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Comment by mrsmee89 | Hacker News Reader

I don't want an iPhone (or any phone for that matter). I want this. Being reachable, listening to music and gps is all I want from a "phone". Anyone know if carriers will charge extra for the watch. Cook said something about "great introductory rates" from carriers but I'm not if that refers to the watch or the service.

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I'm with you. Before watching the keynote, I was looking forward to the new phones but the presentation made me more excited about the new Apple Watch with LTE.

I may be in a minority, but over the past few years, I've been trying to actively reduce the amount of times I pull out my phone. I feel like it will be liberating to leave home without your phone to go to dinner or go for a run, but still connected through the Apple Watch. Although it will still display notifications, I personally won't be tempted to browse Twitter or Instagram when I have a free moment.

Some days my phone feels like an LTE modem I have to carry around for the sake of my Apple watch.

Going to work, listening to music, replying to messages, going for a run and then stopping by the shops to pay for things...all using my wrist. It's a great experience. But I have to keep my phone nearby. And LTE watch sounds great.

There are a lot of UX issues with the watch that makes it frustrating at times. But it's getting better and more capable every OS update.

Hmm, the watch really has done just that for me. Most of the times, I leave it in my pocket. When I get a text, I glance at my watch to read it. Any notifications come directly to my watch.

Honestly, I really don't see the benefit of going through the additional burden of getting a new cellphone plan, SIM, paying more for ... what? One advantage is definitely that in emergency situations (i.e. on a run without the phone, hike etc) you can now call from the watch. But I just don't see any other benefit.

Hm, but it's using the same phone number so I think that the Sim will register with the Sim in your phone. Setup will all have to be done from your phone.

I don't think that you will need a new plan, I think that it will use your current plan.

Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

The air pods were the revolution for me. This is the one thing I was looking forward to until I heard that you needed a connected iPhone as well. Now it is a non-starter. Guess I need to go test the Samsung buds.

I own the Samsung pair. Don't have much good to say about them except they work... for a bit. I usually can use them for an hour and then they're completely dead.

They also can't hold a charge very long. If I charge mine up overnight, by next evening when I go to use them, they're already half dead. Great product except for very poor battery life.

Gear Icon X? The new yet unreleased version has much better battery life. 4 or 5 hours

Yeah, Icon X, I probably should have waited for the next generation. But I suppose that can be said about any new technology being released.

I have AirPods and don't have an iPhone, they work with other devices with Bluetooth just fine.

You only need the iphone for the initial setup and configuration. It doesn't need to be connected to make calls.

I would not be entirely surprised if Apple sees smartwatches has having the potential to kill smartphones down the road. Siri will need a lot of improvements, but in 3 to 5 years I think we will be at a place where people start to switch.

I looked at T-Mobile's site after the announcement, and they list $10/month for "wearables". Until more details come out, I'm going to assume that's directed at the Apple Watch (can't think of any other wearables that have a SIM. EDIT: apparently Samsung: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15229591). No word on what a standalone watch would cost, but I think it a safe assumption that it would be what a single mobile phone line would cost.

> but I think it a safe assumption that it would be what a single mobile phone line would cost

Tmobile charged me $10 for an iPad sim with it's own phone number. I can't imagine it'll be a huge new cost. It seems pretty much exactly like an iPad, except they don't even need an extra number

Yeah, but an iPad is just data. Now, arguably voice is just data these days, too. But somehow I just don’t see making calls on an Apple Watch for $10/month. Because if I can, I’m ditching the iPhone and the Garmin Felix and buying an Apple Watch.

The LTE Apple Watch still has to be linked to an iPhone. You could leave it at home, but you still need one. I assume that means you need an active service plan for it too. So that $10/mo would be in addition to your iPhone service. Kinda steep, I think.

I'm wondering if the new apple watch works more like answering cellular calls on your Mac, but over LTE.

Pretty sure the iPad could make/get phone calls? It was essentially just a charge for grouping it into my existing data/etc plan. $10 a month is definitely the price they're currently saying: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/12/lte-apple-watch-att-ver...

Fwiw, I am totally jumping on this. I'm not a big watch person, but the utility of leaving the phone home on date nights is going to be a huge win. This is a much bigger game changer than anything else they introduced

It's the same for ATT and Verizon.

I have Metro PCS (which runs on T-Mobile's network) - I wonder if they'll offer service, or reserve this to T-Mobile/postpaid.

Yeah I dont like a missing headphone jack on phones, but if you're using a watch suddenly BT headphones for streaming music makes sense.

Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) requires an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 11 or later. Apple Watch and iPhone service provider must be the same.

You still need a phone, you just don't have to carry it around.

And an iPhone 6 is relatively cheap these days, you don't have to buy the latest and greatest fortunately.

If it's another thing with a connection to a carrier network, it's another thing you have to pay an additional monthly fee for on all US carriers. I'd wager Apple is negotiating 'discount' 2nd/3rd/4th line rates with the carriers that will sell the Apple Watch in their retail locations, so it may be less than adding another full line on some carriers.

I hope not. I'm paying for access to the network via a phone number. This remains unchanged when I use my watch. Anyone have a different perspective?

I feel like the core question/goal/ideal is to have two sim chips linked to the same number, so that requests (such as phone calls/texts) are cloned and sent to both devices.

I'd think that'd require some reconfiguration on their backend service though. I'm not too familiar with how telecoms work.

Linking to the same number happens at the iCloud level. Apple already has hooks in place with carriers to enable "Wi-Fi Calling on iCloud-connected devices", so an iPad/Mac can make/answer calls from the cellular number of an iCloud-linked iPhone (without going through the iPhone at all). The LTE Apple Watch is just another device like that.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

That was for Wi-Fi calling though

The new Apple Watch will have it's own actual cellular connection

Well, it gives them an excuse for them to charge you extra. I really don't think it's something that's too complicated to set up.

I was wondering if the "shares a numbers" was to circumvent the device charge some carriers have. I would prefer this watch with no phone period.

if I can do that then I am in, but at its price point what is the need of a phone? is the run time too short?

I don't think it is about circumventing charges. I think it is so a "phone" number just becomes a general contact number, irrespective of whatever device I happen to have available at the time.

Streaming music from cloud, to your bluetooth headphones, while jogging using GPS -- what is the battery life such activity? I am guessing somewhere around 1 hour?

So, what you want is a 2014 Samsung Gear S: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_gear_s-6620.php

* Independent GSM * GPS * Bluetooth

Basically an internet-connected computer with a 2" screen.

I still use my phone to take photos. I wonder if the LTE watch (in stainless steel, say) + a digital point-and-shoot camera is still cheaper than an iPhone?

Wonder if this watch supports tethering because it is standalone. It would be nice to connect my laptop to the watch and browse internet.

If my phone is any evidence, that would smoke the watch's battery.

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