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Series 3 Cellular

Actually, a fiver per month and the 'freedom' to run without my phone, or go to the gym for that matter, is very decent to me. There are quite a few moments where I wish I hadn't my phone with me, but still be available.
Of course, free would be better.
 
How does the watch cellular work? It has its own mini sim? This will be much harder for cabin crew to tell us to turn off.
 
I'm wondering whether smaller cellular companies will be able to support it if they are using the backbone network of the big four. I suspect that it isn't the case, which kinda sucks because if you are using a provider like Ting, the cellular version is completely useless.

Also, does anyone know if you need to have cellular data / connection for the cellular version? I guess I'm wondering if I should purchase it, have the possibility to switch to one of the supported carriers in the future, and then utilize it.
 
some1uDNTknow said:
I'm wondering whether smaller cellular companies will be able to support it if they are using the backbone network of the big four. I suspect that it isn't the case, which kinda sucks because if you are using a provider like Ting, the cellular version is completely useless.

Also, does anyone know if you need to have cellular data / connection for the cellular version? I guess I'm wondering if I should purchase it, have the possibility to switch to one of the supported carriers in the future, and then utilize it.
Click to expand...
you should be able to buy a LTE watch and use it exclusively on Wifi.
 
some1uDNTknow said:
Also, does anyone know if you need to have cellular data / connection for the cellular version? I guess I'm wondering if I should purchase it, have the possibility to switch to one of the supported carriers in the future, and then utilize it.
Click to expand...

I asked similar questions at a local Apple Store on Tuesday. They apparently had not gone through relevant training materials yet. They encouraged me to give the LTE one a shot and take advantage of the return policy as relevant information starts flooding in.
Ideally, I should be able to buy the LTE one, leave it unactivated (just like you can do on a cellular iPad), and activate it on a network of my choice if I choose to switch carriers later on. From the keynote coverage, it sounded like the built in Apple SIM in our iPad Pros and the guy that we have in the LTE watches have a similar concept. Without digging further into it, one could assume that you can switch carriers/reprogram the SIM as you go.
We shall see.
 
patent10021 said:
How does the watch cellular work? It has its own mini sim? This will be much harder for cabin crew to tell us to turn off.
Click to expand...

It has what is known as an e SIM, as in electronic SIM. There is no physical SIM for the Apple Watch 3 LTE. It also has "Airplane Mode".

The Game 161 said:
No sim

It just mirrors from your phone and uses the data
Click to expand...

Not exactly. It does not "Mirror" the paired iPhone. It uses it's own LTE connect to make and receive calls, it has it's own TXT and Data allocation and associated fees / charges may apply depending on Carrier. That's one reason why the Carriers are charging for it as a separate device.

The specific implementation seems to vary by carrier. One important note: to use your iPhone phone number in TXT messages sent from your Apple Watch LTE, the iPhone has to be on and connected to your mobile carrier!


Dave
 
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The usual stuff is now happening where O2 are tweeting hey have no plans and some people are being told on live chat that they will have news shortly. It's the usual nonsense that always happens and various people saving screenshots of what they were told on chat, because you know, that'll make all the difference.
 
dave006 said:
One important note: to use your iPhone phone number in TXT messages sent from your Apple Watch LTE, the iPhone has to be on and connected to your mobile carrier!
Click to expand...
Are you sure? That kind of defeats the purpose of having its own eSIM inside. I can understand that the phone can't have had its SIM taken out and another one put in (ie for roaming) but so long as the last network the phone registered with is the one your watch is using, I don't see why it won't work.
 
adrianlondon said:
Are you sure? That kind of defeats the purpose of having its own eSIM inside. I can understand that the phone can't have had its SIM taken out and another one put in (ie for roaming) but so long as the last network the phone registered with is the one your watch is using, I don't see why it won't work.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what the carriers in the US have shared so far. While you can make and receive LTE calls while your iPhone is powered off / not connected to the network. However to send or receive Text Messages, your iPhone has to be powered on and connected via cellular service or Wi-Fi to your carrier's network.

Also just to be clear: Cellular Roaming is not supported and will not work. Both devices have to be on the carrier's network.

Dave
 
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dave006 said:
Yes, that's what the carriers in the US have shared so far. While you can make and receive LTE calls while your iPhone is powered off / not connected to the network. However to send or receive Text Messages, your iPhone has to be powered on and connected via cellular service or Wi-Fi to your carrier's network.

Also just to be clear: Cellular Roaming is not supported and will not work. Both devices have to be on the carrier's network.

Dave
Click to expand...

Just to confirm, if I want to use Facebook Messenger for instance on the Watch, the sim will have 4G so I can use data without the phone? Or is it just calls and apple texts/imessages?
 
GoFlex said:
Just to confirm, if I want to use Facebook Messenger for instance on the Watch, the sim will have 4G so I can use data without the phone? Or is it just calls and apple texts/imessages?
Click to expand...
We don't know yet until more information is released on how the interaction will function with watchOS 4 and what if any updates will be need for apps such as Facebook Messenger to support new functions.

It does appear that LTE Voice, SMS Txt / MMS and iMessage functions are supported.

Dave
 
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dave006 said:
It has what is known as an e SIM, as in electronic SIM. There is no physical SIM for the Apple Watch 3 LTE. It also has "Airplane Mode".

Dave
Click to expand...
What I was saying is that cabin crew can easily see if we're playing with iPhone. Not so with watch 🙂
 
GoFlex said:
Just to confirm, if I want to use Facebook Messenger for instance on the Watch, the sim will have 4G so I can use data without the phone? Or is it just calls and apple texts/imessages?
Click to expand...


Yes third party apps are key. They have not mentioned if notifications on other apps would work.
 
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spacebro said:
Can I get the apple watch 3 and get rid of my smartphone?
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No, you still need it to pair to an iPhone it’s not a stand alone all day device unless you want to use it about 4 hrs a day as that is how long battery will last on standby with LTE on, one hour talk time.
 
Tdadlani said:
I sincerely hope you are right. However everything is pointing to only a select few Apple apps working.
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If it currently works over WIFI it will likely work over LTE. If not .. it probably won’t unless updated. The only 3rd party app that works on my Series 2 over WIFI is Dark Sky.
 
I agree with you. I think you are right. Most likely then developers will start updating their apps to make it work.

I also think developers will have a renewed interest in the Apple Watch as a platform to develop apps for with it being LTE capable now.
 
Tdadlani said:
I also think developers will have a renewed interest in the Apple Watch as a platform to develop apps for with it being LTE capable now.
Click to expand...

Hope so .. but I am not that optimistic. It’s been over a year since the AW2 has been out and we still don’t have a good standalone 3rd party running app.

As you stated .. there doesn’t seem to be that much interest in the watch by the dev community.

Apps that currently work over WIFI are almost non existent.
 
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