Once again I think it is convenient to go back to this topic and it is that three people have come to me in the last week who are not entirely clear what LTE means and what it has to do with the new Apple Watch Series 3.
They are confused in the options that are available in Spain and those that can be found on pages such as Apple.com itself or in places like eBay or Amazon.
The main novelty of the Apple Watch Series 3 is that they have the possibility of working under LTE networks and thus being able to make calls without having the iPhone on top. However, this is not entirely true, at least in Spain. Apple has released the Apple Watch Series 3 without LTE and Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE. This means that only in those countries in which Apple has reached an agreement with the telephone companies, models with LTE are marketed, which are precisely those with the steel case or the Hermès or Edition models, in addition to the Sport with LTE in aluminum.
On the other hand, it sells the model without LTE, which is only the one with the aluminum box. As in Spain they have not reached any agreement with the operators, only the Series 3 Sport models in aluminum and there is no sign of the steel or ceramic ones.
So far what we can see on both the US and Spanish Apple websites. The problem comes when two people have told me that they are going to buy the LTE steel model on eBay that they do have them. That is making a very big mistake and that is that this watch will not work in Spain and it may never do so and that is that Apple must factory configure the LTE chips for each geographical area, that is, An Apple Watch read from China may not work in the United States.
Be careful and if you are going to buy an Apple Watch Series 3 in Spain you could only opt for the aluminum model.
In the US, you can't buy a Series 3 without LTE in stainless steel either; only in aluminum. The steel ones - inexplicably - have to be the kind with LTE.
Well, a simple opinion ...
Apple watch 42mm GPS bought in Spain: € 399
Apple watch 42mm GPS + LTE bought in the USA: $ 467 -> € 399 (taxes included)
Differences:
- 8gb vs 16gb
- composite box vs ceramic box
For the same price you want me to tell you, I buy the American version and I have a better apple watch even if the LTE does not work in Spain. Because when it comes out, what will come out will be even more expensive.
That LTE may not work for you because of the difference in frequency bands. If possible. But if you are going to spend the money and you have a chance ... GPS + LTE is a better watch.
Let's see when the hell companies agree and finally allow us to buy version 3 with lte, we are already great gentlemen !.
This is true to us, given that Apple in Europe is selling its Watch LTE through several operators. when it comes out in Spain it will be the same model (A1889 / A1891) as for the rest of the European countries. Apple will not make a specific model for our country since the LTE bands are the same. Differently from the American or Chinese model that are different. I already have an LTE model purchased in the UK and it informs me through its app inside the iphone that at the moment VodafoneES has no agreements and redirects me to the Apple support page for Apple Watch Cellular Spain that at the moment does not exist but with its link already created.
Therefore, if buying it now it probably does not work, but the model that will be sold in Europe will be the same as in Spain.
Apple Watch Series 3
Model A1889 (38mm)
Model A1891 (42mm)
LTE
1 (2100 MHz)
3 (1800 MHz)
5 (850 MHz)
7 (2600 MHz)
8 (900 MHz)
18 (800 MHz)
19 (800 MHz)
20 (800DD)
26 (800 MHz)
UMTS
800 MHz
850 MHz
900 MHz
2100 MHz
Australia
France
Germany
Japan
Switzerland
United Kingdom