| Cult of Mac

Keep iPhone connected abroad with Holafly’s eSIM unlimited data plans

By

A man sits in an airport terminal with his feet resting on his suitcase and an iPhone with eSIM for international data in his hand. A plane is taking off outside the window.
Traveling to another country? With an eSIM, you can rest assured your iPhone can get online.
Photo: Jeshoots.com/Unsplash License

You may already know about SIM cards for cellular data, those little microchips that slide on trays in or out of smartphones. But the future of connectivity is eSIM cards, and that future is now.

SPONSORED
This post is brought to you by Holafly.
iPhones and other smart gadgets already come with eSIM built in. And one of the best ways to use this convenient new technology is to enjoy international travel with unlimited eSIM data from Holafly.

Holafly’s eSIM unlimited data plans cover you when you travel. They’re tailored to your destinations. And they keep your iPhone connected in many countries, hassle-free, while also keeping costs down.

Sprint made your iPhone’s unlimited plan worse, or more expensive

By

act-now-to-avoid-sprints-10-unlimited-data-price-jump-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201402sprint-sign-jpg
Sprint unlimited plans were just revamped. Prices were raised or features were cut. But the news isn't all bad.
Photo: Sprint

Sprint has renamed and changed some of the features of its unlimited data plan. iPhone users now have a choice between paying more or getting less.  

It’s not all bad news. There’s 50 percent more tethering data in a new top-tier plan, and the TIDAL music streaming service has been added.

Verizon’s new data plan even more unlimited than its other unlimited plans

By

verizon-adds-20-fee-to-all-smartphone-upgrades-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads20160314777958118_8f2ab75b15_k-jpg
For about $100 a month, you can use more than 2GB of 4G LTE data each day without worrying about throttling.
Photo: Verizon

Verizon just created a new top tier to its unlimited data plans. It was designed for “super users who want the most,” according to the carrier.

The Above Unlimited plan offers 75GB of unthrottled 4G LTE data, and 20GB of unthrottled hotspot data, for $95 a month.

T-Mobile Unveils New “Uncarrier” Contract-Free Data Plans Ahead of Next iPhone

By

T-Mobile's new mantra.
T-Mobile's new mantra.

We’ve known that T-Mobile was doing away with two-year phone contracts for quite some time, but exact details haven’t been revealed until today. Unlike the other big U.S. carriers (AT&T, Verizon and Sprint), T-Mobile isn’t doing subsidized, two-year contracts for smartphones anymore. Instead, you pay as you go—and the monthly rates look very good.

AT&T CEO Responds To Rumors Of Charging Customers For FaceTime Over 3G

By

We're probably going to charge for everything we can get away with. Until, you know, we can't.
We're probably going to charge for everything we can get away with. Until we can't.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson responded today to the recent rumor that the telecommunications company is planning to charge customers for data used in FaceTime calls over 3G. The feature was announced for iOS 6 in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.

Asked about the rumor at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Stephenson acknowledged the rumor, but then also said it’s “too early to talk about pricing,” which may in fact be executive-speak for, “we won’t tell you how much we’re gonna charge.”

iPhone Owners Are Bigger And More Consistent Data Hogs Than Android Users

By

iPhone users consumer more 3G data on average than any other platform
iPhone users consumer more 3G data on average than any other platform

It’s a pretty good bet that iPhones and iPads will be responsible for 3G/4G traffic spikes around the Moscone Center in San Francisco this week as Apple developers lucky enough to score a ticket attend WWDC. Beyond this week, however, it seems that iPhone users have a tendency to gobble up a large amount of data – more so than other platforms including Android.

On average, iPhone owners represent about 20% of smartphone customers for mobile carriers worldwide. You might expect that those customers would amount to around 20% of data usage. That isn’t the case as  iPhone users account for an average 45% of carrier data traffic and data use by iPhone users is more consistent than data consumed by Android customers.

Verizon Simplifies International Data Plan But They’re Still A Rip-Off

By

Verizon announced new international data plans
Verizon announces new international data plans

One of the challenges when traveling internationally with iPhone or iPad is handling data roaming. There are two reasons that it’s incredibly easy to end up with a large bill when traveling for work or vacation.

One reason is that iOS features and apps can use data without you realizing it (iCloud’s Photostream feature being a great example) – to avoid such issues, you can disable data roaming in the iOS Settings app. The second reason is that the costs associated with international data roaming are rarely spelled out well by carriers.

At least one carrier is hoping to change that. This week Verizon announced that it will be offering customers a new set of international data plans intended to make managing data roaming easier to understand and track.

Data Usage Monitor Ensures That You Will Never Exceed Your iPhone’s Data Limit Again [Jailbreak]

By

What happened to the time?
What happened to the time?

Have you ever wished that there was an easier way to check your data usage on the iPhone? For those of us that aren’t lucky enough to have a grandfathered unlimited plan, bits are precious. It can be too easy to blow through a 1GB data plan in a month’s time.

If your iPhone is jailbroken, you have access to a great tweak called Data Usage Monitor. Once installed, your usage will be shown unobtrusively in your iPhone’s status bar. The beauty is that it will only appear whenever you are using data.

Verizon’s Shared Family Data Plans Are Right Around The Corner

By

post-154965-image-d9738e54a87fce9140e5c2680471ba79-jpg

We’ve known about Verizon’s plan to introduce family shared data plans for quite some time now and have been patiently awaiting their release. It now appears we may see them soon as new images have popped up suggesting Verizon is in the end stages of development. PhoneArena managed to get their hands on a screenshot showing what appears to be Verizon’s future Family Data Usage Calculator. If it looks familiar to you it’s because it follows closely with Verizon’s current Data Usage Calculator which helps customers figure out which plan would best fit their data usage needs.

AT&T: We’re Selling The New iPad On Friday, Too!

By

You could buy a new iPad from AT&T starting on Friday, but why would you?
You could buy a new iPad from AT&T's stores starting on Friday morning, but why would you?

This shouldn’t take anyone by surprise, but with the new iPad going on sale on Friday at 8 a.m. at Apple Stores around the country, AT&T will also have units that they’ll be selling at their retail outlets on the same day. Don’t count on being able to easily get one, though.