AT&T Customers With Grandfathered Unlimited iPad Data Plans Will See Throttling After 22GB of Usage

AT&T today sent out emails to customers who continue to have a grandfathered unlimited data plan for the iPad, informing them that its unlimited status is essentially being eliminated on May 24, 2017.

Going forward, customers with an unlimited tablet data plan may see their data usage throttled when using more than 22GB of data during a single bill period. According to AT&T, data may be slowed down during times of network congestion.
grandfathereddataplanchanges
While that's in line with AT&T's policy for its newly announced unlimited data plans, it's a big change for iPad owners who are not used to having a data cap in place. Prior to the change, iPad owners with the grandfathered unlimited plan have not been subject to restrictions.

AT&T briefly offered unlimited iPad data plans after the original iPad was released in 2010, but phased them out just months later. Since then, customers who managed to purchase one of the plans have been able to hold onto them, making the unlimited plan highly coveted.

The plans required no contract and cost $29.99 per month, with customers able to transfer them to new iPads and even sell them to other iPad owners. With the change coming on May 24, the original unlimited iPad data plans will be much less attractive.

(Thanks, David!)

Tag: AT&T

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...

Top Rated Comments

XTheLancerX Avatar
111 months ago
I hate when articles are so misleading and click-baity like this. It's still unlimited. Users will still likely be able to use 30, 40, 50, even 100GB and beyond on their iPad. It IS NOT a throttle. It IS NOT a data cap.

What it IS, is deprioritization. Your data is prioritized lower than other users ONLY DURING TIMES OF CONGESTION. And that doesn't mean you are going to see a hard cap to your speeds, you are just going to see slightly slowed speeds so that other users will have enough bandwidth and higher priority.

This is why everybody is so wrongly antagonistic and hostile toward the new unlimited plans, because they are convinced there is a 22GB **CAP** where you will be throttled down to unusable speeds. That is NOT the case, and people are unable to understand that because of constant misleading articles such as this.

Yes, speeds *might* be slowed. But only in areas that are very congested. Most users are not going to be on a super congested tower all the time where you'd actually see this "deprioritization".
[doublepost=1493429025][/doublepost]
Data caps are a scam.
It is NOT A DATA CAP.
Another reason to switch from att. I really can't think of a reason to use them anymore.
You're overreacting. Besides, you will have the exact same "limit" (that really isn't even a limit) on every other carrier.

It is not a cap. It is a threshold at which users will see lower priority. If the tower is extremely congested, then their speeds will be slightly slowed so that other users will have usable speeds. No, it isn't going to strictly limit speeds to 128kbps or anything like that at all. What it might do, is reduce ALREADY SLOW SPEEDS. The network experience would already suck, even when not deprioritized.

For example, if the tower can only put out 5mbps to you because of congestion, then while deprioritized you might see something more like 1-2mbps. And this might only happen for a moment, as well. When there is less traffic again, speeds will go back to normal and be the same for everybody, those who are past the 22GB threshold or not.

To put things into perspective, prepaid customers ALREADY ARE ALWAYS DEPRIORITIZED.

I am sick of articles such as these misleading people.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
111 months ago
I've always wondered how they determined the number "22" was too much used data.
They use an advanced analytical device:



Attachment Image
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A MacBook lover Avatar
111 months ago
Data caps are a scam.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justiny Avatar
111 months ago
I've always wondered how they determined the number "22" was too much used data.

I'm calling it the Catch-22 Rule.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
111 months ago
My wife was fed up with AT&T, and coerced me to give up my grandfathered unlimited data plan to switch to T-Mobile. Our bill went from $170 per month on AT&T to $80 per month on T-mobile with unlimited everything. And lots of percs on T-Mobile. Wish I had dumped AT&T long ago!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OneMike Avatar
111 months ago
Another reason to switch from att. I really can't think of a reason to use them anymore.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)