I have an Apple Ultra watch (first version) that I purchased to get the fall protection feature that will call emergency services if you take a tumble, due to having a minor issue a few years ago. It is paired with an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The watches ability to make a stand alone cellular call was the main reason I bought the watch. The watch no longer has the ability to make an independent call, my phone must be within range to make or receive a call or send a text. I have been working with my service provider and Apple support to alleviate this issue but after 7 hours of working with both, so far no solution. So far they are still trying to find a remedy but I am afraid it will get to the point of pointing the blame at one another. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem with an Apple watch? I just want the features I paid for to work. FWIW, I do have Apple Care Plus into 2025 so should have some sort of options to get this working.

I do not have an Apple watch but have you tried powering the watch off and then restarting it after a minute or so? Basically a reboot. Just something to try.

Can you take it to a local Apple Store? If you have Apple Care then I’d take it in.

Just a question but does your service require a separate fee ( My wife's Watch is $10.00) for this?
Without the fee the watch will only work when within a certain range of the phone.
Thanks
Bob

I'm sure they've taken you through this but if you push the side button and select the connection icon (the antenna, top left on my watch), are all three cellular toggles switched to on? Is anything shown under plan and status?

I have done everything except going to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store as it is 100 miles away. If I do not get it working next week that is the next step.

I have a series 9 Apple Watch without independent cellular capability. And I see no reason to have such. With my iPhone in my bedroom, my Apple Watch is in contact with it, via Bluetooth, while I’m anywhere in my home.

During my daily walks my iPhone is on my belt, my Apple Watch is on my wrist, so again, no need for independent cellular capability in that case either.

Furthermore, I’d bet that my iPhone’s cellular capability is much better than any Apple Watch, which has such a small antenna.

So I’m curious about what advantages you see in an Apple Watch with independent cellular capability.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

So I’m curious about what advantages you see in an Apple Watch with independent cellular capability.

The advantage is you don't need your phone with you when you make calls or even text. If your phone is left at home, lost/stolen or broken, you can still receive and make calls. Either you think that is an advantage or you don't.

 
I had an early Apple Watch with cellular. I was disappointed to learn that here at home, I could not get cellular on the watch, but my iPhone did OK (2-3 bars).
 
But then, at the time,I lived 8 miles from the nearest VZ cell tower. If I drove into Wickenburg, or even better, Phoenix, the watch would light up with a full house of cellular service.
 
This led me to believe that, because of its size, the watch has a weaker modem/antenna.

If you've already spent 7 hours I'd put it in the hands of Applecare. If you don't have an Apple store close by you can set up service right on their website.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

I’m curious about what advantages you see in an Apple Watch with independent cellular capability.

It's not always convenient to carry a phone. My wife doesn't normally wear a belt, doesn't have convenient pockets. When she goes out for a walk or a bicycle ride around the neighborhood, it's easy to wear a watch, but not so easy to carry a phone.

A friend of mine, actually the SO of one of our members, is a "farm girl." When working in the fields, or riding a horse, a watch is convenient; a phone is not.

In cases like the two that I cited, the main reason for having stand-alone cellular capability for the watch is communication ability in the event of an unexpected emergency.

After 9 hours of Apple phone tech, sitting in my cellular providers store and Best Buy Geek Squad counter, I finally got an Apple tech person to decide to send me a box to have the watch checked out by them. I just hope they actually find a problem and don't send it back with suggestions to contact my cell provider. I did find out that if I had made the 100 mile trip to the nearest Apple Store with a Genius Bar that the store would just send it in as they have no authority to make a replacement. I understand being thorough in troubleshooting a possible issue that might have been as simple as this idiot might have selected an improper button to push and knocked it off line but 9 hours of everyone doing the exact same procedures over and over and getting the same results was akin to the expectation of of something magical happening and the problem disappearing. Hopefully this will soon be at an end.

I skimmed through the other responses and did not see this specifically…

You do know that some Apple watches are not cellular compatible right? Is it possible you bought one that is GPS/Wi-Fi only?

My last Watch was a cellular and it stopped being able to send or receive texts or calls without the iPhone. I upgraded both the Watch and iPhone (from an iPhone 11) last year with their newest versions in order to alleviate this issue but am now starting to notice the same problems with my new Watch. Hopefully, yours is fixed by Apple. I may have to try the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
So I’m curious about what advantages you see in an Apple Watch with independent cellular capability.

OK boomer….LOL, just kidding.

I walked quite a bit too, normally in light shorts and a light shirt with no belt. A cell phone in my pocket feels like a 400 pound cinder brick so just having the watch is very convenient.

So when I’m 4 miles in, and a couple hundred calories to the positive, I can order a pizza and pick it up on my way home. LOL

I have the same watch and leave the phone at home all the time as I loathe it and loathe carrying around the brick. This will change when Apple rolls out their foldable phone (think Motorola RZR from back in the day) next year. I’ve never had an issue with the cellular functionality with the phone being miles and miles away. If you have a cellular version of the watch I’d do the same thing and send it in. Apple Store here is 15-20 minutes away but you have to book an appointment and the store is always busy so you made the right decision either way. Mail it in and let them deal with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I have the same watch and leave the phone at home all the time as I loathe it and loathe carrying around the brick. This will change when Apple rolls out their foldable phone (think Motorola RZR from back in the day) next year. I’ve never had an issue with the cellular functionality with the phone being miles and miles away. If you have a cellular version of the watch I’d do the same thing and send it in. Apple Store here is 15-20 minutes away but you have to book an appointment and the store is always busy so you made the right decision either way. Mail it in and let them deal with it.

I wouldn't hold your breath on a foldable. They're nothing more than a novelty and I'd be shocked if Apple bothered.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeNH:
I wouldn't hold your breath on a foldable. They're nothing more than a novelty and I'd be shocked if Apple bothered.

I would never “hold my breath” concerning a phone, any phone.

Apple is working on it currently. It will come out 2025 or 2026. It’s going to be the size of a pro model (not max). I’m interested as it will make the footprint much better to carry on belt.

And if they decide to cancel this at some point, oh well. It’s a fucking phone, not that big of a deal.

quote:

You do know that some Apple watches are not cellular compatible right? Is it possible you bought one that is GPS/Wi-Fi only?

The Apple Ultra watches are all cell enabled. It used to work stand alone in the past.

Sorry for the late update! Finally got Apple to authorize sending watch in for them to look at it. They had to reflash firmware. When I got it back needed to take it in to my cell service provider to get it reattached to my account and it works like a champ again. Just a bit disappointed that it took so long to convince Apple techs to authorize the fix. Done no charge on Applecare+ for repair or shipping.