So are the rumors true that I can’t use my US series 3 LTE Watch in Europe? Is it confirmed? If so that doesn’t make since as all of us Military folks buy our phones and watches unlocked to be able to use them in Europe the take them home.
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US Apple Watch in Germany
- Thread starter chrisblaze
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It’s like the olden days of buying mobiles 
I’m guessing you use a German SIM and don’t roam from a US carrier?
The below shows the technical bands each can use. Whether it’ll actually work if you put a German SIM in your phone I don’t think anyone has tested yet.
https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/
I’m guessing you use a German SIM and don’t roam from a US carrier?
The below shows the technical bands each can use. Whether it’ll actually work if you put a German SIM in your phone I don’t think anyone has tested yet.
https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/
I asked the same question no one responded. Thank you for creating this trying to get an answer. Cause I really don’t want to have to use my parents VAT form just to get an Apple Watch here.
I don’t think we know yet if Apple are doing some thing to disable S3 watches outside their home countries or if it’s all just being cautious saying it won’t work.
I would suggest seeing what LTE bands Deutsche Telekom use to see if that matches what the US watch offers. If they don’t match then there’s no chance of it working.
I would suggest seeing what LTE bands Deutsche Telekom use to see if that matches what the US watch offers. If they don’t match then there’s no chance of it working.
OK let's start with the basics. The Apple Watch ( GPS & LTE) is not a world device. It is orderable in 3 regional formats the support different LTE Bands. Yes the is some LTE band overlap between the 3 regions, you will need to confirm with your carrier that they have LTE support that covers the bands on your LTE Watch.
Next, your LTE Watch has to be on the same carrier as your iPhone and the associated Billing Account. This is to allow / support the ability for your LTE Watch to share the same phone number with your iPhone. This is know by different names based on your carrier.
Finally, your iPhone must be on and connected to your carrier via their cellular network or using Wi-Fi connectivity to your carrier.
That's the basics, bring on the questions.
Dave
Next, your LTE Watch has to be on the same carrier as your iPhone and the associated Billing Account. This is to allow / support the ability for your LTE Watch to share the same phone number with your iPhone. This is know by different names based on your carrier.
Finally, your iPhone must be on and connected to your carrier via their cellular network or using Wi-Fi connectivity to your carrier.
That's the basics, bring on the questions.
Dave
Not really. You are just trying to use the watch outside of what I call the "Happy Path Use case". Also to add another factor to the process: Roaming is not supported.
Dave
Dave
And the reason that roaming isn’t supported is that there isn’t an accepted standard for VoLTE roaming yet. It's not Apple preventing you from doing something, or the carriers either for that matter. Add in that each carrier has their own proprietary system for doing the number share thing (so the network knows to ring your watch when your phone receives a call) and there you go.
https://knect365.com/5g-virtualisat...a27f-571d29129892/challenges-of-volte-roaming
I have my US iPhone 6s using a Deusches Telekom (German T-Mobile) sim so I will try to add the plan to my account and see what happens when I get the phone. I will update when my series 3 arrives.
So what regional version of the watch are you getting; Americas LTE or Europe/Asia Pacific LTE?
I also saw something to caught my attention about Telekom and the LTE watch, there is a note: Deutsche Telekom customers will be prompted to enter a code when setting up Apple Watch for the first time. Be sure to contact the carrier to retrieve this code prior to setup. Anyone have a clue as to what this magic code does?
Dave
I also saw something to caught my attention about Telekom and the LTE watch, there is a note: Deutsche Telekom customers will be prompted to enter a code when setting up Apple Watch for the first time. Be sure to contact the carrier to retrieve this code prior to setup. Anyone have a clue as to what this magic code does?
Dave
I used to work at a third party that sold Telekom plans on base to help since we could explain it in English and they didn’t have to go far. We have to call Telekom and the code is to link and verify that it is you adding this to the plan.