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Am I stupid for not wanting a cellular watch just because of...

A

ahoydecoy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 24, 2015
127
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The red dot? I really don't like it.

It's not the only reason, clearly. I don't feel strongly that I need cellular, and I'm not ecstatic about the monthly cost (EE essentially lied to me and convinced me to go for a more expensive data plan saying I could share it with a watch, but that isn't the case) but I'm going to be upgrading from my S0 to a S4 on release and part of me says I should go for the fully capable version. I just wish it didn't have the dot, which I find really distracting on the design.
 
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You could get a sticker to cover it. Or you might get used to it and just not notice it after a few days. You don't need to activate cell service for it either. Obviously then the cell service won't work, but it will still function on WiFi just like the non-LTE watch.
 
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ahoydecoy said:
The red dot? I really don't like it.

It's not the only reason, clearly. I don't feel strongly that I need cellular, and I'm not ecstatic about the monthly cost (EE essentially lied to me and convinced me to go for a more expensive data plan saying I could share it with a watch, but that isn't the case) but I'm going to be upgrading from my S0 to a S4 on release and part of me says I should go for the fully capable version. I just wish it didn't have the dot, which I find really distracting on the design.
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That dot was totally unnecessary, me thinks. I'd really like to know what reason there was for it to be so.

They might just make a show out of it, look guys, series 4 LTE, minus the dot!
 
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I do not want the cellular feature just because I will not use it. However, I want the sapphire crystal and stainless steel casing. So I have to end up paying for the technology in a device I will never use. Not fond of that. However, the more I think about it the more I am coming to the conclusion that the majority of the price difference between the two is the casing and glass, not the additional of LTE wiring / capability.

I think the dot is to differentiation the non-LTE from LTE series 3. But if series 4 goes all LTE, you could see the dot disappear and the extra screen real estate be the differentiation between series 3 and 4.
 
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cwanja said:
I do not want the cellular feature just because I will not use it. However, I want the sapphire crystal and stainless steel casing. So I have to end up paying for the technology in a device I will never use. Not fond of that. However, the more I think about it the more I am coming to the conclusion that the majority of the price difference between the two is the casing and glass, not the additional of LTE wiring / capability.

I think the dot is to differentiation the non-LTE from LTE series 3. But if series 4 goes all LTE, you could see the dot disappear and the extra screen real estate be the differentiation between series 3 and 4.
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that seems unlikely, since the iPad is still sold with 2 SKUs
 
I'm betting Series 4 doesn't have the red dot. I think apple was trying to tap into those people who want to show off that they have the new shiny thing. My guess is it wasn't as successful as they thought it would be, but that's pure speculation on my part.
 
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parseckadet said:
I'm betting Series 4 doesn't have the red dot. I think apple was trying to tap into those people who want to show off that they have the new shiny thing. My guess is it wasn't as successful as they thought it would be, but that's pure speculation on my part.
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This seems to be common speculation and I hope it's true. The same with the S4 only having one model, no GPS or cellular.

To be honest, I'm still not sure what difference it would make to me as I don't really go anywhere without my phone.

The main thing I'm unsure of is, if the watch is using cellular and disconnected from the iPhone, do all iPhone notifications still come through? Or can you only use what's available on the watch? I'm mostly thinking of WhatsApp, most of my incoming messages are through it and there is no watch app, so would I still receive those notifications?
 
After about a week of owning my S3 Apple Watch, I didn't really notice the red dot. I also do not have cellular activated mainly because I pretty much always carry my iPhone with me.

The red dot is definitely not attractive, especially when the S3 was first announced. But again, it doesn't bother me/I don't really notice it much.
 
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Didn’t even have to open the thread to know it was about the dot. Personally it’s not a deal breaker, but it certainly is annoying and I see why people are put off by it.
 
ahoydecoy said:
This seems to be common speculation and I hope it's true. The same with the S4 only having one model, no GPS or cellular.

To be honest, I'm still not sure what difference it would make to me as I don't really go anywhere without my phone.

The main thing I'm unsure of is, if the watch is using cellular and disconnected from the iPhone, do all iPhone notifications still come through? Or can you only use what's available on the watch? I'm mostly thinking of WhatsApp, most of my incoming messages are through it and there is no watch app, so would I still receive those notifications?
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My understanding is that if it is out of range of the phone, it has to roll over to LTE and as such, it would not get the notifications unless they were iMessage or phone calls.

Unless I have missed something with iOS 12 or the Apple Watch series 4 changes that functionality.
 
I have not even noticed my red dot, nor has anyone else. The LTE version had the other features that I liked and never activated the LTE or had the intentions to do so.

I find it funny that some gets so upset about a tiny red dot but we are all different! I am betting that Apple WILL do something to separate the AW with and with out LTE, maybe make crown and side button all red!
 
