They'll all cite similar costs then speak of a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. None of them have the balls to try something different. They've overplayed their hands. $10 / month in addition to an existing plan makes the price too high.
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Apple Watch Series 3 LTE Doesn't Work With Prepaid Wireless Plans
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£5/mo in the UK. Even with the exchange rates it's still cheaper over this side of the pond which is weird (not that I'm complaining). Sadly we only have one network that's doing it and that is EE, hopefully that will change rather like the initial few iPhone versions being tied to O2 exclusively. I'm holding on for a good deal on either an 8+ or a X first though.
We have prepaid service and I'm not surprised at all by this. Now do I want to go from $30/phone/month to $60/phone/month just to be able to pay an additional $10/phone/month to use the watch without the iPhone? I think not!
Not to parrot everyone before me, but purchasing a device that grants me access to data I already pay for on a monthly basis should not result in an additional 120 a year cost.
I bet the average user of an LTE watch hardly reaches a level of $10 of a data a year, let alone a month.
I'm sure the greedy carriers will quickly realize that they can offer it for free with no real cost to them, and poach away customers from other carriers. Then the others will follow suit.
Sorry carriers, this isn't some new revenue stream you can exploit, as I think you'll quickly see.
I bet the average user of an LTE watch hardly reaches a level of $10 of a data a year, let alone a month.
I'm sure the greedy carriers will quickly realize that they can offer it for free with no real cost to them, and poach away customers from other carriers. Then the others will follow suit.
Sorry carriers, this isn't some new revenue stream you can exploit, as I think you'll quickly see.
The thing is that the iPad plans are data only, that's why it's cheaper. The LTE Watch needs data and voice lines which only a true cell phone plan has.
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To be fair, I think it does cost the carriers something to add a line, but, major cost of the monthly charge is the line access fee and related taxes imposed by the government. Carriers have no control over that.
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Again, I think a lot of that monthly charge is not by the carrier itself, but by the government fees and taxes imposed. Have you looked at you cell phone bill lately to see all the charges, user fees and taxes? It adds 20-30% onto the bill.
I guess we will see once people start using the service.
I'm sure I'm asking a rather redundant question here, but I'm 86 years-old and not high tech. My wife is planning on buying me an Apple 3 Watch for my forthcoming birthday. If I get the LTE version, I gather this means we will have to give up our AT&T family plan for our iPhones and buy new, presumably more expensive, separate plans. Is this accurate?
Also remember don't think it's just $10.00 there will be other taxes added to that $10.00 so in reality your bill will probably be something like $12.59 or $13.89.
Seriously this is way to expensive for a data plan we already have on our iPhones since its using the same phone #.
It should have been priced at $5.00 not $10.00
Seriously this is way to expensive for a data plan we already have on our iPhones since its using the same phone #.
It should have been priced at $5.00 not $10.00
Surely free 4K upgrades was already impressive.
Apple Watch market quite small at the moment, LTE AWs even smaller.
It'll take time.
The A watch stat that T Cook brought to attention was that the A watch was the number 1 selling watch in the world beating #2 Rolex. Now that sounds a bit misleading. There's no way that Rolex was the number one selling watch in the world. Those things are freaking expensive. Luxury watch? Perhaps. Just plain old wrist watch? (Casio anyone?). No way.
Come on guys it's $10. The telco had to role out the technology on their network at first.
"I want new technology but don't want to pay for it".
Why would they make it available to pre-paid customers who are able to up and leave them at any second? It's a great incentive to get loyal customers on plans.
"I want new technology but don't want to pay for it".
Why would they make it available to pre-paid customers who are able to up and leave them at any second? It's a great incentive to get loyal customers on plans.
No. That's not correct. You don't need to do anything "new". Just link the watch to your iPhone using the watch app, and while setting the watch up, you will have the OPTION to add the watch to your family plan and give it cellular service. You do NOT need to add cellular service, unless you want to have that option.
Nothing else needs to be done.
If you DO want LTE service on the watch, it'll cost you $10/mo.
every day another article highlighting another limitation. Ny the time it "Just works" nobody will care . I'll stick with my Series 1 which I hardly use.
OK. Thanks very much. This thread is rather confusing. The title is especially misleading.
This thread is about pre-paid service. If you have a family plan, you have POST-PAID service. This whole thread is about a different type of service than what you have.
So wait...if you get a Series 3, you HAVE to activate it with some form of LTE service or it won't work at all? Can you not still use it "tethered" like a Series 0/1/2 watch?
NO!!!
