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Purchasing a series 3 or wait til 4 drops in price?

breezyf808

breezyf808

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 12, 2012
308
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i am contemplating on purchasing a series 3 since its on discount for $229.
Should I wait til the 4 drops down to around that price, assuming it'll be next year or should I just bite the bullet and purchase the 3?
Note it's the 42mm series 3 or the 44mm series 4.

I am in no rush to purchase but if other people's opinion helps me decide to get the series 3 now, I might get it.
 
breezyf808 said:
Should I wait til the 4 drops down to around that price, assuming it'll be next year or should I just bite the bullet and purchase the 3?
Click to expand...

Do you already have an Apple Watch?

If not, Series 3 is a HUGE upgrade from no watch. Series 4 isn't worth the extra $170+. Getting into all the Apple Watch fitness features is well worth getting a Series 3.
 
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I had a series 2 Ceramic and series 3 Aluminum before I ordered my series 4. The version I bought had about a 45-day backorder and I started to get buyers remorse for buying the 4. Once the 4 arrived I quickly realized it was worth the upgrade over the series 3. I would recommend waiting for the 4.
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bbeagle said:
Do you already have an Apple Watch?

If not, Series 3 is a HUGE upgrade from no watch. Series 4 isn't worth the extra $170+. Getting into all the Apple Watch fitness features is well worth getting a Series 3.
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree. :) I wear a series 3 and series 4 daily. I feel that the series 4 is considerably nicer than my 3.
 
GRT89521 said:
I respectfully disagree. :) I wear a series 3 and series 4 daily. I feel that the series 4 is considerably nicer than my 3.
Click to expand...

I still wear a series 3. I don't feel that it's slow or needs any features that the 4 has.

I agree that the series 4 is 'nicer'. I just don't think it's $400+ 'nicer' for me to get one, or $170+ 'nicer' for someone else without a watch to get one. It all depends on how much that nicer face means to you. Fall Detection? For me, meh. It's faster? Mine is perfect right now. I don't use apps, so maybe that's a difference?
 
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Fitness wise I'm pretty set. Won't use that feature while using the watch. I think I'll just use it for music and notification, as I hate to always bring out my phone from my pocket. Had fitbits and pebble watch but either sold them or broke, so I'm without a watch for the last couple months
 
breezyf808 said:
Fitness wise I'm pretty set. Won't use that feature while using the watch. I think I'll just use it for music and notification, as I hate to always bring out my phone from my pocket. Had fitbits and pebble watch but either sold them or broke, so I'm without a watch for the last couple months
Click to expand...

Then if you don’t have an appreciation for the fitness capabilities (i.e EKG, upgraded sensors), _and_ if you’re not interested in a larger display, then I would opt for the Series 3. That would meet your needs more than enough what it has to offer.
 
Is there a difference with music storage between them?
I recently got Apple Music and would like to make playlist for offline playback.
 
The series 3 is a really solid upgrade. I came from the series 0 and the difference was massive. My series 0 was so slow. The only reason I wanted the series 4 was because of the ECG feature. I wasn’t bothered about the bigger screen. I’ve just bought my series 4 but I don’t expect much difference in terms of performance from my series 3.
 
There are other issues that need to be asked in my opinion. For example, how important is fall detection? If fall detection is important or could become important for the OP, then only S4 has that. Similarly, does the OP have a-fib? That would also suggest series 4. Would the OP like a larger screen?

Lastly the is the issue of upgrade frequency. If the answer to the above issues are NO, but the OP wants to keep the watch for a longer time, then the S4, will more likely be supported for a longer time. If support for the S4, is significantly longer, then it may work out to be cheaper in the long term, even with a greater upfront cost.
 
I had a series 0, 3 and now the 4th. I got the 4 because it is slimmer and for my delicate wrist I like it better.
 
I believe the series 4 is the superior version, but I couldn't justify the benefits for how much more it cost. My logic is that once I decide to upgrade I can sell the series 3 for maybe a fraction less than I bought it for and put the amount I saved now into getting the upgraded watch of the "future."

As for the health features, I really believe it'll benefit the old and people with health conditions.
 
Prices for the S3 started dropping in June last year in preparation for the S4 launch in September. At this point, I would wait for June and get the S4.
 
breezyf808 said:
i am contemplating on purchasing a series 3 since its on discount for $229.
Should I wait til the 4 drops down to around that price, assuming it'll be next year or should I just bite the bullet and purchase the 3?
Note it's the 42mm series 3 or the 44mm series 4.

I am in no rush to purchase but if other people's opinion helps me decide to get the series 3 now, I might get it.
Click to expand...

Being a COMPLETE upgrade to previous, the 4 will be supported for years longer.

And the extra screen area is ooooh so wonderful!
 
breezyf808 said:
I believe the series 4 is the superior version, but I couldn't justify the benefits for how much more it cost. My logic is that once I decide to upgrade I can sell the series 3 for maybe a fraction less than I bought it for and put the amount I saved now into getting the upgraded watch of the "future."

As for the health features, I really believe it'll benefit the old and people with health conditions.
Click to expand...

Young people fall or get health issue too.

Your hypothesis about trade in is questionable. The maximum trade in that Apple is giving is $195 for the SS version. You might take a much bigger loss than you think.
 
jaybar said:
Young people fall or get health issue too.

Your hypothesis about trade in is questionable. The maximum trade in that Apple is giving is $195 for the SS version. You might take a much bigger loss than you think.
Click to expand...

Yes I know young people have health problems also and that is why I stated people with health issues.
As for resell value, I'm looking towards selling it through craigslist. I believe I can sell it for at least $150 and on top of that, the money I saved for not buying the s4 now (around 150-170) I can put it towards the s4 or s5 in the future.
Overall I love my new s3 42mm which I bought for $229 as well as my new Bose soundsport free
 
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breezyf808 said:
Yes I know young people have health problems also and that is why I stated people with health issues.
As for resell value, I'm looking towards selling it through craigslist. I believe I can sell it for at least $150 and on top of that, the money I saved for not buying the s4 now (around 150-170) I can put it towards the s4 or s5 in the future.
Overall I love my new s3 42mm which I bought for $229 as well as my new Bose soundsport free
Click to expand...

If you decide to sell your Apple Watch on Craigslist, be sure to remove it from your iCloud account, which is a very easy misstep a lot of Apple Watch users forget to do when they sell it locally.
 
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Relentless Power said:
If you decide to sell your Apple Watch on Craigslist, be sure to remove it from your iCloud account, which is a very easy misstep a lot of Apple Watch users forget to do when they sell it locally.
Click to expand...
Thanks relentless!! I forgot about that. I remember reading a thread about how a buyer couldn't get his watch to work because it was still connected to the buyers iCloud. Great useful information.
 
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