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nburwell said:
After about a week of owning my S3 Apple Watch, I didn't really notice the red dot. I also do not have cellular activated mainly because I pretty much always carry my iPhone with me.

The red dot is definitely not attractive, especially when the S3 was first announced. But again, it doesn't bother me/I don't really notice it much.
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I second this. I didn't like the dot either, but quickly forgot it was even there. Also, to those of you stating that you don't go anywhere without your phone and that the LTE ability isn't useful, I would challenge that you try and LTE watch sometime and watch how you change your habits. I used to not go anywhere without my phone also, and didn't even want an Apple Watch, but got one as a gift. Once I activated the LTE I soon noticed how freeing it was to be able to get calls and texts without my phone next to me all the time. It's not a majority of the time, but nice to be able to do short-timed actions without always wondering where my phone is. Just my two cents.
 
I have the Stainless (Space Black) Series 3, and it has the LTE capibilities, but I don't have it activated, mostly because I'm on a "pay as you go" plan, and the difference between $85 a month (AT&T) for the service, plus the watch, vs. the $100 a year that I pay for the pay as you go, simply isn't worth it to me. I still get notifications for those apps that I have enabled to send me notifications even without the wi-fi, and important to me, is that if I get into trouble, and don't have my phone with me, the watch is still capible of dialing 911 or emergency services, even without the phone. Like Cwanja, I wanted the Stainless case, and the sapphire crystal, so I had to take the Cellular version of the watch. Not a problem.
 
parseckadet said:
I'm betting Series 4 doesn't have the red dot. I think apple was trying to tap into those people who want to show off that they have the new shiny thing. My guess is it wasn't as successful as they thought it would be, but that's pure speculation on my part.
Click to expand...

In conjunction, I think the red dot also was serving as a way to differentiate the newer models from the older models. Being that they all primarily look exactly the same, the red dot signified that the Series 3 in fact the latest model.
 
Relentless Power said:
In conjunction, I think the red dot also was serving as a way to differentiate the newer models from the older models. Being that they all primarily look exactly the same, the red dot signified that the Series 3 in fact the latest model.
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I assume this is the case, differentiation. I just don't see why it's necessary. I'm not bothered about people knowing I have the latest version, and that's really the only reason you would need to tell models apart. To me it's like if they had a red button on a space grey iPhone if you had the 256gb rather than the 64gb.

Also, I very much appreciate the civil discussion and people taking my topic seriously, rather than just being told I am, indeed, stupid.
 
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You don’t need to activate the cellular. You don’t need to pay or buy a plan for it. What you will get it more features in the casing and also the ability to dial 999/911 etc

Or does 999 not work in the uk on an inactivated watch? I thought I read any device capable of phoning must be able to dial 999/911 even without a plan.
 
ahoydecoy said:
I assume this is the case, differentiation. I just don't see why it's necessary. I'm not bothered about people knowing I have the latest version, and that's really the only reason you would need to tell models apart. To me it's like if they had a red button on a space grey iPhone if you had the 256gb rather than the 64gb.
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I read somewhere without having a source to provide, that Johnny Ive was not fond of the red digital crown, but now that he’s under the leadership design roll again, it’s possible that it may not be there this year, or if it is, then perhaps for future Apple Watch models it may not be present.
 
Zxxv said:
You don’t need to activate the cellular. You don’t need to pay or buy a plan for it. What you will get it more features in the casing and also the ability to dial 999/911 etc

Or does 999 not work in the uk on an inactivated watch? I thought I read any device capable of phoning must be able to dial 999/911 even without a plan.
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Any LTE device (active or not), in range of the iPhone or not, has the capability to call 911 - at least in the states.
 
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Zxxv said:
You don’t need to activate the cellular. You don’t need to pay or buy a plan for it. What you will get it more features in the casing and also the ability to dial 999/911 etc

Or does 999 not work in the uk on an inactivated watch? I thought I read any device capable of phoning must be able to dial 999/911 even without a plan.
Click to expand...

Sorry if this is a very basic question, but what additional features does the LTE version have aside from the obvious ability to make/receive calls and texts and stream music without the phone?

My dilemma is that my inclination would be to get an LTE model and not activate it, but I might have to be petty and just get a GPS if that dot is still there...
 
ahoydecoy said:
Sorry if this is a very basic question, but what additional features does the LTE version have aside from the obvious ability to make/receive calls and texts and stream music without the phone?

My dilemma is that my inclination would be to get an LTE model and not activate it, but I might have to be petty and just get a GPS if that dot is still there...
Click to expand...

Emergency calls to 999/911 even if you don’t activate it.
Ceramic back.
Bigger SSD/more hard drive space
Off the top of my head.
 
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