Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AT&T will charge $10/month extra to add Apple watch
- Thread starter Aston441
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It depends on how you use it. If you're a runner who doesn't want to lug their phone with them, this is great! You can now get texts, have a way to send an emergency phone call. It's invaluable.
If you always have your phone on you, this might not be worth it.
I'll definitely be getting one. My use cases:
* Swimming - can't have my phone with me, but now I can still see any texts
* Working out in the gym - rather leave my phone in my locker
* At the beach - don't have to worry about hiding my phone under my beach towel and it getting possibly stolen.
* Bicycling - I don't like carrying my phone in my bike bag. Now I don't have to.
* I don't use my phone for facebooking, or any social media. I just send/receive texts and emails. And I hate carrying it around. I think I'll be able to leave my phone at home or in my car now. Sweet!
If you always have your phone on you, this might not be worth it.
I'll definitely be getting one. My use cases:
* Swimming - can't have my phone with me, but now I can still see any texts
* Working out in the gym - rather leave my phone in my locker
* At the beach - don't have to worry about hiding my phone under my beach towel and it getting possibly stolen.
* Bicycling - I don't like carrying my phone in my bike bag. Now I don't have to.
* I don't use my phone for facebooking, or any social media. I just send/receive texts and emails. And I hate carrying it around. I think I'll be able to leave my phone at home or in my car now. Sweet!
$10 per month is a no go for me. I have the Series 2 because I wanted the waterproof option and I do run without my phone. Except for being out of contact in case of an emergency, the GPS has worked fine for tracking. It would be nice to have and really is the way it should go, but our cell phone bills are so high to begin with that it's difficult to justify adding more to it. It's a shame.
[doublepost=1505310369][/doublepost]
Agree completely with the above. Problem is cost.
[doublepost=1505310369][/doublepost]
Agree completely with the above. Problem is cost.
It's well worth $10/month to me as an 'insurance policy' so that I'm always available. If I'm in trouble, or there's an emergency at home, I'll know about it immediately. Not hours later.
Certainly. In your case it's great. I also think it would be very useful for the elderly. In my case I'm still trying to see the value.
I'd be a buyer at $5, but $10 seems high. Sprint still hasn't released their pricing model yet and I suspect the pricing will be fluid as the carriers try to figure out how much data the watch actually uses and how much people are willing to pay.
Makes you wonder how we ever survived back in the days of landline phones and few/no answering machines.
Makes you wonder how we ever survived back in the days of landline phones and few/no answering machines.
My grandfather died because he couldn't get help. He was on the farm on his tractor and had a heart-attack. He couldn't get back to the house in time to get help, and my grandmother found him later.
I missed meeting friends because they called my home phone while I was out, then my mom would give me the message the next morning. And you'd just outright miss calls if nobody was at home to answer them.
It really was very different 30+ years ago.
On the plus side, it was easier to avoid people I didn't want to see. If a girl called when I was out, and my mom told me when I got home.... If I didn't like her, I didn't need to awkwardly call her back. I could just ignore it. Then when confronted a few weeks later, I could easily lie and say that 'my mom never told me that you called'.
But then you'd miss that call from the girl you really liked, and never ever knew she called until the class reunion 20 years later. Sigh. Good and bad.
Indeed. If my 69 year old father had had an ability to make an emergency call from his wrist, perhaps he'd have lived a few years more instead of me finding him dead the next day.
On balance, it also seems so many more people die or suffer grievous injury because someone's focusing on their phone instead of on driving.
Good and bad indeed.
I would like LTE to have the ability to make emergency calls when out running. But, hopefully that scenario never (or at least very rarely) comes up. Hard to swallow $120/year for that. I think I'd rather just carry my phone for those runs when I'm on trails and away from ready access to assistance.
I believe inactive cell phones can always call 911, even without a service contract. (in the US at least)
Wonder if the same would apply to this device?
so i havent seen an answer to this but how far can i be away from my phone with the watch? i would assume unlimited distance since they use cell towers to transmit the signal?
Just had this chat with Verizon confirming same $5 plan they already had.
Verizon: Thank you for contacting the Verizon Wireless Chat Team regarding your account. How can we help you today?
You: Will the new apple watch series 3 be able to use the current $5/mo number share plan as the samsung watch does
RAVEN: Hello there! I hope you're having a great day so far. May I ask who I have the pleasure of chatting with today?
You: Art
RAVEN: Thank you Art! I can certainly understand your concerns with the watch and pricing as I know I would as well. The device will still be the same price as the current line access.
You: Does that mean $5 to use number share?
RAVEN: Yes
You: Thank you
Verizon: Thank you for contacting the Verizon Wireless Chat Team regarding your account. How can we help you today?
