How to Setup Cellular on an Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Series 3 introduced cellular connectivity for Apple Watch. Because the Apple Watch is so dependent on your iPhone, you need your iPhone to enable cellular. Your watch will have the same phone number as your iPhone, so any calls you'd normally receive on your iPhone will also be on your Apple Watch, should your watch be out of range from your iPhone. All you need to do is go through the Apple Watch app, tap Cellular on the "My Watch" tab, and follow your carrier's instructions. While Apple advertises a $10/month cellular plans, some carriers may deviate from that. In addition, many carriers have a one time activation fee.

Pricing for Cellular on Apple Watch

Apple originally advertised cellular pricing for Apple Watch to be an additional $10/month [Source: MacRumors]. Most carriers will charge additional fees, bumping the monthly price to just shy of $15 typically. What's worse is that you can't choose which months you'd like to have the service active without fees. For example, if you'd like to just activate the cellular for a month, you'd pay the normal rate, plus an activation fee. Most carriers will charge about $25 for that. I can understand that cellular on a watch benefits people like long-distance runners who wouldn't want to carry around a phone, but the amount to pay for that convenience is very demanding. 

Potential AirPower Price

Apple announced the AirPower wireless charging mat this last September, but only told us it would be released next year. While the features it boasts are pretty nice, how much it should cost is up to debate. X-Kom has an AirPower mat available for 999 Złotych. This cannot be purchased, and the validity of the listing cannot be confirmed, but we have reason to believe this means the product will be $199. That's a bit much for a charging mat. Most charging mats cost around $10-$30. A premium one from Apple should cost at most $100, in my opinion. Take into account that this works best with AirPods ($159), the wireless charging case for AirPods (sold separately; $69), an Apple Watch Series 3, and an iPhone 8 or iPhone X. That's a lot of money for just a charging mat.

Fixing Apple Watch Series 3's Digital Crown

If you've seen the LTE Apple Watch's Digital Crown, the red color is a bit of a subjective matter. I personally don't like it. But WatchDots has us covered. WatchDots makes little covers for the side buttons and the Digital Crown. You can have it match a specific band color or just use them to cover up that color. If you want to cover up that red crown, check them out!

(This is not a paid endorsement.)

iPhone 8 Pre-Orders Start Tonight

While the iPhone X won't be available for some time to pre-order, the iPhone 8 will start pre-orders tonight at midnight. In addition, Apple Watch Series 3 and Apple TV 4K pre-orders start tonight. All pre-orders will be available on Apple's website. It should be noted that the times listed are in Pacific Time, and that when I say midnight, it's actually 12:01 a.m.

iPhone Event 2017: Quick Thoughts

I just now finished watching Apple's iPhone 8/X event. Here are some quick thoughts.

Apple Watch Series 3

The general consensus is that cellular on an Apple Watch isn't very practical. I'm not going to call someone while I'm surfing. I'm not away from my phone long enough to justify an extra $10 per month on my phone bill. Series 3 without cellular looks nice. More speed is all I can ask for. Compatibility with the AirPower Mat is nice. I was hoping Series 2 would cost about $100 less and I could get that, but it looks like we're stuck with the same price.

Apple TV 4K

This was a product that was two years late. There were rumors two years ago about a 4K Apple TV. I think it's important to note that we have video games in 4K now. I understand it wasn't as mainstream two years ago, but if iPhone 6s could shoot 4K video at that time, it seems that would've been perfect timing. If not then, then last year, but now just feels late. The features for the TV app look nice, but that's for any Apple TV.

iPhone 8

This phone looks solid. Yeah, it was just performance upgrades and a glass back, but I really like this phone. Coming from an iPhone 6s owner, I like this phone for no other reason than there weren't a bunch of gimmicks Apple was trying to sell me on. Granted, they offered wireless charging, but I am excited for wireless charging. The idea of placing my phone in my car and having it charge and connect to CarPlay is awesome. AirPower Mat is still a cool idea. I believe that will revolutionize the way people travel with Apple products. No itinerary just for cables. Just bring your devices and the mat. No one likes the transition for things like AirPods and Apple Watch, but I get why we need the upgrade for wireless charging. I also feel this introduction to wireless charging could be a great transition for USB-C next year, so users can choose between USB-C and wireless, causing less controversy.

iPhone X

For me, this phone is very controversial. I love the design. An edge to edge display for iPhone looks beautiful. But paying over $400 extra for that display plus Animoji doesn't seem worth it to me. If they announce the iPhone 11 next year and lower the price point, I would be much more excited about that phone. I would like it if they made an "AnimojiKit." Developers could take 3D models of popular characters, like Mario, and have users send animated versions of them. I don't care for the emojis. I don't like Apple making these emojis a flagship feature of their $1,000 phone. To me, it's just an iPhone 8 + a great display + a replacement for Touch ID + Animoji. In short, it's just the display that appeals to me. 

Our First Look at Apple Watch Series 3

The iOS 11 Golden Master has been leaked, giving us a huge slew of leaks for both the iPhone 8 and Apple Watch Series 3 [Source: MacRumors]. I'll get in to more of these in a separate post, but I wanted to spotlight our first look at Apple's next wearable. Apple Watch Series 3 has been rumored for sometime now to feature LTE connectivity. This image basically confirms this. Looking at the watch, we see 5 blue dots, which we can assume represent cellular reception. The crown is also red, something we haven't seen in an Apple Watch Sport before. With these leaks, I don't know how much Apple will have left to surprise us with.

Image Credit: MacRumors

Apple Watch Series 3's Selling Point is LTE

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, we have reason to believe that Apple Watch Series 3 will boast LTE connectivity as its main selling point. In addition, there won't be any major redesign. To me, it seems like a weird choice. It's basically advertising a higher cell phone bill. In addition, while it may be a little faster, this is only really useful if the Apple Watch is disconnected from its iPhone, which isn't too often. Hopefully we see more meaningful features. 

Apple Watch Series 3 May Have LTE

The Apple Watch Series 3 will likely be released this fall. According to Jeffrey Grossman via Twitter, we have HomePod firmware evidence that Apple Watch Series 3 will have LTE connectivity. I'm not sure how this will work. Maybe it's just me, but there aren't many times where I don't have my iPhone, but I have my Apple Watch. Maybe this will make it retrieve data faster, or it will just drain the battery more. Hopefully, Apple Watch Series 3 will have a better battery and faster processor.

After the earlier Apple Watch LTE rumors, I took another look at the HomePod firmware and found this (Gizmo is the codename for Apple Watch) pic.twitter.com/F1sFFwv4Cr

— Jeffrey Grossman (@Jeffrey903) August 5, 2017

Glucose Monitoring for Apple Watch

According to BGR, a future Apple Watch model could have glucose monitoring, in addition to potential smart bands. Apple has often advertised the Apple Watch as a health device, and Apple Watch does a great job of collecting data seamlessly into the Health app. Glucose levels are in the Health app, so this would make sense as a potential feature. BGR didn't specify explicitly when this could come out, but we can only hope it could be the Apple Watch Series 3 coming this fall.

Apple Watch Series 3 To Have Improved Battery Life

When the Apple Watch Series 2 came out, I was hoping there would be a large emphasis on battery life. My Series 1 still has enough battery life to get me through the day, but that's if I don't use apps. I want to see the newer Apple Watches be able to get me through a 5-hour hike with GPS. Apple keeps advertising all of these apps, but conveniently don't say much about battery life. According to Economic Daily News, Apple Watch Series 3 will have better battery life as its key feature. That would be awesome if that's true. While there aren't any other features on the horizon yet, I also wouldn't mind a better processor while we're at it, but one step at a time I suppose.