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Best Buy has returned this week with a new set of discounts on the Apple Watch Series 3, offering up to $175 off of select models. In the sale you'll find GPS + cellular versions of the 2017 Apple Watch Series 3, including both aluminum and stainless steel models.

apple-watch-bb-sale-820.jpg
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Best Buy is also discounting Nike+ versions of the Apple Watch Series 3 during the sale, with prices starting at $229 for the 38mm model. Many of these discounts will last through the end of August, so be sure to head to Best Buy and browse the sale before it expires.

Apple Watch Series 3 Sale (GPS + Cellular)

[*]42mm Silver Aluminum with White Sport Band - $234, down from $409 ($175 off)
[*]42mm Space Black Stainless Steel with Black Sport Band - $479, down from $629 ($150 off)
[*]Nike+, 38mm Space Gray Aluminum with Anthracite/Black Nike Sport Band - $229, down from $379 ($150 off)
[*]Nike+, 42mm Space Gray Aluminum with Anthracite/Black Nike Sport Band - $309, down from $409 ($100 off) For anyone on the hunt for the latest Apple Watch model, Best Buy is continuing to discount the Apple Watch Series 4 by $50 across the board. You can check out our post on this sale right here, and this one will last through this Saturday, August 24.

Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

Article Link: Deals Spotlight: Best Buy Discounts Apple Watch Series 3 Models by Up to $175
 

DynaFXD

macrumors 6502a
Jun 15, 2010
799
368
East Coast
Idle speculation -> So the Series 3 is being dropped from the line up in September to be replaced by the '4' after the '5' is announced? As much as I wanted the larger face, slightly thinner nature of the Series 4, I could never mentally justify the switch from my LTE 3. At an even cheaper entry point, the Series 3 has a lot of life left in it and could be a steal.
 

Joniz

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2017
673
1,621
Idle speculation -> So the Series 3 is being dropped from the line up in September to be replaced by the '4' after the '5' is announced? As much as I wanted the larger face, slightly thinner nature of the Series 4, I could never mentally justify the switch from my LTE 3. At an even cheaper entry point, the Series 3 has a lot of life left in it and could be a steal.

Personally, I think Apple will drop the 4 and maintain the 3, like they did with the iPhone X when the XS came out.

It would give a person more reason to pay for the 5.
 
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macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
Is the new watchOS update going to make it completely independent of the iPhone or will it still need to be setup with an iPhone? Because I'm wondering if I should get my daughter a cellular version at some point so that she can get a hold of us. She recently started school, so she's going to start becoming more independent. Probably a dumb idea, but it would be way cheaper than an iPhone for both the device and service. I don't want her to have an iPhone for a long time because that's a whole other can of worms. I like the idea of the Watch because if she ever gets in trouble she can hold down the side button for an emergency SOS.
 
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Jack Neill

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2015
2,266
2,291
San Antonio Texas
Personally, I think Apple will drop the 4 and maintain the 3, like they did with the iPhone X when the XS came out.

It would give a person more reason to pay for the 5.

I think this is way more likely. Series 2 got axed and 1 was kept as a budget option. I’m still on a Nike 42 S3. Might go 4 if the 5 pushes the price down.
 

jonen

macrumors member
Mar 13, 2019
91
133
Is the new watchOS update going to make it completely independent of the iPhone or will it still need to be setup with an iPhone? Because I'm wondering if I should get my daughter a cellular version at some point so that she can get a hold of us. She recently started school, so she's going to start becoming more independent. Probably a dumb idea, but it would be way cheaper than an iPhone for both the device and service. I don't want her to have an iPhone for a long time because that's a whole other can of worms. I like the idea of the Watch because if she ever gets in trouble she can hold down the side button for an emergency SOS.

I don't have any kids yet, but I just want to say that your idea is amazing. Depending on the actual price difference of a watch plan vs. phone plan, the Apple Watch for children could be awesome.

The only downfall is that I've noticed the younger generation to be significantly more technologically advanced, so the obvious risk of someone stealing her watch is a factor as well (dependent on where you live). On the plus side, I downloaded a free app for games on my watch the other day, so she could also have a blast with that... lol!
 
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macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
I don't have any kids yet, but I just want to say that your idea is amazing. Depending on the actual price difference of a watch plan vs. phone plan, the Apple Watch for children could be awesome.

