Sprint

Sprint is now offering an unlimited data plan exclusively for tablet users. Like all carrier deals, the new plan comes with some fine print attached. To qualify you need to purchase a cellular tablet through Sprint, have at least one active phone line with the carrier, and enroll in their AutoPay program. This means you can't get unlimited data for an iPad you already own, and you obviously must be or become a Sprint customer.

The unlimited data plan is $20/month and comes with a resolution and speed cap for video/music streaming and online gaming:

Sprint has rolled out its own iPad Pro pricing plan for buyers who can't afford to pay $1,079 up front. Sprint customers can decide to go with the Sprint Easy Pay plan for $200 down followed by 24 monthly payments of $36.67. This will nab you a 128GB iPad Pro Wi-Fi plus cellular model, which is normally retails for $1,079 from apple.com.

Love him or hate him, T-Mobile CEO John J. Legere really did shake up the mobile carrier industry with his "Un-carrier" consumers’ advocate campaign. AT&T was the first to copy the magenta carrier's non-subsidized iPhone policy and now Sprint is offering its own T-Moble-like iPad plan called "iPad for Life".

Beginning today, November 14, Sprint customers can lease a 16GB iPad Air 2 for $20 per month for 24 months, or lease and iPad mini 3 for $17 for 24 months. This will allow Sprint customers the ability to easily upgrade to a new model or buy the device outright once their lease is expired. Customers will also be able to continue leasing on a month-to-month basis or return their Apple tablet and terminate service with Sprint after 24 months.

If Apple's iPad mini with Retina display is on your holiday shopping list you better buy it right now. The 7.9-inch tablet is heavily back-ordered and shipping times could grow longer as the holidays get closer. As of right now most Apple stores are not offering the cellular model for in-store pickup, and individual carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile are quoting up to 6-8 week delivery times.

Verizon has also pushed its iPad mini shipping date back from November 25 to December 2, and Apple's online store is estimating cellular versions will ship in 5-10 business days from all five major US cellular providers. Meanwhile the Wi-Fi only models are more readily available.

Sprint has announced it's now offering the iPad mini and fourth generation iPad with the choice of four data plans. All the plans are without contract, so you can cancel at anytime. Here are the plans:

• 300MB of data for $14.99 per month
• 3GB of data for $34.99 per month
• 6GB of data for $49.99 per month
• 12GB of data for $79.99 per month

“iPad mini and the fourth generation iPad, combined with Sprint’s 4G LTE network and our aggressively priced rate plans, offer customers an outstanding tablet experience,” said Fared Adib, senior vice president, Product Development, Sprint. “Sprint doesn’t put its customers on shared pricing plans like some carriers. With Sprint you get the best pricing for all the data you need without the worry of overages.”

We know one thing for sure, Apple is going to announce the sixth-generation iPhone tomorrow, September 12, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 10:00 am. What we don't know is what the new iPhone will be called, and if Apple will also announce the rumored iPad mini or new iPod touch. Here's what we think we know: Judging from the press invite (below) Apple will call the new device the "iPhone 5", not the "new iPhone" like it did with the third-generation iPad. Several reliable sources claim Apple will hold a special iPad mini event a few weeks after tomorrow's announcement, but they will announce a new iPod alongside the iPhone 5.

The new iPod is expected to feature a 4-inch display with a resolution of 1136 x 640, and a more powerful A5 processor. The iPhone is rumored to be 2mm thinner than the iPhone 4S, and to also feature a 4-inch screen. It's unclear if the phone will be powered by a new A6 chip, or the same A5X processor found in the iPad 3. All three devices, and all future Apple products, will feature new smaller dock connectors. Apple will reportedly sell their own branded adapters individually for $10, or three for $29. The iPhone 5 should also be 4G LTE compatible in the US, Canada and in parts of Asia and Europe as well.

There have been all kind of signs pointing to Sprint joining the iPhone family in October. Including a leaked internal memo informing Sprint employees of a vacation blackout in anticipation of a "major phone launch" starting September 30th.

On Wednesday, 9to5Mac reported that a Sprint-compatible iPad will be "joining the family of GSM (AT&T) and Verizon capable Apple tablets before the holidays." 9to5 believes that the Sprint iPad will launch soon after the Sprint iPhone is released in October, but they can't confirm if it will run on Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network.