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Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#31

Post by aetherson »

keymone wrote: post #12
MBCook wrote: post #2

I love my S2, but I have a hard time seeing why I should pay the cell phone company $120/yr to connect my watch. I don't go without my phone and I don't think this would change that. For people who want to run and listen to Spotify this may be great. But that stupid cell company fee will keep me away. Just like it keeps me off cellular iPads.

What if it could pair with air pods and function as a proper phone?

It might function as a proper phone, but it can't function as a proper smartphone, because you need a real screen for that.

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#32

Post by leggomylibro »

kylec wrote: post #9

Maybe if Apple wins their fight with Qualcomm we'll start seeing cellular connectivity in more of their products. I personally have no interest in a cellular-capable Apple Watch, but I would be very interested in a cellular-capable MacBook.

It's amazing how hard it is to find a workable cellular SoC. Wifi? ESP8266s are $2-4 a pop and the Pi Zero W is $10 if you can actually find one. Bluetooth? An NRF51822 will only set you back $3-5, and it has a nice and simple Cortex-M0+ for the logic. And the ESP32 has wifi and bluetooth on the same module. GSM? It's being phased out worldwide so modules are being offloaded very cheaply, if your project doesn't need to be connected for long into the future.

But 3G/LTE? It's easier to find an HDMI receiver that'll process HDCP. Nevermind something hand-solderable...

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#33

Post by k-mcgrady »

tammer wrote: post #17
pseudometa wrote: post #6

There are plenty of instances where I might want directions while I'm on a run, but there is no way I'm paying $10 a month to add the device to my plan. Hopefully it is just shared data with my phone plan. We'll see what the carriers do, but I think it will make or break it for a lot of people.

Oh how quickly we forget in the tech community. An internet-focused phone was laughable with the data plans of 2006.

Exactly. £10 per month (no contract) was probably the average spend then (for approx. 40mins calling and 300 SMS). Now I'm paying £60 per month for 2 years and it seems normal. An extra £10 per month to use your plan with up to 3 devices will be the norm in another couple of years.

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#35

Post by johnvega »

teilo wrote: post #5
MBCook wrote: post #2

I love my S2, but I have a hard time seeing why I should pay the cell phone company $120/yr to connect my watch. I don't go without my phone and I don't think this would change that. For people who want to run and listen to Spotify this may be great. But that stupid cell company fee will keep me away. Just like it keeps me off cellular iPads.

No one will be paying that for cellular connectivity. It's all about the shared data pools now. I pay $10/mo. for my iPad Pro cellular. I'm on T-Mobile, but when I was on Verizon, it was only $15/mo. I have a friend with a cellular Samsung watch. He pays an additional $5/mo.

I have google project fi cellular service, extra sim card for my 2nd device with no extra charge

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#36

Post by thefalcon »

An Apple Watch as a kind of iPhone Lite, not supplementing your phone but actually replacing it, could be an attractive option for a lot of people. Most of my extended family members don't use any apps, don't use their phones for e-mail. They do use the camera though, so that alone might be enough to keep them from switching.

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#37

Post by jamesjyu »

user219294 wrote: post #18

If you could make calls, respond to messages (any platform), play music from a major music service, and stay up-to-date with the most important notifications, you could basically untether yourself from your phone completely. This would be a real game-changer from a personal health standpoint. People are losing their minds with the current smartphone pandemic. I, personally, would welcome this change. It seems like an…

This would be pretty cool. I've started the habit of bringing a book (yes, paper!) to places to read. But, I still need to have my phone with me, in case of emergency calls or urgent messages. If the watch can do that, it'd basically act like a dumb phone with just enough capabilities to make me leave the phone at home.

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#38

Post by Avshalom »

user219294 wrote: post #18

If you could make calls, respond to messages (any platform), play music from a major music service, and stay up-to-date with the most important notifications, you could basically untether yourself from your phone completely. This would be a real game-changer from a personal health standpoint. People are losing their minds with the current smartphone pandemic. I, personally, would welcome this change. It seems like an…

How would an even more closely (physicallyly)coupled device help alleviate whatever pandemic you think exists?

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#39

Post by Avshalom »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #26
gkanapathy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this happens, it seems likely that Apple would work out a special plan or add-on with the carriers just for this.

Yep, a single exclusive provider. Because that tends to be the norm with tech companies who have to deal with cell companies.

Like the years of ATT exclusivity?

Re: Apple Plans to Release a Cellular-Capable Watch to Break iPhone Ties

#40

Post by archvile »

MBCook wrote: post #4
Filligree wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some cellular companies allow you to get multiple SIMs, specifically for this purpose. Maybe it isn't an option in your area, but a lot of people do have the option.

I've never heard of that, but I'm in the US with Verizon and fully trust they'll either want $10/mo (because it's a device) or $20/mo (if it can make phone calls). Because they're nice like that.

Verizon has an exclusive Android wear watch that has cellular connectivity and it is (only?) $5 extra/mo.
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