Unconfigured iPad mysteriously LTE connected

Hi folks,

I have just factory restored an M1 iPad Pro with cellular capability (with 14.8). Right after erasing all data and entering the very first welcome setup screen (choose language), in the right upper corner it indicates that the iPad is connected to LTE (with two signal bars, to be more specific), but the problem is that there is no SIM card inserted at all (never has been) nor have I ever connected this iPad to any virtual SIM.

With other cellular iPads it always indicated "No SIM card". I do not remember, also, that this happened when I first setup this iPad Pro when brand new (it had an older iPadOS 14 version).

Is this a new iPadOS behavior? Could it have been somehow "hacked" to connect to a LTE network without any permission??

Thanks, any comment will be welcome!

I take it by your "never has been" [a SIM card inserted] comment that you have owned this iPad for a while? Or is this a used iPad you just purchased?

usagora said:

I take it by your "never has been" [a SIM card inserted] comment that you have owned this iPad for a while? Or is this a used iPad you just purchased?

Hi usagora, I have owned this iPad for less than a month, still haven't had the need to use cellular connection so, as said, never inserted any SIM card or configured an eSIM.

iPad Pro was brand new, from Apple Store.

momojingo said:

Hi usagora, I have owned this iPad for less than a month, still haven't had the need to use cellular connection so, as said, never inserted any SIM card or configured an eSIM.

iPad Pro was brand new, from Apple Store.

Why was there a need to factory restore a brand new iPad Pro? Were you having a particular issue that could possibly be related to this current oddity? Also, have you rooted around in the Settings > Cellular menu. What info are you seeing there? Is "Cellular Data" enabled there? If so, what happens if you disable it? Does that menu show any network info?

I had a cellular iPad a few years ago that once showed a rather solid cellular connection. I took it to be that it 'saw' a cellular signal, not that it was actually 'connected' to that signal. Seeing it is far different than actually using it. It stopped showing at some point later. I knew I never enabled it, so don't worry about it would be my advice.

usagora said:

Why was there a need to factory restore a brand new iPad Pro? Were you having a particular issue that could possibly be related to this current oddity? Also, have you rooted around in the Settings > Cellular menu. What info are you seeing there? Is "Cellular Data" enabled there? If so, what happens if you disable it? Does that menu show any network info?

I restored the iPad because when I first got it I didn't have my Apple ID password near (I've been out multiple times this last month), so I just did a basic setup to check if the iPad actually worked fine. Since then I haven't had the chance to use it until now, and if I put my Apple ID I just wanted to do it from scratch, otherwise iPadOS tends to do some messy things. That's it.

No particular issue happened before factory restoring. Just for the record, before this I restored the Network settings, to erase the Wifi networks I had it connected to previously.

If I go to Settings >> Cellular data, it displays a list of carriers to which I can connect to. Curiously though, this screen doesn't change even if Mobile data button is turned on or off.

PinkyMacGodess said:

I had a cellular iPad a few years ago that once showed a rather solid cellular connection. I took it to be that it 'saw' a cellular signal, not that it was actually 'connected' to that signal. Seeing it is far different than actually using it. It stopped showing at some point later. I knew I never enabled it, so don't worry about it would be my advice.

Hi PinkyMacGodess, thanks for the info. But, strange enough, at this blank iPad first setup, when asking for a wifi network, the button "activate with mobile data" instead of wifi actually is clickable. This only happened before when I had another cellular iPad and previously unlocked the SIM card's PIN, but until it connected to the mobile network, that clickable option didn't show. That's why I suspect the iPad had indeed connected to somewhere.

I haven't clicked on "activate with mobile data" though, so I don't know what would happen, but honestly if it's connected to some LTE carrier that I don't know, I'd rather not activate the iPad through there.

PinkyMacGodess said:

I had a cellular iPad a few years ago that once showed a rather solid cellular connection. I took it to be that it 'saw' a cellular signal, not that it was actually 'connected' to that signal. Seeing it is far different than actually using it. It stopped showing at some point later. I knew I never enabled it, so don't worry about it would be my advice.

Well, that's easy for the OP to test. Simply disable wi-fi and see if you can connect to the internet on this phantom "LTE" connection.

usagora said:

Well, that's easy for the OP to test. Simply disable wi-fi and see if you can connect to the internet on this phantom "LTE" connection.

