On my ATT plan it costs $15 a month to connect a phone to our plan. It costs $10 to connect an iPad.
If they make it $5 a month to connect a Watch, I'm in. If not, then no. Simple as that!
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Apple's Series Three Apple Watch to Include Cellular Connection
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If they make it $5 a month to connect a Watch, I'm in. If not, then no. Simple as that!
This seems like a real niche feature. The watch doesn't just need the phone for connectivity, but also for deeper interaction. Obviously there are people that would like to shed the phone on occasion, but we have to be talking something like 5% of users, 5% of the time. Ditch the LTE and give us 5 day battery life.
Just another vote against LTE. Despite the battery and extra cost concerns, this seems like a misguided attempt to make the watch more like a phone, which it isn't. I'm very rarely away from my phone, and for those rare cases, I'm ok preselecting the music that stays on the watch (and I'm looking forward to WatchOS 4 preloading some music for me).
The beauty of the "smart" functions of the watch aren't prolonged interactions...they are quick shortcuts to commonly done actions. More than 5 seconds on the watch = I should have taken out my phone. The biggest holdup is the lag on watch- any app not in the dock is essentially useless (I spend the whole time watching the app load cursing myself for not just taking out my phone). I hope they focus on speed rather than LTE.
Edit: I did some thinking- maybe I'm being a bit myopic. I always where clothes with pockets, and carry my phone at all times (except for working out). Some people don't always have pockets though. My wife often goes out with no pockets, and her phone might be the biggest thing she has with her. Someone like her might appreciate being able to go out with a "lite" phone on her wrist rather than carrying around a bigger clutch housing her phone. A watch with LTE might help in that situation...
The beauty of the "smart" functions of the watch aren't prolonged interactions...they are quick shortcuts to commonly done actions. More than 5 seconds on the watch = I should have taken out my phone. The biggest holdup is the lag on watch- any app not in the dock is essentially useless (I spend the whole time watching the app load cursing myself for not just taking out my phone). I hope they focus on speed rather than LTE.
Edit: I did some thinking- maybe I'm being a bit myopic. I always where clothes with pockets, and carry my phone at all times (except for working out). Some people don't always have pockets though. My wife often goes out with no pockets, and her phone might be the biggest thing she has with her. Someone like her might appreciate being able to go out with a "lite" phone on her wrist rather than carrying around a bigger clutch housing her phone. A watch with LTE might help in that situation...
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Steaming Apple Music with just my Apple Watch and AirPods? Yes please!
Imagine going biking or jogging with just a watch and having millions of songs to choose from. No more of this:
When that video aired it felt like a glimpse into the future. Now: "Wired headphones?!" "An arm strap for his iPhone?!"
How far we've come!
Well I was just guesstimating, I use the 250 song limit but my songs are all 320kbps, like 10-15MB per song which would be 2.5GB-3.7GB.
Yeah that is an extreme example and a ridiculous one. I'd rather save my money than pay for yet another subscription.
My guess is that if you selected 250 songs you're not getting 320kbps files on the watch, it's likely down-sizing them. But I could be wrong. Strikes me as odd Apple would limit the watch to 2GB, but allow you to bypass that restriction with 250 HQ songs, which are totally unnecessary on the watch since it can only stream them via BT compression. Not only that, it would take much longer to sync over BT
You may call the example ridiculous if you like, but the reality is such things happen. Happened to a friend of mine. I'd get my mom an Apple Watch if it had cellular, because she doesn't always have her phone on her, or may forget it on the charger. I won't ever get her to wear a dedicated alert device, but I might get her to wear the watch. She tripped on a garden hose one time, a freak accident that never happened before or since, nor to anyone I know, but it left her stranded on the carport for 6 hours because her phone was on the charger. You have your needs, and you calculate your own risks in life. But there are many reasons to have a cellular watch for many people. And keep this in mind, much like the iPhone, you don't actually need a subscription to call 911.
I love that my LG Watch Sport is able to make phone calls. Yes it has its own plan but it's only 10.00 a month. The watch is amazing.
Apple's third-generation Apple Watch, set to launch later this year, will include its own LTE for a standalone cellular connection, reports Bloomberg.
With a cellular connection, the new Apple Watch models will be untethered from the iPhone, able to stream music, send messages, download apps, and connect to the internet without the need for an iPhone.
It's not clear if a standalone cellular plan will be needed for the Apple Watch, but it seems likely. According to Bloomberg, only a subset of carriers who sell the iPhone will support the Apple Watch, but in the U.S., AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all plan to offer the LTE Apple Watch when it launches.
Intel, not Qualcomm, will supply the LTE modems for the Apple Watch.
Cellular connectivity for the Apple Watch is not a new rumor - we've been hearing hints of it since before the Series 2 Apple Watch was released last September. Battery issues have reportedly been holding Apple back - a cellular connection drains battery more quickly.
Previous third-generation Apple Watch rumors have suggested Apple is focusing primarily on improving battery life and the company may have made enough progress to compensate for LTE connectivity.
Aside from the inclusion of an LTE chip, not much is known about the next Apple Watch. Rumors have pointed towards a more minor update that focuses on under-the-hood hardware and performance improvements rather than external design changes.
Bloomberg believes the cellular-capable Apple Watch will launch this fall alongside new iPhones, but cautions that the device could be delayed beyond 2017.