You don't have to activate the LTE function AT ALL.
Just like the cellular iPad's. There is NO requirement that you MUST have LTE functionality. It'll work as it always has...
They are using these wearables as a way to keep people on postpaid plans. People have started leaving for prepaid, getting tired of the huge bills. So we will see more and more of "you must have the latest postpaid plan to have feature X" as they try to keep people on the cash cow.
I wish you knew tha bases of all modern networks based on GSM.
This is simple SIM cloning on the network switches. Next the billing system can bill one account (single or multiple family plan lines in one account) easily and directly using post-paid accounts. Data SOCs (service order codes that determine data gateway that is accessible by our devices, the appropriate plan and data limitations or allowances that are sent to the switch and that the switch conversely updates the billing system with said number and device.
Carriers are the only limitation or obstruction, not the eSIM.
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No different than the blind faith of the 2007 The New AT&T bet (old Cingular) made with Apple. His was the bet without seeing a device that would use HUGE amounts of data monthly per user with NO unlimited data plan available vs the compressed low monthly use of data from a BlackBerry OS of yesteryear when the coast of implementing EDGE data rates (some 386Kbps?).
That was the beginning the real tale for the iPhone. Sure Wi-Finwaa shown (TheInternet Mobile Device) but to a lesser extent.
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Yeah, but to be fair, I’m pretty sure you can’t make a call from both your Apple Watch and iPhone at the same time using the same phone number. The cost of the line is really in the iPhone. Furthermore, I’d be fine with a data-only Apple Watch plan for $5/mo.
Good perspective. Carrier's needs do not align with Apple's.
The watch has always been in a weird market position. Apple introduced it with "next iPhone-class product" hype, but it's never been a standalone product, requiring the phone. An LTE plan without requiring a cell plan would have been a great way to grow its potential market beyond phone users.
The issue is not the phone number, it's how many devices touch the network. By adding the watch, albeit on the same number as the phone, another device is on the network, so the carriers charge. Not saying it's right, but that's how some try to justify the cost.
Having coordinated action from customer is the greatest challenge, if this return thing mentioned above would happen.
[doublepost=1505652577][/doublepost]Judging by its size and functionality, adding LTE function is essentially useless unless it can make LTE phone call for 3 hours, similar to current iPhone. I won’t buy this if i ever need one.
Also, prepaid is good for customers. I am super happy with my prepaid plan, including 6GB of data, unlimited call and text both domestically and internationally, albeit only for limited countries (10!). The overall cost is similar to a postpaid plan but I don’t need to worry about receiving a bill with thousands of dollars charge.
No idea why people say it should be free, it connects to a cell tower, it's like saying MIFI/tablets devices should be free. Yes its part of your data, but it still requires a number that is connected to your account. eSim still gets its own number to connect to the network, but that number is not used for anything, but your actual phone number is routed so all numbers on your numbers sync account get forwarded to the main line. So monthly payment is totally fine and justifiable.
No idea why people are complaining about that it needs postpaid. It is part of a wifi VoLTE SOC feature. So it makes sense carriers do that to get people to migrate to post paid.
HOWEVER, the 10$ monthly charge is ludicrous. iPad add a line is 10$ that is totally reasonable in fact it seems cheap now if the watch is also 10$. All wearables used to be 5$ and now that apple watch came out they hiked their prices to 10$. Yes, I get it more people will be using it, but still, only data you will be using is streaming Apple Music (whoever has that) and talk/message when REALLY needed. This is not a phone replacement, you would only use certain features when either forgot the phone at home, or going for a run/hike/workout. Even then you would not stream all that much. because battery would run out real quick.
I personally think carriers will realize and either, hike the prices on their tablets/phones add a line, or reduce the price to 5$.
No idea why people are complaining about that it needs postpaid. It is part of a wifi VoLTE SOC feature. So it makes sense carriers do that to get people to migrate to post paid.
HOWEVER, the 10$ monthly charge is ludicrous. iPad add a line is 10$ that is totally reasonable in fact it seems cheap now if the watch is also 10$. All wearables used to be 5$ and now that apple watch came out they hiked their prices to 10$. Yes, I get it more people will be using it, but still, only data you will be using is streaming Apple Music (whoever has that) and talk/message when REALLY needed. This is not a phone replacement, you would only use certain features when either forgot the phone at home, or going for a run/hike/workout. Even then you would not stream all that much. because battery would run out real quick.
I personally think carriers will realize and either, hike the prices on their tablets/phones add a line, or reduce the price to 5$.