The last two weeks or so have been a bumpy ride for Apple customers who bought an iPad 4 or iPad mini with cellular LTE capabilities.
Apple neglected to nail down a solid release date for the LTE iPads, instead proclaiming vague time frames like "mid-November."
But on Monday morning, a report claimed that some customers had been notified that they would receive their LTE iPad 4 tablets Friday, Nov. 16.
Apple initially promised to ship the Wi-Fi + Cellular versions of the iPad 4 and iPad mini within two weeks of the Wi-Fi models going out on Nov. 2, and a Nov. 16 arrival date fits within that projection.
LTE iPad ship date has arrived
Apple's initial promise to ship the new LTE iPads within two weeks of Nov. 2 seemed like it would prove inaccurate in late October when some customers reported expected arrival times as late as Nov. 23.
On Halloween, customers reported that those new iPad ship dates disappeared, replaced by the noncommittal "mid-November."
Then, on Friday, Apple reportedly began notifying customers that LTE-enabled iPad mini models would begin shipping within five business days, while Apple offered a "seven business days" time frame for the LTE iPad 4.
With Monday's claims pointing to Friday as the day customers will see the LTE iPad with Retina display, those reports wouldn't be too far off.
LTE pricing
The new iPad mini and iPad 4 went up for pre-order in late October, and Apple reported in the first week of November that three million of the new tablet models had already been sold.
However, reports late last month also claimed that iPad mini screen shortages could possibly limit supplies for some time.
The Wi-Fi + Cellular model of the iPad 4 costs $629 (UK£499, AUD$679), $729 (UK£579, AUD$789) and $829 (UK£659, AUD$899) for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, respectively.
The iPad mini with LTE, meanwhile, comes in at $459 (UK£369, AUD$509), $559 (UK£449, AUD$619) and $659 (UK£529, AUD$729) for the same storage capacities.
Via 9to5Mac
