LTE in Apple Watch Series 3 Models Only Works in Country of Purchase

[MacRumors]

With the LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 only available in a handful of countries at the current time, it might be tempting to purchase one in another country, but it won't work. Series 3 models appear to be limited to connectivity in their original country of purchase.

An Apple support representative who spoke to MacRumors reader Thomas said that an Apple Watch purchased in the U.S. online store will only work with the four carriers in the United States, perhaps due to hardware limitations.

"If you purchased one (an Apple Watch S3 GPS + Cellular) through the US Apple Online Store, it'll only work for the 4 US carriers. It wouldn't work internationally unfortunately. I'm not entirely sure what type of error it would show if you took a US Watch to Germany, but it wouldn't be compatible with Telekom".

Additionally, Apple Watch Series 3 models do not support roaming outside of a provider's network coverage area, according to Apple's fine print, so roaming when traveling to another country is not supported.

Unlike iPhones, Apple Watch Series 3 models also support a limited number of LTE bands, another factor that contributes to no support between countries. In the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, for example, only bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, and 41 are supported.

LTE Apple Watch models are currently only available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States. Apple says availability will expand to other countries next year.

Article Link: LTE in Apple Watch Series 3 Models Only Works in Country of Purchase

 

[Stella]

The limitations are all coming out now, 1 hour battery life, no roaming. Wonder whats next?

Makes this far less desirable.

:-(

No doubt, the roaming issue will be fixed in the AppleWatch 4.

 

[840quadra]

I am sure that packing in so many items has its limits . Hoping to hear that these do not burn in their sim to lock in the first carrier selected, for the life of the watch.

 

[theSpringZone]

This is rediculous.

 

[mashinhead]

how do you change carriers within a single country

 

[ghost187]

Personally this is why I didn't buy it. I'll keep rocking the original till there is a compelling upgrade. Maybe next year.

 

[BornAgainMac]

The 1 hour of battery life seems like the bigger issue. Without battery power, it won't even work in the country you bought the watch.

 

[Robert.Walter]

This will not be welcomed by folks in Europe who have just received continental roaming rights.

 

[theSpringZone]

Personally this is why I didn't buy it. I'll keep rocking the original till there is a compelling upgrade. Maybe next year.

I'm going to cancel my pre-order because of this. I was planning on traveling to Vietnam for 3 months and was hoping to get it to work over there, but now Apple comes out with this clarification. Ugh.

 

[The Mercurian]

Yes,

Can you even change carriers within a country ?

 

[tito2020]

The limitations are all coming out now, 1 hour battery life, no roaming. Wonder whats next?

Makes this far less desirable.

:-(

No doubt, the roaming issue will be fixed in the AppleWatch 4.

Thats why they do not register a new number

 

[tn-xyz]

isn't this like so 2011?
i thought we got past these boundaries.

 

[profets]

Wait - if Cellular Series 3 watches are only available in countries with supported networks - does that mean if you're in a country where it's not supported that it's not possible to buy a stainless steel Series 3 watch? That would be quite odd if true.

I'm fascinated how the whole eSIM thing will work. We'll see this eventually on phones as well as more carriers start to support it. I'm going to be connecting my Series 3 next week. So interested to see how that process is handled (it looks like it's done in the Watch app on the phone).

 

[farewelwilliams]

oh god, this is bad

 

[profets]

isn't this like so 2011?
i thought we got past these boundaries.

It's likely very early limitations of eSIM and carriers getting on board.

 

[imran5720]

Oh that's disappointment for us where apple watch is not officially sold and is smuggled from other countries

 

[theSpringZone]

Preorder canceled.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I am sure that packing in so many items has its limits . Hoping to hear that these do not burn in their sim to lock in the first carrier selected, for the life of the watch.

They've said you can switch the carrier within the software.

 

[Maetzle]

That's kind of disappointing especially with the new EU (+Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) roaming regulations. And a bit annoying since I'm probably going to move to another country within the next 3-4 months. :-/

 

[entropys]

Smells of carrier (or less likely Apple) geoblocking. The sim is electronic.
Why build a different LTE chip for different countries.

 

[FasterQuieter]

This is a travesty! How will I function not being able to speak from my wrist when I happen to forget my phone when I happen to be in a foreign country? What are we, barbarians?

 

[Mr. Orange]

Why? Wi-Fi.

 

[themick4u]

#epicfailure

Not buying it. I'll sit out on this one indefinitely

 

[profets]

Smells of carrier (or less likely Apple) geoblocking. The sim is electronic.
Why build a different LTE chip for different countries.

Do we know details about the cellular chip being used? Is it Apple designed now? I wonder if to minimize it as much as possible they reduced the bands supported to simple the watch per region. No clue though, just thinking out loud.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Only 3.5% of the US population has EVER traveled abroad. But we should probably blow this up into a HUGE problem because EVERYONE has to have their watch to talk when they're traveling.

We couldn't talk on our watches before 9/22 but it's IMPOSSIBLE to travel without that ability after that date. Cancel my trip.