I remember doing something like that, and the iPad starting the 'add to your AT&T account' process, and I was able to back out. Whether Apple is using the cell connection for something is between Apple and the carrier, but you aren't going to get cell service for free.

Just had a call with Apple Support. The agent I talked with has never heard of this behavior before, so he said he would search for more info. I'll keep you posted if a solution is found.

momojingo said:

Just had a call with Apple Support. The agent I talked with has never heard of this behavior before, so he said he would search for more info. I'll keep you posted if a solution is found.

I still have the one that showed LTE. I'll dig it up and see if it still does. *shrug*

@momojingo It stands to reason that your iPad comes with an eSIM for roaming purposes only or something, and it might have been that SIM that picked up on the LTE signal.

Also, no need to ask OP what need obligated him to reset a new device. That answer does not solve the question put forth by OP. That is only an awkward blame where there is none.

macintoshmac said:

@momojingo It stands to reason that your iPad comes with an eSIM for roaming purposes only or something, and it might have been that SIM that picked up on the LTE signal.

Also, no need to ask OP what need obligated him to reset a new device. That answer does not solve the question put forth by OP. That is only an awkward blame where there is none.

Hi macintoshmac, you'll have to excuse me but I'm not an English native speaker... What does "OP" mean?

As suggested, yes, it has to be something related to the eSIM module, but last month when I setup for the first time this iPad Pro, no LTE connected indicator appeared whatsoever, it just displayed "No SIM card" as usual.

momojingo said:

Hi macintoshmac, you'll have to excuse me but I'm not an English native speaker... What does "OP" mean?

As suggested, yes, it has to be something related to the eSIM module, but last month when I setup for the first time this iPad Pro, no LTE connected indicator appeared whatsoever, it just displayed "No SIM card" as usual.

OP is an abbreviation for Original Poster. Term is used informally on the internet, in forums, and it stands for the person starting a thread.

macintoshmac said:

@momojingo It stands to reason that your iPad comes with an eSIM for roaming purposes only or something, and it might have been that SIM that picked up on the LTE signal.

Also, no need to ask OP what need obligated him to reset a new device. That answer does not solve the question put forth by OP. That is only an awkward blame where there is none.

It was only after a certain model that esim's were part of the system, and not all carriers actually supported them. AT&T said they didn't, but some later said it worked just fine.

I was also resetting my M1 iPad 11" the other day, and was shocked to see the LTE signal with a few bars. Initially I thought I forgot to pull out the SIM card, but it was already in my other iPad. This was really strange, showing LTE signal...

vddobrev said:

I was also resetting my M1 iPad 11" the other day, and was shocked to see the LTE signal with a few bars. Initially I thought I forgot to pull out the SIM card, but it was already in my other iPad. This was really strange, showing LTE signal...

I had the chance to go to an Apple Store on October to comment this "issue"... Although it seems to not be an issue at all, as @macintoshmac and @PinkyMacGodess pointed out. Unfortunately, not all Apple support agents have enough info about this mobile data behavior.

As said, I had previously called to the AppleCare phone support and the people I talked with had no idea about this behavior, they also considered it to be weird so they finally suggested me to ask for a return or a refund, which given that they could not explain why this was happening, I finally did.

About a month later, in a trip I made to a bigger city, I had the chance to visit a physical Apple Store and asked about this... being lucky enough that the agent I talked with was really up to date about all the mobile data thing in iPads.

To sum up what he told me, it is absolutely normal: e-SIM (or virtual SIM) integrated in the most modern iPads with cellular capabilities work as if it was an Apple SIM already inserted, which was something that Apple provided in some iPads a few years ago to ease a proper mobile data plan purchase in case you had no physical access to a carrier store to do so. This e-SIM works kind of as it was a carrier, accessing iPadOS's carrier database to eventually connect to an available mobile data network to use it exclusively to make a mobile data plan purchase.

This is why a fresh restored iPad automatically connects to a mobile data network at setup until the user connects it to a wifi network. Which mobile data carrier it is connected to is more of a mystery, because the iPad does not say it, but this is the reason the iPad does this. Curiously enough, a newly purchased iPad doesn't do this at first device setup... I can assure this (I finally purchased another iPad). Perhaps it's because the OS still doesn't have a mobile data carriers list downloaded onto it's database, who knows.

Cheers!