Will you buy an Apple Watch?

[dfergie]

We both jumped in for 3’s this morning at Best Buy...


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[navychop]

I wonder how well it works with T-Mobile. Or if it even matters.


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[harshness]

I wonder how well it works with T-Mobile.

As well as anything can work with T-Mobile.

Their thready coverage in my area makes all Apple "phones" difficult. Places where "active" people recreate are especially difficult (thinking of Apple's surfing scenario). I'm wild-ass guessing that the signal needs to be pretty hot for the watch to work without its parent phone.

 

[navychop]

I have a 6+, which does not have band 12, so I have weak coverage in some places where my wife, with her SE, gets good coverage.

I’m waiting for the next iPhone, where I can get band 12, and presumably, band 71.

T-Mobile has greatly increased their coverage over the last year plus. But I must admit, that reflects how far they have to go.

They are rolling out band 71 very rapidly, so I have great hope for improvements next year.

Too bad they are ending AT&T roaming. That will degrade their coverage until band 71 is common, and people move to phones that use it.

I’m with T-Mobile because they meet my needs, and my wife and I have the 55+ plan for $70. Can’t beat that, so long as they cover where you usually are.

I’m casually keeping up with the Apple Watch because I figure one day they’ll have enough health benefits and monitoring to where I’ll strap jewelry on my wrist again.

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[harshness]

They are rolling out band 71 very rapidly, so I have great hope for improvements next year.

While T-Mobile claims to have deployed to 900 locations (presumably towers) thus far, it looks like they're waiting for the repack as their next stop is Puerto Rico (where their repack has already taken place).

If the only place you can get service is in far-flung locations and only using upper-level Android phones, I'm not sure band 71 is something to hold out for.

 

[navychop]

PR needs the upgrade. That is a good thing.

Most of the current deployments seem to be where they are allowed to turn the towers on, as there are no TV broadcasts there.

But with so very few phones out there today, that can actually USE that band, does it matter?

They must be playing the long game. A year from now. As more phones can use that band.

You’re right. Not much use today, not much come Christmas, but most likely sometime in a year or so.


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[tigerfan33]

I woke up to a white screen on my Apple Watch today. Did a chat and they said since you have Apple Care you can do express replacement...for $69!
I ended chat and called Apple and they that was wrong....it’s $40. I told them that I had to send 4-5 Watches back to Apple (series 0) and there was no charge.
They said they just started this and it is a shipping charge. I told them to go ahead send and they put a hold on my cc. Damn it!

 

[harshness]

PR needs the upgrade. That is a good thing.

But if they have to acquire top-of-the-line LG or Samsung smart phones (the LG K30 being a notable exception), is it really an upgrade for most residents of this country or is it just adding to T-Mobile's deployment count? T-Mobile lists a bunch of phones as compatible with their "Extended Range LTE", but most of them qualify uniquely because they support Band 12.

That's kind of like when Apple used to count unit sales as phones shipped to carriers and distributors rather than phones in the hands of end users. Technically it is a sale on their ledger but it isn't the same metric that everyone else uses.

 

[navychop]

IIRC, T-Mobile uses antennas that support both band 12 and 71. And possibly another band (4?).

So those towers should be pretty useable for most folks today.


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[harshness]

So those towers should be pretty useable for most folks today.

But as Band 71 deployments, it is perhaps overstating the case.

 

[Ilya]

A quick question.

I am thinking of buying an Apple Watch 3 as a present. I am not sure this person will want to pay monthly fee for the data, but I don't know. On the other hand, the cellular option doesn't add too much to the price ($429 vs. $359), so I am considering going with the Cellular. Is the feature worth the price? Is there any downside (other than the $70 price difference) to having Cellular if someone later decides not to use it? For example, does it add anything to the bulk or to charging time, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[klang]

A quick question.

I am thinking of buying an Apple Watch 3 as a present. I am not sure this person will want to pay monthly fee for the data, but I don't know. On the other hand, the cellular option doesn't add too much to the price ($429 vs. $359), so I am considering going with the Cellular. Is the feature worth the price? Is there any downside (other than the $70 price difference) to having Cellular if someone later decides not to use it? For example, does it add anything to the bulk or to charging time, etc.?

Thanks!

Doesn't add to the bulk or charging time. I bought one with cellular when they first came out and have never activated the cellular connection. But it is there if I decide to use it.

 

[Ilya]

Doesn't add to the bulk or charging time. I bought one with cellular when they first came out and have never activated the cellular connection. But it is there if I decide to use it.

I've read somewhere that you get 3 free months. Is that true?

 

[klang]

I've read somewhere that you get 3 free months. Is that true?

I think that was true when the watch first came out. No idea if you still do.

 

[TheForce]

The cellular works very well around here. I accidentally unpaired my iphone for 3 weeks and the watch operated as a self contained phone and I never knew it wasn't working through the phone. I rarely use the phone these days for calls, emails, and messages. Everything just worked like it had connection to the iphone. It is that good! I only discovered I was not connected when I tried to ping my iphone and that didn't work.

As I understand with Verizon, I am sharing data with the watch on my plan if not paired to the iphone. So it doesn't matter for saving or spending data. But adding the watch as a cellular device with the same phone number is $5. I was going to cancel the watch cellular but decided to just keep it. The watch 3 is so much faster and more storage, longer battery life that it's nice to just leave my phone and not have to worry about missing calls and texts , emails etc.

Now if the watch had a built in camera, time for Don to upgrade again.

BTW- I still get an average of 72 hours on my watch3 Cellular. It is the SS 42mm which does have longer battery than the 38mm. My wife does the same with her watch3 42mm but it is not a cellular model.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have a series 2, and I charge it when I get up in the morning and take a shower. The battery lasts me almost two days.

 

[Ilya]

Just found out that the Cellular version has twice as much RAM (16GB vs. 8GB). That would be another reason to go with it I guess.

 

[TheForce]

I'm using an app that is designed for people with heart problems. This app uses the heart rate monitor but takes it to the next level and can detect Atrial Fibrillation. It has a mode that monitors and plots a bar graph every 15 minutes. This runs all the time. But there is also a mode that monitors continuous with a start / stop mode. In this mode the battery drain is considerable. I turn it on when I work out and then shut it off when finished. One time I forgot to shut it off and 6 hours later the battery was down to 5%.

Ilya- in case you didn't know you can always tell the cellular version because they have a red crown.

 

[n0qcu]

Its really disappointing that you spend all this money for the watch and you cannot view any videos(apps) on the watch.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

It is strange. But I have received videos attached to a text message and I have been able to watch (and hear) some of those videos on my watch.

Those are the only videos I have ever had work on the watch.

I wish I could watch my slingbox when there is major breaking news on it.


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