They charge $10 to add an iPad to a data plan. Why would they charge $20 for a watch?
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Apple Watch Series 3 Unlikely to Support Direct Phone Calls, but VoIP Calling a Possibility
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Then don't use the Watch for phone calls and keep using your iPhone, if you can't live with its speakers and if you're not willing to spend the extra cash for AirPods. No one forces you to do so...
However, people who do own AirPods (or any kind of bluetooth headphones), will be very happy with that feature.
No way. When you look around and see people on their mobile phones, what are most of them doing? Texting, checking Facebook, chatting, posting to Instagram, watching videos, etc. Computational capacity isn't the issue. Screen size is the issue. None of these activities will ever be great on the watch.
Adding data to the watch makes sense, especially for Apple Music, but I can't see the watch ever replacing the iPhone for most people. It's an accessory device.
so basically just what the current watch does already, just with a data connection? If you have an operator with wifi calling support, you can take calls on just the watch (without phone nearby) as long as you're on a wifi network that the watch is familiar with.
Adding LTE basically extends that wifi calling to anywhere.
I think 'normal' voice calls rely on bluetooth from the phone so that wouldn't be possible.
Adding LTE basically extends that wifi calling to anywhere.
I think 'normal' voice calls rely on bluetooth from the phone so that wouldn't be possible.
But smartphones haven't replaced laptops. Smartphones are a new tool in the toolbox, not a replacement.
I really hope they do. Apple watch is a very immature product and needs improving quickly if it wants to be competitive. At the moment it does too little too badly.
Definitely will look forward to a standalone watch - have had both Series 0 and (current) Series 2 - and while I don't see it replacing a phone at any point in the near future, the things that it does well with activity tracking/notifications will definitely be enhanced... if these will be able to share current plans, that would be a major positive
This could be interpreted in a few ways. This could simply mean the Watch modem is only LTE-M (no 2G or 3G) so like LTE on the phone, the call is always VoIP anyway (VoLTE) with prioritisation on the mobile network. This is what I’d expect and extension to the already existing wi-if calling functionality on the Watch in the US and Hong Kong. But getting all the carriers onboard could be very difficult, we still don’t have this kind of shared WiFi-calling in the UK, so this could be interpreted as only VoIP apps like Skype and FaceTime audio. Maybe Apple could do some kind of relay service from the iPhone to the Watch over LTE to fill the gap - latency could be a concern though and this won’t work when the phone battery is dead.
we have wifi calling on EE and vodafone in the UK. I accidentally forgot my phone one day but was still receiving text messages and phone calls on my watch as the phone had shared the work wifi details with the watch.
This is not what I am referring to. These phone calls require the phone and watch to be on the same WiFi network. In Hong Kong and the US they allow the Watch and iPad to make their own direct “WiFi calling” tunnel back to the mobile provider using information from the phone but the phone can be switched off or on airplane mode.
See “
- Wi-Fi Calling on supported iCloud-connected devices”
How about a button in control center that toggles phone and data service between your iPhone and watch? A bit like swapping a sim card between two phones - but done in software. That way you never have two devices connected to the phone company at any one time - so there's no additional connection charge.
Going to the gym: Switch service to your watch and leave your phone safely at home on wifi.
Back from the gym: Toggle service back to your iPhone and you're back to normal. It could even just toggle back automatically once the two devices 'see' each other again.
That's how I see an LTE watch working: As a temporary, "on-demand" substitute for your iPhone. At least until battery life improves, or cellphone transmission technology undergoes a revolution
Or put a better speaker in so we don't have to buy AirPods. Yeah, that won't happen. You are right and I wasn't arguing against what you were saying. It's just absurd to think that's a solution to the problem at hand. I get that you have kind of redirected now and are saying it's good for those who already own AirPods. That makes sense, but that's not what you said to begin with.
Sure, but I think that will always be the more popular option. Having a better speaker wouldn't entice the vast majority to use it. It's like running around with your iPhone in your hand and talking with the speaker enabled, instead of holding the phone to your face. People just don't do it. Using headphones for phone calls on the other hand is more common.
that wasn't my experience - if you have an apple watch on a recognised wifi network (i.e one that the phone has previously connected to, so it has shared the password with the watch), then you can make calls without the phone being on the same network.
Like I said - I'd left my phone at home - only my watch was connected to my work wifi. Unless it still uses the phone for routing (it would have been on at home)
And keeping "same form factor" with the battery like they have now? I doubt it! Having roughly 8 - 12 hours of run time is pathetic as it is now.
The truth is that the vast majority people make it through the entire day without issue on a single charge. The Apple Watch wouldn't be the best selling smartwatch if people were having issues making it through the day on a single charge.
Unless people want bulky big watch faces.
How can u watch something on a tiny screen anyway for 2 hours ..? Forget TV/movie watching on the Apple watch, as you'll ruin ya eye sight first before the movie is over.
In your lifetime you say...
There is an important trivia that is really relevant to your misconceptions of time.
The time between Wright Brothers invention of the aeroplane and the Apollo 11 moon landing is only 66 years.
It is crazy indeed, but it is true, google it.
If you are in your 20s early 30s, in your lifetime the world will change so much my friend.
What I just described as the possible future of Apple ecosystem is a prevision for the next 10 years, not your lifetime.
The technological changes that will happen in your lifetime are a concept that right now we can’t even grasp.
Wearables, augmented reality glasses and foldable tablets, the dead of the smartphone, that is absolutely nothing compared to what you will have oportunity to see.
You lack perspective, Internet was born in late 80s, early 90s.
Desktop tower computers only started to be the norm in the average burguese house in 96/97, internet in 2003/2004.
In 1990 nobody had cellphones, they had bricks inside their cars if they were lucky.
The world changed so much in the last 27 years that you can’t even imagine living like you lived backthen.
I can guarantee you that in the next 10 years, technological progress will be much bigger than the one form the last 30 years.
Therefor the jump from 2017 to 2027 (10 years) will be at least just as high and impressive as the jump from 1987 to 2017 (30 years).
Imagine this continual exponential progression along your lifetime...that is called singularity, the point when technology evolves so fast that it is impossible to predict what will happen with that technological momento.
The gap between our present civilization and a science fiction futurist one is not a significant time gap, but a huge technological one that will be solved in so little time that in 100 years we will be unrecognizable.
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I commented on that problem in another thread yesterday. I have a company-provided iPhone 7 on a company-paid Verizon plan. My wife and two teenagers are on our family Verizon plan, but I have no personal phone.
Thank you both so much for sharing. Your contributions to this thread have been valuable. I will consider your thoughts further tonight during my run with my Apple Watch 2+AirPods.
I have the Series 2 38mm and the battery life is pretty miserable compared to my husband's 42mm. I would buy my next watch in the 42mm even though it will be huge on my wrist just for better battery life. I will get the Series 3 if and only if it supports LTE, including calls. I have the Plus model phone and it is so bulky. I would love to be able to leave it behind while running errands and for outdoor exercise and still receive vital messages and calls. I am also considering trying out a Note 8 with a compatible LTE smart watch this year if iPhone 8 is over-priced/delayed/unavailable and LTE call-enable Apple Watch is not released.