Three UK will carry the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3

Apple iPad pre-orders start today and the UK is in the first wave of launches. You can get a 4G-enabled iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 from the UK section of the Apple store (they'll ship by next Friday) but in terms of carriers Three UK is the first to announce it will offer the tablet too.

There are no prices as of yet, but the official no-contract pricing starts at £500 for the Apple iPad Air 2Wi-Fi + Wireless and £420 for the iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Wireless. Be warned through, the new mini is a tiny, tiny upgrade (all you really get is Touch ID), so you might be better off picking up an iPad mini 2 at £340.

Those are the prices for the new 16GB models, add £80 for each price bump (to 64GB and 128GB). This means a 128GB iPad Air 2 is £660. Meanwhile a 32GB iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular is £380 (the 64GB or 128GB models have been discontinued).

Of course all of that if without a plan, Three UK will presumably subsidize the cost to an extent that depends on what new contract you sign. The old iPad Air, for example, could drop to £50 up front at £36.10 a month.

Anyway, Three UK is boasting 98% 4G LTE coverage of the UK population. The new iPad Air 3 supports the Cat. 4 LTE of Three's network (150Mbps downlink), while the iPad mini 3 only supports Cat. 3 (100Mbps, same as the mini 2).