The only downfall is that I've noticed the younger generation to be significantly more technologically advanced, so the obvious risk of someone stealing her watch is a factor as well (dependent on where you live). On the plus side, I downloaded a free app for games on my watch the other day, so she could also have a blast with that... lol!
I didn't think about it getting stolen since it's visible all the time. Presumably it would just be another kid that doesn't know about Find My and I'll be able to have the police pick it up from their parents house and give them a stern talking to, lol. I have a pretty good clear case that I use for yard work (although it has been missing for a few months so I need to order a new one from Amazon) that would work for protection to keep it from getting cracked. But yeah, I thought it was kind of a crazy idea but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. Wish Apple could do like a 32-36mm size for kids with smaller straps and have the technology inside be like a year out of date and charge $249 for it with cellular. Still might be asking too much to hit that price point but I think they'd sell a lot—especially if they could lock it down to just Messages (family), Phone (family), Exercise, Weather, Calculator, Calendar, Reminders, Wallet (if they need to take the subway or something in a big city), and the various time related apps. Maybe they could extend the parental controls for that and you could let them listen to music and some other things after class is out.
 

frankdogg

macrumors 6502
Mar 24, 2011
364
199
253, WA
Is the new watchOS update going to make it completely independent of the iPhone or will it still need to be setup with an iPhone? Because I'm wondering if I should get my daughter a cellular version at some point so that she can get a hold of us. She recently started school, so she's going to start becoming more independent. Probably a dumb idea, but it would be way cheaper than an iPhone for both the device and service. I don't want her to have an iPhone for a long time because that's a whole other can of worms. I like the idea of the Watch because if she ever gets in trouble she can hold down the side button for an emergency SOS.

I too am waiting for the Apple Watch to be completely independent from the iPhone as I think it's a great option for a kid to have instead of having a full fledge smartphone.

With that said, if you really wanted your daughter to have an Apple Watch with cellular, you could just keep the iPhone at home and she could use the Apple Watch independently while out and at school. It's obviously more money monthly, but it is an option.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
I too am waiting for the Apple Watch to be completely independent from the iPhone as I think it's a great option for a kid to have instead of having a full fledge smartphone.

With that said, if you really wanted your daughter to have an Apple Watch with cellular, you could just keep the iPhone at home and she could use the Apple Watch independently while out and at school. It's obviously more money monthly, but it is an option.
Yeah, maybe when my wife finally moves on from her SE we could use that to sync an Apple Watch. But I still think she's too young for it. I've just been thinking about it lately with her starting school. She rides the bus and my wife runs a business at our home (and I work part-time from home) so it's not an issue yet. But with all the child sex scandals in the news, I can't help but think I could train her to hold down that button to trigger an SOS if someone tries to bad touch her or snatch her up for a child sex trafficking ring. There was one busted up a few months ago in my city that kind of shook me a bit. Otherwise I would have no problem waiting until she was a teen to get her a phone.
 

frankdogg

macrumors 6502
Mar 24, 2011
364
199
253, WA
Yeah, maybe when my wife finally moves on from her SE we could use that to sync an Apple Watch. But I still think she's too young for it. I've just been thinking about it lately with her starting school. She rides the bus and my wife runs a business at our home (and I work part-time from home) so it's not an issue yet. But with all the child sex scandals in the news, I can't help but think I could train her to hold down that button to trigger an SOS if someone tries to bad touch her or snatch her up for a child sex trafficking ring. There was one busted up a few months ago in my city that kind of shook me a bit. Otherwise I would have no problem waiting until she was a teen to get her a phone.
yeah man, I totally get it. As a parent, we have all of these lingering fears and issues that exist outside of the home that we have to worry about. It's a crazy world out there!
My oldest starts kinder soon and have debated getting her one of those chunky child smartwatches that verizon offers but its really bulky and ugly. I do think the sos feature on the Apple Watch would be great to trigger if our children were ever in any kind of danger.
 
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macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
yeah man, I totally get it. As a parent, we have all of these lingering fears and issues that exist outside of the home that we have to worry about. It's a crazy world out there!
My oldest starts kinder soon and have debated getting her one of those chunky child smartwatches that verizon offers but its really bulky and ugly. I do think the sos feature on the Apple Watch would be great to trigger if our children were ever in any kind of danger.
Oh I didn't know that there are other options. I'll have to look into seeing what is available.
 
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