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Apple Watch SE and Series 6 Include 'Family Setup' for Pairing Multiple Watches to a Single iPhone

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Apple today announced Family Setup for Apple Watch Series 4 and later and Apple Watch SE, describing the feature as a way for parents, guardians, and carers to pair Apple Watch models worn by others to a single iPhone.

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Currently, every Apple Watch needs to pair with its own iPhone, but Family Setup will allow users to pair watches for children or older members of their household who might not have their own iPhones.

Apple is pitching it as a new way for families to use Apple Watch in a novel way, allowing parents to specify who kids can call, and set up automatic location notifications.

Family Setup also includes a "Schooltime Mode," which sets up Do Not Disturb on kids' watches with restricted interaction and a special watch face.

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of Apple's virtual "Time Flies" event today. Refresh for more details and follow our live blog.

Article Link: Apple Watch SE and Series 6 Include 'Family Setup' for Pairing Multiple Watches to a Single iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/09/15/apple-watch-se-series-6-family-setup/
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axantas

axantas

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So Apple Watch SE and Series 6 have the new A14 multi-pair chip built in, which the older ones do not have. Makes sense...
 
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phgreer

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Jul 18, 2002
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I think this is the best announcement today. I have elderly parents and dad has been having more and more fall issues. The SE would be perfect and it's also a sneaky way for them to sell more watches too. I love they recognize we may have elderly folks who are not tech savvy at all and do not need an iPhone.
 
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axantas

axantas

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phgreer said:
I think this is the best announcement today. I have elderly parents and dad has been having more and more fall issues. The SE would be perfect and it's also a sneaky way for them to sell more watches too. I love they recognize we may have elderly folks who are not tech savvy at all and do not need an iPhone.
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It is THE sneakiest way to sell more watches - and finally make a lot of people ditch their old watches, they gave to their parents/children, because they were still "good enough" - now they lack the most interesting new feature.
Good move - yet - no Tim, it is a bit too obvious....

**
EDIT: Ok, apparently it is series 4 and up - this is fine then. I WILL test this...
 
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jaytv111

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Oct 25, 2007
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WRXHokie said:
Could this be a way to have an android phone while still having an apple watch? The options are endless.
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As long as you have an iPhone to pair then it works. If you have no iPhone at all it won't let you set it up with another device.
 
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vmistery

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Apr 6, 2010
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I think the presentation mentioned it worked with Apple Watch 4 and higher? Or was that something else?
 
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sirozha

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Too bad Apple is too greedy to allow older watches to be paired to parents' iPhones.
I would buy a used Apple Watch 3 with LTE for my 10-year-old son to have access to a phone feature and so that I could track his whereabouts. No way I'm buying him a new Apple Watch SE with LTE for it.

There is no hardware limitation for Apple Watch 3 to support this feature. Shame on Apple. They would have done themselves a favor if they allowed the Apple Watch 3 and 4 and 5 to be paired to the parents' iPhones. This would allow parents to give their older watches to the kids and buy new watches for themselves.

What Greed!
 
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aaroncon

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Oct 23, 2013
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sirozha said:
Too bad Apple is too greedy to allow older watches to be paired to parents' iPhones.
I would buy a used Apple Watch 3 with LTE for my 10-year-old son to have access to a phone feature and so that I could track his whereabouts. No way I'm buying him a new Apple Watch SE with LTE for it.

There is no hardware limitation for Apple Watch 3 to support this feature. Shame on Apple. They would have done themselves a favor if they allowed the Apple Watch 3 and 4 and 5 to be paired to the parents' iPhones. This would allow parents to give their older watches to the kids and buy new watches for themselves.

What Greed!
Click to expand...

Apple no longer selling series 3 with cellular - so maybe that is the reason. I wonder if it will still work with an existing Series 3 that has cellular....
 
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sirozha

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aaroncon said:
Apple no longer selling series 3 with cellular - so maybe that is the reason. I wonder if it will still work with an existing Series 3 that has cellular....
Click to expand...

I guess we shall see. I'm not planning to upgrade from my Watch 3 this year, but if a Watch 3 can be paired to someone else's iPhone, then I may give my wife's Watch 3 with LTE to my son and get her a new Apple Watch this year.
 
MiniApple

MiniApple

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Sep 3, 2020
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vmistery said:
I think the presentation mentioned it worked with Apple Watch 4 and higher? Or was that something else?
Click to expand...

Family Setup requires AW cellular, Series 4 or later + carrier support


aaroncon said:
Apple no longer selling series 3 with cellular - so maybe that is the reason. I wonder if it will still work with an existing Series 3 that has cellular....
Click to expand...

Hope somebody that has one, can tests this ?
[automerge]1600196957[/automerge]
 
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PSeg90

PSeg90

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Jul 30, 2020
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I don't see why this couldn't be a feature of WatchOS7 instead of JUST the new AW7/SE ???
Isn't this strictly software? Nothing is hardware-limited to just set up multiple watches on a single iPhone...
 
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aeropix

macrumors member
Sep 15, 2007
32
10
Apple WATCH - a wrist computer more powerful than the ones that sent men to the moon YET you CANNOT set THE TIME on the WATCH - it has to be set by the paired phone! That is a total deal breaker if anybody wants to buy this for friends or parents in another time zone.
 
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