2012/11/17/ipad-mini-uk-lte-delivery-date-updated/

  9. AdamChew

    iHater

    After reading so many negative comments I wonder whether Apple have a viable business in Britain.

  10. MrZoolook
    Meh

    Why wait?

    You can pick one up from any high street... The even come in colours, traditional brown, or crumbly white.

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