Apple has taken the time to detail some of the differences between the two versions of its upcoming tablet, the iPad, most notably going into some detail on what people can expect to pay for the device’s services.

Apple's iPad has already seen wide criticism, heavy handed 3G billing wouldn't do it any favours...

Given all the hubbub about Apple’s upcoming mobile internet device (MID), it seems that there’s not an awful lot known about just how much users are going to have to pay for the mobile data plan that will essentially be providing an awful lots of the device’s content (for the 3G enabled version of the iPad, at least). While there’s no word directly on what we can expect in terms of pricing and data plans for those of us in Europe yet, some emerging about the handling of the 3G connection in the US are very interesting indeed.

It seems very likely that we’ll be seeing a similar arrangement to the US in terms of data plans to the extent that there are two different iPad plans, “lite” and “unlimited.” They do exactly what they say on the tin; the lite plan gets you 250MB for $15, while the unlimited plan will set you back $30 a month. Of course, given that the iPad is so very video friendly a device, it’s reasonable to assume that people are going to be a little more data intensive…

Of course, given the fact that we haven’t had quite the same level of difficulty here as in the US when it comes to cellular networks being brought to their knees by the sheer weight of data traffic, we could well end up seeing the iPad launch without a “lite” option at all, though for now it’s all up in the air.

For the moment, there’s no word on just when we’ll be seeing the device in Europe, but when we do, we’re told it’ll likely end up costing somewhere around the €499 mark for the non-3G capable version and €599 if you’re mobile network inclined.