iPad LTE Makes it Far Easier to Use Up Bandwidth Allotments - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

iPad LTE Makes it Far Easier to Use Up Bandwidth Allotments

by

102005 lte logo

The Wall Street Journal notes that some early 3rd Generation iPad owners are finding it a bit too easy to burn through their monthly bandwidth allotments when on the faster LTE network.

The new iPad offers a much faster wireless data network called LTE. The speed of LTE can be up to 10 times faster than 3G networks. As a result, some have found they've burned through entire monthly allowances in a matter of days.

"It's kind of a Catch-22," says Mr. Wells, a 31-year-old Web developer who decided to pony up for another gigabyte. "It streams really fast video, but by streaming really fast video you tend to watch more video, and that's not always best."

Besides just encouraging the consumption of video, the new iPad's Retina display also encourages the use of HD content which takes up more bandwidth than their non-HD counterparts.

Top Rated Comments

189 months ago
In other iPad news, the Retina display has more pixels.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jimmy James Avatar
189 months ago
Also, driving faster gets you to your destination more quickly, and spending more money burns through you budget faster.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
189 months ago
Come, join hands, let's call this Bandwidthgate and forward it to Gizmodo to blow it out of proportions.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
notjustjay Avatar
189 months ago
I hope this helps drive the carriers to offer better data plans. Canadian carriers seem to be notoriously bad for this. Look at the current data plans for the iPad 4G LTE: Rogers, Telus and Bell start their plans at 10 MB per month.

That wasn't a typo. Ten megabytes. Per month.

You could burn through that in ten seconds by watching a single YouTube video.

But hey, these are the same carriers that offer off-plan and roaming data rates at 3 cents per kilobyte. That's over $31,000 per GB of data!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johncrab Avatar
189 months ago
Someone needs to tell the WSJ that if you install larger pipes you can get more water through them in the same amount of time. Apparently, this really is rocket science.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hobo.hopkins Avatar
189 months ago
That seems pretty straightforward; especially given that others had already discovered that iPhone 4s users used more data than iPhone 4 users (presumably because of HSPA+ availability for AT&T users).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....