T-Mobile's
US branch has announced that it will start offering preorders for the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 on Wednesday. While the hardware
available to preorder since last Friday already supports T-Mobile, ordering directly from the carrier opens up financing options. The 16GB LTE models can be had for no down payment on a two-year contract, with monthly fees being approximately $26 for the Air 2 and $22 for the Mini 3. That's on top of a mandatory Simple Choice data plan.
Down payments increase to $100 for 64GB models, and $200 for 128GB. T-Mobile says that it will have the new iPads online and in stores within a week; Apple, by contrast, expects to have initial preorders delivered by the end of this week.
Bought without financing, a cellular-ready iPad Air 2 costs at least $629, while an equivalent Mini 3 is $529. Wi-Fi-only versions of the tablets start at $499 and $399.