You: Will the new apple watch series 3 be able to use the current $5/mo number share plan as the samsung watch does
RAVEN: Hello there! I hope you're having a great day so far. May I ask who I have the pleasure of chatting with today?
You: Art
RAVEN: Thank you Art! I can certainly understand your concerns with the watch and pricing as I know I would as well. The device will still be the same price as the current line access.
You: Does that mean $5 to use number share?
RAVEN: Yes
You: Thank you
There was a lot of talk from people who liked to run with just the watch and Bluetooth headphones and others would say how dangerous that would be without a phone in case of an emergency. This eliminates that concern and I love the idea of further not needing my phone around.
I play in the yard a lot with my grandson and miss a lot of texts though most isn’t critical. This also helps a lot. Same for some work where I don’t have wi-fi and don’t carry my phone.
I can see plenty of usages for lte and $10 isn’t that much. As of right now though, I have a series 2 Hermès and don’t want to give that one up without being able to sell for $400 or so. Wouldn’t want to pay $10 without it being my daily wear. But finding someone to buy for $400 or more probably isn’t going to happen even though I paid $1200+ a year ago.
Right now, I would rather have the series 3 with lte than a iPhone 10.
I play in the yard a lot with my grandson and miss a lot of texts though most isn’t critical. This also helps a lot. Same for some work where I don’t have wi-fi and don’t carry my phone.
I can see plenty of usages for lte and $10 isn’t that much. As of right now though, I have a series 2 Hermès and don’t want to give that one up without being able to sell for $400 or so. Wouldn’t want to pay $10 without it being my daily wear. But finding someone to buy for $400 or more probably isn’t going to happen even though I paid $1200+ a year ago.
Right now, I would rather have the series 3 with lte than a iPhone 10.
There was a lot of talk from people who liked to run with just the watch and Bluetooth headphones and others would say how dangerous that would be without a phone in case of an emergency. This eliminates that concern and I love the idea of further not needing my phone around.
I play in the yard a lot with my grandson and miss a lot of texts though most isn’t critical. This also helps a lot. Same for some work where I don’t have wi-fi and don’t carry my phone.
I can see plenty of usages for lte and $10 isn’t that much. As of right now though, I have a series 2 Hermès and don’t want to give that one up without being able to sell for $400 or so. Wouldn’t want to pay $10 without it being my daily wear. But finding someone to buy for $400 or more probably isn’t going to happen even though I paid $1200+ a year ago.
Right now, I would rather have the series 3 with lte than a iPhone 10.
I bet to differ re: resale on that Hermes. There's one on eBay right now that was almost up to 600 dollars in bids last I checked it. Included fauve leather strap, orange sport strap and the original Hermes box. I have all that. If I can sell mine for around 600 dollars, I will absolutely do it. I have enjoyed the Hermes this past year, but I don't need an Hermes. It was more of a novelty purchase for me.
Very greedy, this is not a stand alone device like an iPad, it’s a companion device, number is the same as the phone.
Should be zero considering what we pay, but heck $5 sounds ok, but 10 is an absolute slap in the face, ohhh and they say no activation fee... what? It’s the same number!!
If everyone protested and didn’t add the plan, they would change.
I think I’ll call and let them know how happy I am they are not charging me an activation fee for the same number
Should be zero considering what we pay, but heck $5 sounds ok, but 10 is an absolute slap in the face, ohhh and they say no activation fee... what? It’s the same number!!
If everyone protested and didn’t add the plan, they would change.
I think I’ll call and let them know how happy I am they are not charging me an activation fee for the same number
That's stupid. How will anyone pull off a family plan with say, husband, wife, more than 2 kids (3, for example) all with AW and maybe some iPads? You'd go over 10 very quickly.
Correct, no contract so $10 month to month and you can cancel at any time.
The current information that I have from AT&T is "Yes" it counts against the 10 device max limit on a plan.
Dave
That’s good to know. I think we bought ours days apart and I really like the leather band as it is far superior to apples leather bands.
Would prefer to sell for $500 but would take $400.
I pretty much always have my phone with me, so I have very little need for an LTE Watch. My exercise of choice is cycling, but perhaps if I was a runner and wanted to leave my phone at home, I'd be willing to pay $10/month, but for me, $5 is the absolute most I'd pay.
Coming from AW 0, the Series 2 waterproofing was a game changer for me. The way AW2 accurately tracks your yardage by different strokes in the water is almost uncanny. It’s also great for biking and running. So much so that I haven’t strapped on my Garmin 920XT in months. I can’t wait for watchOS 4 with it’s quick workout changing feature.
Having LTE on AW will be icing on an already tasty cake. I’ll be ordering two this Friday.
Having LTE on AW will be icing on an already tasty cake. I’ll be ordering two this Friday.