The $10/mo has been worth it on my Samsung Gear S3 watch. Love being able to still get messages and calls (AT&T connects your watch's number to your phone) if I leave my phone behind or when it gets out of BLuetooth range. However, I did get my watch for $200 off as a deal with my Note 8, so cost of ownership is still in the ok range. ($49 for the watch + $12/mox24 mos + 25 activation = $362 for two years).
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Apple Watch Series 3 Costs More Than $10/Month on Most Carriers, Can't Be Reactivated Without Fees
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If I had a serious girlfriend at the moment, my Apple tune might be different.
If it doesn’t catch on as a separate fee, I expect in the future carriers will include one connected device per smartphone to remain competitive. Easily something Sprint or T-Mobile could pioneer.
IoT devices will all cost money if they are linked to the mobile networks. My car costs me $22 per month for it's own access which is required for tons of functionality.
I'm hoping Tmobile takes the lead as usual between all the cellular carriers and does away with that ridiculous fee. What's strange is that they were the first (and only) to give away free cell service for the iPad (up to 200MB).
If I had a serious girlfriend at the moment, my Apple tune might be different.
Yeah buying an AW3 GTE for my wife and I hit the bank hard - but we both wanted them and (after 3 months we love them). But yeah, $50+ more per watch x2 and $13 x2 because of both of us. It definitely changes my tune. Especially when we're a little tight (Christmas time! and both going to college) lol. Definitely limits the funds a little vs being single.
That is the kind of thing I am looking for. If that happened next month or two, I would hate to have kept the GPS model and end up buying the LTE, and then having to wait for a MR member to want to get an incredible deal from me for the GPS.
People scoffed at buying bottled water until well into the 80's...
Wait, I want to be sure I understand what you are saying. You think they should conceal these statutory fees?
Would that even be legal?
You left out that everything is more expensive in Kalifornia.
Lovely state to visit but sweet Jesus its just too much to live there (for me).
T-Mobile is just $10.00 and can suspend and resume whenever I want.
I've been using it during the 3 free months, and realized that I don't really need LTE on the Apple Watch.
I mainly bought it for the double RAM capacity.
I've been using it during the 3 free months, and realized that I don't really need LTE on the Apple Watch.
I mainly bought it for the double RAM capacity.
Yes since its dependent on my phone. If it was truly stand-alone, your point would carry weight.
In Australia, the Largest carrier (Telstra) offers Telstra One Number (TON) for Apple Watch 3 for AUD $5 per month (about $4 USD). It’s a companion device, and aligned to the primary phone number, I’m not sure why the fees are so high.
When the Apple Watch Series 3 first launched, carriers in the United States and other countries where the LTE version of the device is available offered three free months of service and waived activation fees.
That fee-free grace period is coming to an end, and customers are getting their first bills that include the $10 per month service charge.
If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE functionality, you've probably already learned that $10 is not all it's going to cost per month. On carriers like AT&T and Verizon, there are additional service charges and fees, which means it's not $10 per month for an Apple Watch, it's more like $12-$14.
On Verizon in California, for example, there's an additional $1.55 in fees on top of the $10 per month charge.
On AT&T in North Carolina, fees and surcharges add an additional $4.39 to the $10 per month charge, bringing the total to almost $15 per month for an Apple Watch. In some states, these fees on Verizon and AT&T are even higher.
If you're planning to avoid fees by deactivating service and activating again when it's needed, that may not be the best plan of action. As Macworld's Michael Simon points out, line activation fees that come with reactivation can be hefty.
Though the Apple Watch Series 3 is linked to the cellular number of the iPhone on a given carrier, it requires adding an additional line to a cellular service account. When you cancel and re-add a line, there's an activation fee involved. On Verizon, for example, if you deactivate the Apple Watch Series 3 and then want to activate it again at a later date, there's a $25 charge. Suspending service doesn't work, as it requires a $10/month fee, aside from a one-time 30 day free suspension on Verizon. From Macworld:Like Verizon, AT&T charges $25, while Sprint charges $30. T-Mobile no longer charges activation fees, so it may be more affordable to cancel and reinstate service if you're a T-Mobile subscriber.
On AT&T and Verizon, though, that $25 re-activation fee is the cost of two months of service, or close to it, when taxes and fees are included, meaning it's not really worthwhile to start and stop service if you're going to do it more than once or twice a year.
Macworld was also told that if he stopped and started service he could run into problems when attempting to reactivate the watch, but it's not entirely clear why.
With the three-month grace period, most Apple Watch owners have likely learned whether or not the $10-$15 per month fees are worth the freedom of an always-on wrist-worn cellular connection. Neither Apple nor the carriers in the United States were fully upfront about the additional service fees and taxes and the hassle involved with deactivation/reactivation, though, so there are bound to be some users who will feel tricked when the first full Series 3 bill comes in.
Article Link: Apple Watch Series 3 Costs More Than $10/Month on Most Carriers, Can't Be Reactivated Without Fees
Th al for the reminder, I posted about this about a month ago. With ATT in Chicago the bill comes to $16.38! And it’s going up because Chicago just raised the 911 fee, yes, you have to pay a 911 fee on this “line” so now in Chicago it will be over $17 for a $10 feature - not even close to being worth it.
For runners who want to leave their phone at home but still want to stream music and receive phone calls.
But I’m not really unavailable... I’ve taken phone calls, replied to messages, and even checked my mail, all from the (relative) comfort of my wetsuit.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Exactly.
As much as we will gripe about every nickel & dime sought, too many of us will just pay up anyway... and hop into threads like this rationalizing why we all should be happy to do so. Imagine what would happen if consumers as a group decided to flex the great power they hold but rarely utilize: the power to say "No!"
But yes, I'm dreaming. By the time this thread closes, I expect about 40% of the posts to be rationalizing and even arguing FOR these fees. There's already an building accumulation of such posts.
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It also costs me more to add a hotspot/tablet, etc. to an existing data plan I'm already paying a lot for... so not surprised.
Fortunately I don't have activation fees, but I wear a watch everyday, so I don't know why I would remove it off my account all the time.
I'd rather not paying these fees, but the end of the day there isn't much I can do except not use the watch I bought which doesn't really seem like a solution either.\
Don't forget in the United States we paid to receive calls and text messages before the days of "unlimited calling and texting," something that never made sense unless you realize now we are inundated with spam calls all the time.
Fortunately I don't have activation fees, but I wear a watch everyday, so I don't know why I would remove it off my account all the time.
I'd rather not paying these fees, but the end of the day there isn't much I can do except not use the watch I bought which doesn't really seem like a solution either.\
Don't forget in the United States we paid to receive calls and text messages before the days of "unlimited calling and texting," something that never made sense unless you realize now we are inundated with spam calls all the time.
Money is a scarce enough resource for me that paying $13/mo+ x2 just seemed insane ($300+/year) when the watch itself was $350...
But I imagine there are MANY many more people out there with bank accounts that easily quadruple (and more) mine that wouldn't mind paying this.