iPad Air: the cheapest mobile data tariffs

If you want the fifth generation iPad on a tablet data plan these are the best deals on offer.

The iPad Air is now on sale.

The fifth generation of Apple's groundbreaking tablet is thinner, faster and lighter. Prices start from £399 for a Wi-Fi only model, but if you’re looking to get your hands on one that comes with a mobile data contract, we've looked into the deals on offer and where to get the cheapest plan.

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Three

Three is launching its 4G service in December in four cities; London, Reading, Birmingham and Manchester.

Unlike other networks, the superfast service won’t come with a premium. It will be available at no extra cost on all the network's data contracts.

Three is selling the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPad Air with mobile data plans, with the choice of 30-day or 24-month contracts.

Prices start from £7.50 and go up to £29 a month, with data allowances ranging from 1GB to 15GB.

The smallest upfront cost for the iPad Air with Three is £119.

The cheapest deals from Three in all three cases is the 24-month contract that gives 15GB of data and costs £29 a month.

Overall the cheapest deal from Three is on the 16GB model that gives 15GB of data and costs £29 a month with an upfront cost of £119. This package gives a total first year cost of £467.

Vodafone

Vodafone launched its 4G service in August.

Its superfast network now covers London, Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester are to be added by the end of the month.

Vodafone, like Three, is selling the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPad Air with mobile data plans.

Its iPad Air deals are all on 24-month contracts and cost between £28 and 42 a month, with data allowances ranging from 1GB to 10GB.

The cheapest upfront cost for the iPad Air with Vodafone is just £29.

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Vodafone charges a premium to get 4G. Its cheapest deals for the iPad Air (which cost £32 a month with 2GB of data) mean you will be stuck with a 3G signal when using it on the go.

The best 4G deals from Vodafone for all three models of the iPad Air come with 4GB of data and cost £37 a month.

The cheapest 4G contract with Vodafone is on the 16GB model of the iPad Air, which comes with 4GB of data for £37 a month and an upfront cost of £29. The first year cost on this deal is £473.

EE

EE has the best 4G coverage of any of the networks, with service now available in 131 cities.

The network had a ten-month head start when it launched its 4G network in October last year.

EE is the only provider to offer the 128GB iPad Air on a mobile data contract. It will also offer the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models on pay monthly contracts. The 16GB model will also be available on a shared data plan.

Like Vodafone all of its deals come with 24-month contracts. They cost between £25.99 and £35.99 a month, with data allowances ranging from 3GB to 8GB.

The cheapest upfront cost for the iPad Air with EE is just £99.

The cheapest deals from EE are available with the 5GB data allowance deals costing £30.99 a month.

Overall the cheapest deal is for a 16GB model which costs £30.99 a month for the 5GB data allowance and comes with an upfront cost of £149. The first year cost on this deal is £520.88.

EE is a partnership between T-Mobile and Orange. EE deals offer 4G services, but if you wanted to get an iPad Air tablet data plan with Orange or T-Mobile you would only get 3G signal.

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Carphone Warehouse

Carphone Warehouse is jam-packed full of iPad Air deals with Three, Vodafone and EE, as well as Orange, T-Mobile and Talk Mobile on 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models.

In total there are 69 tariffs to choose from, starting from £15.50 up to £36 a month with data allowances between 250MB and 15GB.

Below I have picked the cheapest of the bunch.

At the Carphone Warehouse you can bag an iPad Air free with an Orange data plan. However you only get 1GB of data, which you have to use on the 3G network, and it will cost you £36 a month.

Of all 69 of the Carphone Warehouse tariffs, the cheapest on offer comes from Three where you can get a whopping 15Gb of data for a monthly cost of £25 and an upfront cost of £99 on a 16GB model. This will give a first year cost of £399.

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