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A little late to the party but am interested to find how this all worked out. Been thinking of doing the same. I'm in Buffalo NY and there is an Apple Store in Burlington Ontario Canada which is about 75 miles away. Planning on visiting friends north of Toronto in a few weeks and this store would be along the way.
 
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A little late to the party but am interested to find how this all worked out. Been thinking of doing the same. I'm in Buffalo NY and there is an Apple Store in Burlington Ontario Canada which is about 75 miles away. Planning on visiting friends north of Toronto in a few weeks and this store would be along the way.
My Canadian (non-cellular) Apple Watch 10 is working fine several months later in the states. Blood O2 sensor is fully functional. I am also aware should it break and if I bring it in to a US Apple Store under warranty I will get a watch without a functional O2 sensor as a replacement. I would have to go to a Canadian Apple Store to get a proper watch with the O2 sensor replacement from Apple. But it's working fine. US Apple Account also. I did activate it while I was in Canada, but not sure if that mattered.

/edit I bought mine at some Walmart just over the border in Quebec.
 
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I chatted with T-Mobile today. They say I can use an Ultra purchased in Canada on my cellular account.
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My Canadian (non-cellular) Apple Watch 10 is working fine several months later in the states. Blood O2 sensor is fully functional. I am also aware should it break and if I bring it in to a US Apple Store under warranty I will get a watch without a functional O2 sensor as a replacement. I would have to go to a Canadian Apple Store to get a proper watch with the O2 sensor replacement from Apple. But it's working fine. US Apple Account also. I did activate it while I was in Canada, but not sure if that mattered.

/edit I bought mine at a Walmart in Quebec, not that it matters.
Hi @CIA, I'm considering something similar -- as I'd like an Apple Watch 10 with Blood O2 sensor (GPS-only aka non-cellular model). I have a dear friend in Canada who has offered to purchase the watch for me (and help with any AppleCare issues).

You mentioned that you activated the watch while in Canada and you're not sure it that mattered. That's my question-- will my friend need to activate it in Canada before sending it to me? Might you or anyone else have any thoughts or advice around that?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Hi @CIA, I'm considering something similar -- as I'd like an Apple Watch 10 with Blood O2 sensor (GPS-only aka non-cellular model). I have a dear friend in Canada who has offered to purchase the watch for me (and help with any AppleCare issues).

You mentioned that you activated the watch while in Canada and you're not sure it that mattered. That's my question-- will my friend need to activate it in Canada before sending it to me? Might you or anyone else have any thoughts or advice around that?

Thanks in advance :)
The AW does not get “activated”, it is being paired to an iPhone that is tied to an AppleID. On a cellular AW the cell service can get activated during the initial pairing process.
In order for you to use your AW it will have to be paired to your iPhone. IF your friend were to pair it to their iPhone and send it to you, you wouldn’t be able to use it (it’s paired already and tied to another AppleID).
 
I picked up a series 10 in Burlington, Ontario two weeks ago. I also set it up while I was up there. I can’t say for sure but I don’t think it mattered. The salesman said if I wanted AppleCare I had to buy it in the country I bought the watch. So I have the coverage but I can’t finish setting it up and attach it to my Apple account. I talked to an Apple rep about this. She said the watch is covered but when I want to cancel the coverage or maybe change the credit card I use to pay for it I have to call Apple support. Other than that little glitch everything has gone well.
 
Hi @CIA, I'm considering something similar -- as I'd like an Apple Watch 10 with Blood O2 sensor (GPS-only aka non-cellular model). I have a dear friend in Canada who has offered to purchase the watch for me (and help with any AppleCare issues).

You mentioned that you activated the watch while in Canada and you're not sure it that mattered. That's my question-- will my friend need to activate it in Canada before sending it to me? Might you or anyone else have any thoughts or advice around that?

Thanks in advance :)
99% sure you don’t need to activate it in Canada. My watch has a Canadian part number and I think that’s what matters. So have your friend just buy it and send it along to you and you should be good.
 
99% sure you don’t need to activate it in Canada. My watch has a Canadian part number and I think that’s what matters. So have your friend just buy it and send it along to you and you should be good.

