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Apple Watch - Cell Capable Require Cell Svc?

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September 16, 2023, 08:16 PM
sjtill
Apple Watch - Cell Capable Require Cell Svc?
It’s $10 a month for my wife’s “free” Apple SE with cellular, for unlimited usage.


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September 16, 2023, 08:29 PM
StorminNormin
quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
It’s $10 a month for my wife’s “free” Apple SE with cellular, for unlimited usage.


The year I decide to upgrade my watch, which will be a few more years, I will look further into the cellular option. I would love to be able to make cellular calls and data from my watch without my phone around.




NRA Benefactor Life Member
September 16, 2023, 09:01 PM
Paten
I can't speak about the Apple watch but my Galaxy watch has a $10 line on T-mobile and it's only good for cellular and data for the apps on the watch. It won't act as a hotspot for data though.
September 16, 2023, 10:03 PM
StorminNormin
I guess I will have to check with AT&T when the time comes I choose to upgrade. For my phone plan, I still have the very old grandfathered unlimited data plan that they hate people still have and always try to get you out of it. They won’t let you have a hotspot option with the grandfathered plan. My guess is they won’t let me do anything with an iWatch with that plan.




NRA Benefactor Life Member
September 16, 2023, 10:11 PM
P250UA5
We're on the same grandfathered ATT unlimited plan, been on it for over 10 years I think.




The Enemy's gate is down.
September 17, 2023, 09:52 AM
sig2392
Technically the watch has its own SIM and number and IMEI

The number shows up on my bill with a PA phone number. I have no cause for a number from the PA area.
September 17, 2023, 10:16 AM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by sig2392:
Technically the watch has its own SIM ...
If it's ever been provisioned. It can't have a SIM if it hasn't been provisioned. A SIM is carrier- and account-specific.
quote:
Originally posted by sig2392:
... and IMEI
It would have to. The IMEI on a mobile device is kind of like the MAC address on a network device.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
September 17, 2023, 10:48 AM
sig2392
quote:
It can't have a SIM if it hasn't been provisioned
Not true.

Iwatches that are cellular capable come with eSIMs that cannot be added later.

The eSIM is locked to the watch, not the carrier.
September 17, 2023, 10:55 AM
Broadside
quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin:
I guess I will have to check with AT&T when the time comes I choose to upgrade. For my phone plan, I still have the very old grandfathered unlimited data plan that they hate people still have and always try to get you out of it. They won’t let you have a hotspot option with the grandfathered plan. My guess is they won’t let me do anything with an iWatch with that plan.


You might want to check and see if this is still a good value for you. How much data do you actually use on your phone?

Just as one example, you can get unlimited data on Visible Wireless (owned by Verizon) for $25/mo. and then add an Apple Watch for an extra $5/mo.
September 17, 2023, 11:05 AM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by sig2392:
quote:
It can't have a SIM if it hasn't been provisioned
Not true.

Iwatches that are cellular capable come with eSIMs that cannot be added later.
I stand corrected.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
September 18, 2023, 12:04 AM
Rey HRH
I’ve had an iPhone watch for 3 years. I don’t pay cell service for it. But I was surprised recently when my phone was over two miles away and I was able to receive a call on the watch.

I’ve received calls on the phone before but it was no more than 100 ft away inside the house. I don’t see the point of getting cell service for it as I usually have my phone. I use it to alert me of notifications while my phone is silent and in my pocket.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
September 18, 2023, 11:10 AM
HRK
I have the Cell/WiFi model, for the reasons others have said, I can leave the phone in the car or at home and still have contact with the watch, need to carry the ear pods more often, talking through the watch works but then you're on speaker and I don't care for that.

$10 a month added per device to your cell plan, it shares whatever plan you are on minutes wise. If you don't add it to the cell plan you'll need your phone near it to make/take a call through it.

Costco has good prices on Apple Products, Woot sells refurb apple products too, we bought my dad one and saved quite a bit on the watch.