Update: The Wall Street Journal has corroborated Bloomberg's report and says Apple will introduce an LTE Apple Watch this year. According to The Wall Street Journal, the cellular Apple Watch will likely be rolled into existing wireless plans for an additional monthly charge, similar to how LTE tablets work.
Article Link: Apple's Series Three Apple Watch to Include Cellular Connection
Agree.
The pairing setup is actually a good thing I think, to have your suite running that way, analogous to syncing your iPhone with Mac. As said earlier, if it needs its own plan double negative. Also, if anything, I feel like I need to be less connected with today's million options. Can I just go do something without having to check every thing imaginable?
That is just for my own tastes however, of course people have different needs and some may love it.
As a manager of a business, I need to be connected all the time throughout the day and since leaving my LTE variant of the Gear S3 for the Apple Watch, there have been many times where I have left my phone inside my house, in the car, etc already, because I was so used to having my watch connected to LTE.
For me, this is a no brainer. I will be preordering with t-mobile the second it's available.
For me, this is a no brainer. I will be preordering with t-mobile the second it's available.
Sorry but another plan or more charges just to use the watch is a deal breaker. While I will probably upgrade from my AW2, there is no way I am paying to use it without my iPhone.
I imagine you could turn the LTE off like you can with any other device that has it (thinking iPad here).
I see them touting the safety feAtures of this. Whether carriers charge for a plan or not is even irrelevant. Emergency calls (I the US) are free. Hell I'd consider getting one for my mom. She will be 71 this month and I can totally appreciate her being able to make a call from something in her wrist. It's like that sweet life alert commercial but envisioned by Apple lol.
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I'm betting T-Mobile rolls it in for free for their users anyway. Afaik they haven't done that yet, but this is an Apple Watch we are talking here. Their iPhone promos are always insane.
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My thoughts exactly, you just got them out before me haha. I actually did get hit while running. Wasn't severe. Some scrapes and a good scare. And the driver did the right thing and checked in me. But that woke me up about my mortality pretty quick.
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I think Apple knows this. I'm sure if there is indeed a cellular Apple Watch, it will be an option and a different SKU just like on the iPads.
It's Apple Watch 3. Drop the "series" ridiculousness. Do we call iPhone 8 "iPhone series 8"? No. We call it iPhone 8.
It's Apple Watch 3... period.
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And soaking in the radiation of a well oiled microwaved oven, basking in all it's glory. No thanks. I'll do without.
It's Apple Watch 3... period.
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And soaking in the radiation of a well oiled microwaved oven, basking in all it's glory. No thanks. I'll do without.
This, 100%
I want to be able to play my audiobooks, podcasts and Amazon music from my watch at the gym without my phone.
As a manager at T-Mobile I can tell you 100% that this won't happen. We have wearable plans with Digits specific for smart watches. For $15 a month you get your service plus the ability to have your phones number virtually tied to your smart watch. This way when your phone rings, so does your watch, regardless if your phone is with you or not, or if it is on or not. The watch IS your phone if you want it to be.
So, no. T-Mobile will not give the service away for free. We also stopped selling regular Apple watches because they lacked cellular connectivity.
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LTE can be turned off and never used. If battery life is your concern, then I can tell you that if Samsung can make a watch like the S3 with LTE and you can still get over a full days use (with always on display), then I'm sure Apple will have no issues.
As for your comment about loading times, I have a series 1 on the latest watchOS and I have no issue with load times.
Ouch. $15. That's a drag.
As much as tmobile keeps changing things up, here's to hoping they rethink that strategy. I think they've revamped their cell plan pricing three times since I've been with them; it hasn't yet been two years lol
Agree 100%. An LTE MacBook is a solution to an already solved problem.
The $15 is the wearable plan that includes the digits option to have your watch essentially take over as your iPhone. They are always tweaking plans and it can be hard to keep up with the constant changes, but for what you get, it isn't a bad price plan. Can you do without the plan? Sure. But, I like having the option to have my watch fill in as my phone if the need arises.
But, who knows. Maybe they will bring the plan down for the Apple Watch. I hope they do, because I'll be first in line for both the Apple Watch and iPhone 8.
Yes, Apple can bring volume sales to T-Mobile to help negotiate a better plan, if T-Mobile wants to carry the watch. And why wouldn't they if it offers LTE? They've done it over and over with every major carrier with the iPhone.
An LTE watch opens a whole new chapter and use case for the watch, and whole new set of options. I can imagine a plan where the watch and phone have a bundled plan that share minutes and data, since the watch would only use cellular when away from the phone. In fact, there might even be a hand off feature where the The phone automatically switches into airplane mode, when the watch switches to LTE.
It's not something I'd find myself paying for. We currently pay $30 a line for four lines. I'd have to pay half that to sometimes be able to make calls on my wrist.
I could maybe justify it if there is decent music streaming out the gate though.
The plans that T-mobile and every other carrier have, have nothing to do with a device or who makes that device. Two completely separate things that don't intersect in any way.
Subsidies are designed to offset consumer device costs, but again, this has nothing to do with carrier plans.
This is like saying Florida can bring volume sales of oranges, so Toyota can sell more floor mats for their trucks.
Unless Apple buys a carrier or merges with one, you will not see Apple dictate pricing plans.
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Samsung did a deal with Spotify, so the Gear S3 can stream music. With Apple Music already embedded, streaming music should not be an issue on a new Apple Watch (series 4 or whatever they call it)
You're absolutely right, but I think Tim and Friends are completely out of ideas. They're just throwing "stuff" out their to see what sticks at this point.