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Will Apple ever release a SS model without cellular?

Tapiture

Tapiture

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 1, 2016
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Currently I have a Series 2 Stainless Steel Apple Watch and I realize that in a year or two I might want to upgrade to a newer model. I really hate the red dot on the Series 3s and I loathe the idea of paying 15 bucks a month for something that already cost 600 dollars, and seeing that the non-cellular models being sold are only aluminiums it worries me. I’d get no use out of the LTE connection so I guess I’m wondering if Apple will ever come out with a new SS model without cellular or if it’d be possible to buy a cellular model and just not buy a cellular plan?
 
No because the percentage price difference would be negligible. Last years thred: Will Apple ever release a SS without GPS (Series 1).
 
Julien said:
No because the percentage price difference would be negligible. Last years thred: Will Apple ever release a SS without GPS.
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That’s a totally different animal though because GPS didn’t come with a monthly fee. The upfront price may be negligible but you’re talking 180 dollars a year in added cellular costs.
 
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Tapiture said:
Well that was one of my questions — can you just buy a Series 3 and not buy a cellular plan?
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As others have said, LTE is optional. There are many forum members who have purchased the stainless model just for the sake of wanting the stainless Apple Watch/sapphire display without having any intention of activating LTE.
 
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Tapiture said:
Well that was one of my questions — can you just buy a Series 3 and not buy a cellular plan?
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You can try cellular for a couple of months and then cancel once you verified that you don't want to continue month to month service.

Here in the USA, the 4 carriers are either offering waived Activation and free service for 90 days or credits for Activation and 3 months of service. And even if you cancel service, you will still have access to 911 in an emergency. If your situation changes later, you can always reactivate cellular since the hardware is already on the watch.

Note: All LTE models also have double the storage 16 GB vs 8 GB on the base Series 3.

Dave
 
I wanted the LTE model due to extra storage and nicer back but don’t need LTE and didn’t activate it and probably never will.
 
I hope that next year they’ll do away with the red dot, I really much prefer the black one on my Series 2. Goes well with every band and keeps it adaptable to causal or formal.
 
Tapiture said:
I hope that next year they’ll do away with the red dot, I really much prefer the black one on my Series 2. Goes well with every band and keeps it adaptable to causal or formal.
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I also prefer the black dot but, since wearing my SS series 3 for over a month now I don’t even notice it. Not a big deal for me.
 
Tapiture said:
I hope that next year they’ll do away with the red dot, I really much prefer the black one on my Series 2. Goes well with every band and keeps it adaptable to causal or formal.
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I'm curious to see Apples direction with future Apple Watch now that Jony Ive is back in charge of chief design. I may be wrong, but I believe I read somewhere that he was not entirely thrilled with the red digital crown, so it will be interesting to see if that is something that is removed for future Apple Watch models.
 
Julien said:
No because the percentage price difference would be negligible. Last years thred: Will Apple ever release a SS without GPS (Series 1).
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I think the argument is some what different. In some markets the LTE Watch is not supported by the carriers. Because of this LTE watches are not officially available for sale. This means you can’t have a SS S3.
 
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RecentlyConverted said:
I think the argument is some what different. In some markets the LTE Watch is not supported by the carriers. Because of this LTE watches are not officially available for sale. This means you can’t have a SS S3.
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Obviously not the OP's problem. However was not aware that the SS was NOT for sale unless cell service was available. So you are saying that the SS can only be bought in 10 countries and is not available to the rest of the world?
 
Relentless Power said:
I'm curious to see Apples direction with future Apple Watch now that Jony Ive is back in charge of chief design. I may be wrong, but I believe I read somewhere that he was not entirely thrilled with the red digital crown, so it will be interesting to see if that is something that is removed for future Apple Watch models.
Click to expand...
Yeah I am too. I thought the decision to put the red dot on it was rather shameful, it was obviously just throwing people a bone to show that they have the most expensive Watch. I don’t believe that Ive would have approved that. With the Series 2 last year they didn’t do that. A Series 2 sport, for example, looked identical to the Series 1 Sport but obviously the Series 2 had the waterproofing and the GPS, etc. I guess maybe some douchebags complained that their Series 2 didn’t have a status symbol to prove they spent more? Lol
 
Julien said:
Obviously not the OP's problem. However was not aware that the SS was NOT for sale unless cell service was available. So you are saying that the SS can only be bought in 10 countries and is not available to the rest of the world?
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Hi Julien,

My comment was related to the OP and your reply. I know of three European countries (Spain, Norway and Sweden) where only the non LTE Watch is for sale, so no SS. If these markets do not provide carrier support in the near future Apple may loose sales if they don’t provide a non LTE SS Watch.
 
RecentlyConverted said:
Hi Julien,

My comment was related to the OP and your reply. I know of three European countries (Spain, Norway and Sweden) where only the non LTE Watch is for sale, so no SS. If these markets do not provide carrier support in the near future Apple may loose sales if they don’t provide a non LTE SS Watch.
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I appreciated that insight and I think Apple will lose sales from this. The only thing Apple really listens to is money so that may make them rethink their Apple Watch lineup next year.
 
Tapiture said:
I appreciated that insight and I think Apple will lose sales from this. The only thing Apple really listens to is money so that may make them rethink their Apple Watch lineup next year.
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You should contact Apple and ask that they sell the SS in your country. They are not likely to make a special SS model without the cell chip but it seems they could sell the SS to you, just without the ability to use cell service. And if your country ever gets service than you would have the option.
 
Julien said:
You should contact Apple and ask that they sell the SS in your country. They are not likely to make a special SS model without the cell chip but it seems they could sell the SS to you, just without the ability to use cell service. And if your country ever gets service than you would have the option.
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I live in the US but I was arguing for the idea that the current lineup doesn’t make sense when you consider people in other countries who can’t get a Stainless steel model.
 
Not for Series 3 for sure. Apple will of course looks at the % that use cellular during this first generation of cellular Apple Watch's and *could* make changes in the future, but I think just as likely as making a non-LTE SS model is the cost of the cellular electronics will come down enough they simply add cellular to EVERY model next year.
 
OK then I agree that Apple should sell it in all countries by just disabling/not offering cell service. Then they could enable it if/when they get service in the country.

It makes no sense to make a non cellular model of the SS because of the the price deference. For the Aluminum the difference is 20% and that is enough to make a real deference. For the SS it would only be 12% difference and that is not enough of a differentiator to make a separate model.
 
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