Patent attorney here. Unless Apple is doing something that isn't required by law -- and Apple tends not to do that if they think they're right as in this case -- activation in the US is completely OK with an Apple Watch purchased in Canada.

The reason why is that the Masimo patent infringement suit that Apple lost is a bit of a strange one. It's an International Trade Commission (ITC) suit, not a "regular" patent lawsuit filed in US district court (I think Masimo also brought a regular patent suit, which Apple won). A regular lawsuit prevents the manufacture, use, and sale of an infringing product; an ITC suit just prevents the importation of an infringing product.

Furthermore, the doctrine of exhaustion means that a patent owner loses its patent rights after first sale to the end user.

ITC decisions are reviewable and reversible only by the President, and cannot be escalated into US district court or appealed to the Federal Circuit (the latter to which regular patent lawsuits are appealed, and along with the Supreme Court is decidedly anti-patent). President Biden chose not to review the decision.

What this means is when you buy a watch in Canada as an American consumer, you can activate it wherever -- in the US or in Canada -- and bring it back to the US. As soon as you purchased the watch, Masimo's patent rights as to your watch were extinguished.

By comparison, if the lawsuit that Apple had lost was a regular patent suit, Apple could in theory still import the watches into the US, it just couldn't sell them them in the US.

And even with the ITC suit that Apple lost, in theory Apple could still make the watches in the US to export for sale outside the US. The ITC decision only prevents Apple from importing infringing watches.
 
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Patent attorney here. Unless Apple is doing something that isn't required by law -- and Apple tends not to do that if they think they're right as in this case -- activation in the US is completely OK with an Apple Watch purchased in Canada.

The reason why is that the Masimo patent infringement suit that Apple lost is a bit of a strange one. It's an International Trade Commission (ITC) suit, not a "regular" patent lawsuit filed in US district court (I think Masimo also brought a regular patent suit, which Apple won). A regular lawsuit prevents the manufacture, use, and sale of an infringing product; an ITC suit just prevents the importation of an infringing product.

Furthermore, the doctrine of exhaustion means that a patent owner loses its patent rights after first sale to the end user.

ITC decisions are reviewable and reversible only by the President, and cannot be escalated into US district court or appealed to the Federal Circuit (the latter to which regular patent lawsuits are appealed, and along with the Supreme Court is decidedly anti-patent). President Biden chose not to review the decision.

What this means is when you buy a watch in Canada as an American consumer, you can activate it wherever -- in the US or in Canada -- and bring it back to the US. As soon as you purchased the watch, Masimo's patent rights as to your watch were extinguished.

By comparison, if the lawsuit that Apple had lost was a regular patent suit, Apple could in theory still import the watches into the US, it just couldn't sell them them in the US.

And even with the ITC suit that Apple lost, in theory Apple could still make the watches in the US to export for sale outside the US. The ITC decision only prevents Apple from importing infringing watches.

I will add that by "activation" I mean adding the watch to your Apple account. If the watch is of the cellular variety, I am not sure the best way to activate it with your cell phone carrier (e.g., T-Mobile). I haven't traveled to Canada since getting my Apple watch -- although am going next week! -- but in Mexico, Europe, and Asia, I never got cell coverage on my watch via T-Mobile, even though my watch (Series 8) is on my T-Mobile account, I have data roaming on T-Mobile (of course), and additionally buy one of those international travel data packs.

I am toying with the idea of getting a Series 10 when I am in Canada, with cell capability, and would totally activate it in Canada as to adding it to my Apple account, but would wait until I'm back in the US before I add it to my T-Mobile account.

US, Canadian, Ecuadorian, Mexican, and Puerto Rican Apple watches are identical in their cellular capability, per this page on Apple's web site. (I don't know why Puerto Rico is called out separately, since it's part of the US... presumably Guam has the same cell capability as US and PR watches, too, but who knows.)

The downside to buying in Canada is that I'm not sure if using your Apple Card still gives you 3% cash back, and I'm not sure if you can use any balance you may have on your Apple Account (not to be confused with Apple Cash), nor am I sure if you trade-in your existing watch (although you could do that later and simply get the value added to your Apple Account).

