There is much rumour that Apple could be finally getting in on the 4G LTE action with their next generation iOS tablet, although we obviously wont know for sure until later today when Apple is supposed to unveil the Apple iPad 3; however if the iPad 3 does arrive sporting 4G LTE which US carrier should the iOS faithful opt for?

Well the guys over at TUAW have taken a look at AT&T and Verizon but have omitted Sprint due to Sprint not rolling out their 4G LTE network until mid-year, and when it comes to T-Mobile they are also out of the choice as they wont have a 4G LTE network until next year.

When it comes to local coverage you can check both Verizon and AT&T coverage maps to find out where 4G LTE has been deployed by entering your home or work address, whilst if you travel a lot you can also check those maps to see if you can take advantage of 4G LTE.

When it comes to 4G LTE speeds the guys say that usually AT&T’s 4G LTE speeds seem to beat Verizon 4G LTE speeds, and the guys over at Technobuffalo have done a comparison of speeds that shows average download speeds on AT&T was roughly 8.21 Mbps and uploads were 2.72 Mbps, whilst Verizon downloads was roughly 5.03 Mbps and uploads 5.36 Mbps.

Of course data pricing has to be taken into account as well, with 4G LTE plans with AT&T being, 250MB for $15 a month, 3GB for 30-bucks a month, and 5GB for $50 a month, whilst Verizon plans are 2GB for $30 a month, 5GB for 50-bucks a month and 10GB for $80 per month.

Thus if Apple does deliver 4G LTE on the Apple iPad 3 later today you will need to keep all this in mind when choosing which US carrier to opt for, of course if the iPad 3 comes without 4G LTE then that decision becomes unnecessary, still we should all know the outcome later today.