You can only pack so much RF related electronics into a watch sized device.
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LTE in Apple Watch Series 3 Models Only Works in Country of Purchase
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You can only pack so much RF related electronics into a watch sized device.
You forgot that Stainless Steel means you get LTE or nothing...this is my personal dealbreaker.
Why are the carriers charging $10 to add to your plan. This is just replacing data you would have been using on your phone. Charging for that is BS.
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My guess is they’re trying to cut down on the number of SKUs. How much more is the LTE version?
Picked up an AW2 SS SB out of the Apple Refurbished Store several months ago for $469. I am not compelled to move to the Series 3 at this time. I love my Series 2.
I was in Vietnam last year and the ATT passport package didn't work over there, so i had to pay full price for data. So... even if it worked there, you'd most likely pay through the nose.
Best option for such a long stay to to make sure your phone is carrier unlocked, and buy a new prepaid sim there.
Woah I didn't know it was only 1 hour battery life. It now seems super pointless if you have to get back to your phone and wait to recharge your watch for the rest of the day after your 1 hour workout or whatever use the lte for. Looks like if I finally take the apple watch plunge I'll just stick to a GPS version. Seems like it would still be nice to be able to track your run and listen to a downloaded playlist and not carry have to carry a phone.
Curious question for current apple watch users do you consider it just an expensive fitness/health tracker or do you do a lot of things on it while its tethered to your phone? I don't particularly love the feeling of wearing a watch and often forget to even wear my traditional watches but thinking Apple Watch might break that habit.
Appreciate any feedback.
- Yes, it's quite grotesque. It's a severe limitation in terms of style choices and quality of materials.
This is not new news - it was posted everywhere else immediately after the keynote. I knew this before buying, when I travel to other countries I'll simply keep my phone in my pocket if I intend to use watch features that consume data. It's probably not wise wandering around in a foreign country without a phone anyway.
Correct, this is not a hardware limitation but a carrier limitation - the carrier doesn't want to be responsible for you roaming with a wearable for whatever reason.
Even worse… an hour in the metric system is only 14 minutes!
Seriously, the limitations and restrictions of this model are going to hurt its credibility.
Limiting LTE in Apple Watch to only work in the purchase origin countries makes sense. The cellular component including the digital sim is designed and program to work with specific carriers in a specific country. The watches do not have a physical sim that can be interchangeable like phones. So, it is logical.
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.
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
Just because they are allowing you to share a number, they still have to register the IMEI into their system and allot resources for the extra devices. I agree that $10 is a bit high, but they are adding cost on their end.
Its ligit to want to use your apple watch in other countries as you do in your home country.. i.e., to exercise and to take the odd phone call while you do so. Many people have dual passports too, or business trips etc etc and may travel between each more regularly.
Visiting other countries isn't scary*(!), and certainly don't really need to take your phone around with you everywhere!
* a few countries could be named that require more due diligence than others!
That is a little shortsighted.
The world goes beyond the US borders.
I live in Europe, travel around Europe, Asia, Australia, USA and South America, I would expect the features of any tech I buy to be usable wherever I go.
I would understand if there were limitations in some countries, however, limiting a feature to the country of purchase is retarded.
It reminds me of region locking of SuperDrives in laptops, which caused me headaches in the past.
I have to wonder about the carrier agreements as well. Within their own networks, carriers can make allowances for multiple devices sharing a single phone, but having to contract out to another foreign provider could complicate how those devices are addressed. I can imagine people wouldn't be to thrilled to rack up a thousand dollar bill for using their watches overseas.
A bit of trivia : did you know that the US population are not the only inhabitants of planet Earth ?
Yeah i know, hard to believe.
I understand and absolutely agree, I don't think travelling in other countries is scary at all - but I also think the majority of the people on this thread are not regular business travelers or dual citizenship holders but people who are concerned their watch won't work when they are on vacation.
I am in India and a frequent traveler to the states. Just checked apple India website and your guess was correct. No SS watch in India. I preordered the Nike cellular and now have to cancel it because it would be completely useless. I was hoping India carriers start supporting it in a few months but now even if they do the US version will not work. I don't understand this. Isn't it cost effective for Apple to just manufacture a universal watch rather than fragment it for each country. They did this for the old iPhones but the new sim free ones work everywhere. I am hoping this article is not true and that support person didn't have full information.
- This is what I am thinking a well. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be any basis for the conclusion this article draws from the statements of that supporter. There's quite a difference between a US watch not working outside the US and no watch in the world working outside the country where it was purchased.
If it's just a matter of LTE bands, some models will work in some countries and some in others, with some degree of inter-compatiblity.
If it's because of artificial restrictions, I still fail to see the basis for the far-reaching conclusion the article draws from its limited information on one country.
Indeed. I have 40 gigabytes of data a month included in my subscription. And it's now useable all over Europe.
This news has seriously dampened my enthousiasm for the Series 3.
I already own a steel Series 1, and I'll probably just grab a cheaper refurbished Series 2 for the water resistance. The limitations of Series 3 are just not worth it anymore.
I would think that it would be logical if it was posible to update the digital sim settings to match the sim that is in your phone, so if you change your phone sim then your watch sim should automatically get the new settings.
This is what I would expect from Apple..... something that just works.
Also, with the exception of T-Mobile, all of the US carriers charge per device (per day) for international data - are you all really willing to pay an extra $10 a day to use your watch instead of just putting your phone in your pocket?
I'm not familiar with Non-US carriers' international data plans. I do think this is a huge bummer for European customers. Though I think anyone would only realistically travel between France, Germany & Switzerland (and maybe the UK) since those are the only supported countries at the moment so it only affects people that would do that regularly.
EDIT: T-mobile doesn't even have free 4G internationally, it is limited to 3G which the watch doesn't support - you have to buy an on-demand pass to use 4G - so any US customers that are mad about this are definitely overreacting.
I'm not familiar with Non-US carriers' international data plans. I do think this is a huge bummer for European customers. Though I think anyone would only realistically travel between France, Germany & Switzerland (and maybe the UK) since those are the only supported countries at the moment so it only affects people that would do that regularly.
EDIT: T-mobile doesn't even have free 4G internationally, it is limited to 3G which the watch doesn't support - you have to buy an on-demand pass to use 4G - so any US customers that are mad about this are definitely overreacting.
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That's correct!
For instance, in Spain Apple is just gonna sell the non-LTE version. Neither Stainless steel nor ceramic model (W.Edition). Furthermore, the standart version has composite on the back instead of ceramic (like Series 1)
Wow, that sucks. And just damn strange to think that only a handful of countries with cellular Watch support will actually have a stainless steel model for sale.