I also don't know how warranty coverage works, though I suspect there isn't any. This wouldn't be a huge concern for me, though I would probably try to buy the watch as early in my trip in Canada as possible so I could return it to the Apple Store if necessary. You would have the warranty in Canada, though, so you could ostensibly go back whenever if you needed warranty support.

And there are (well, used to be) enough Canadians who have moved to the US that I don't think this is that unusual of a situation (i.e., Canadian buys a watch in Canada, moves to the US and no longer maintains a Canadian mailing address).

Apple Care would also likely have to be purchased through Canada -- and I don't know if Apple would let you purchase it right away without a Canadian address. But for the reason in the previous paragraph, I assume you could buy it with a Canadian address, and then later change that it to an American address.

Furthermore, there should be no technical reason an Apple Store in the US couldn't service/work on an Apple watch purchased in Canada, so long as you were willing to pay for the repair costs. It's identical to an American watch. But, I could see this not being the case... although if you are of a certain class of consumer (older and/or white sadly), you probably could pull the privilege card or the "I don't understand, I'm an older fellow who is not tech savvy" card, and get it serviced. (I say this as an older white dude, and see how I'm treated much differently/better than younger people and people of color in retail contexts.)
 
Re: the 3% cash back. I received it after paying with my Apple Card. When I bought my watch in Burlington, Ontario I paid $466.35 (US). My cash back was $13.99 which is 3%.
 
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@MikeDr206 , thanks for the explanation!

So do you know if Apple is still pursuing this issue or they're just going to find a different technology?
 
@MikeDr206 , thanks for the explanation!

So do you know if Apple is still pursuing this issue or they're just going to find a different technology?

I haven't looked at the patent in question, but my understanding is that it's quite broad so would be very difficult to go to a different way to monitor heart rate (to the extent you could do it at all). It seems at this stage that Apple is just going to wait until the patent expires (not sure when that is) -- I would have expected them to do a license by now if they were pursuing that.

It's surprising to me, because heart rate functionality is such a core thing.
 
I haven't looked at the patent in question, but my understanding is that it's quite broad so would be very difficult to go to a different way to monitor heart rate (to the extent you could do it at all). It seems at this stage that Apple is just going to wait until the patent expires (not sure when that is) -- I would have expected them to do a license by now if they were pursuing that.

It's surprising to me, because heart rate functionality is such a core thing.
Don't patents last for like 15 to 20 years? If Apple is just waiting the clock to run out, how many more years would that be?
 
20 years from filing, plus "patent term adjustment" days due to patent office delays. Not sure when the patent(s) in question was filed tho.
 
This article says patent expires in 2028.
That’s good info. So I probably have one more watch I’ll get before then. I’m guessing Apple will turn on everything remotely in a WatchOS update that drops the day after
 
That’s good info. So I probably have one more watch I’ll get before then. I’m guessing Apple will turn on everything remotely in a WatchOS update that drops the day after
Yeah, I think for me, I can hold out on upgrading after 2028. I have the original Ultra and at some point before 2028, it may need a battery change but I'm fine with paying for that.
 
I bought the AW 10 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada in February. No issues on operation. I have the GPS only model. But earlier this year T-Mobile told me I could use an AWU (bought in Canada) without an iPhone linked to it to make and receive calls.

The only negatives I can think of are:

1) if you want to pay over time it's not 0% interest. I think it's about 4.99%.
2) if you want AppleCare you have to buy it when you buy the watch (at least that's what I was told). I bought it monthly so when I receive my receipts they are in CAD and converted to USD.
3) You can't link AppleCare to your Apple ID. And if you want to cancel it or change the credit card it's charged to you have to call Apple. But, you still have AppleCare.

After all this I rarely look at the O2. But, I'm considering getting the AWU3 if it shows in September. I think I'd do the same thing all over again.

And, when I bought my AW 10, based on the exchange rate, the price difference between countries was $0.19.

Hope this helps.
 
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