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Apple Watch Series 6
Source: Apple
In the five years since the Apple Watch first went on sale, it has always been an iPhone accessory. But on Tuesday, at an event that highlighted several new products, Apple took a big step to cut the tie.
Until now, all Apple Watch had to be paired with an iPhone. Older versions of the watch only work when an iPhone is connected at a short distance via Bluetooth. Some newer versions with wireless connectivity can go further, but they still need to be paired with a single iPhone.
But now, some Apple watches will get a feature called Family Settings, designed for young children or older adults who don’t have an iPhone but want an easy way to make calls, send text messages, and share their GPS location with family members. It requires a home manager with an iPhone, but once set up, the watch will get its own phone number and you can send and receive text messages and calls without an iPhone connected.
It is the first time that the device will fulfill Dick Tracy’s vision of a standalone phone on his wrist.
In Apple’s announcement, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams described the feature as a way to “make the Apple Watch available to even more people.” But Family Setup also offers new buyers a less expensive first Apple device to hook into the Apple ecosystem; if they like it, Apple could continue to sell additional hardware and services to those users.
Apple’s Watch is the largest product in Apple’s wearable and accessories division, reporting revenue of $ 24.5 billion in 2019. Apple ships more wearable devices than any other company and had a 34.2% share of the entire market in the second quarter of 2020, according to an estimate by IDC. It is also growing, with a year-on-year growth of 25.3% in terms of the number of units, according to the estimate.
Aimed at parents, for now
Family setup requires a version of Apple Watch Series 4 or later that connects to the Internet over a wireless cellular network. The cheapest new watch to offer this feature is the Apple Watch SE with wireless connection, which costs $ 329, which is $ 50 more than the low-end version.
T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon will support the feature in the United States and currently require an additional monthly fee, typically $ 9.99, to activate an Apple Watch LTE. Once activated, the Apple Watch user will get their own phone number and an Apple account.
This time around, Apple’s marketing is very much geared towards tech-savvy parents. For example, a parent can specify which contacts the watch can communicate with, and automatic location notifications will ping the parent when the child reaches a specified destination. A feature called Schooltime can restrict user access to applications during certain times, such as when children are in class. There is also a way for parents to send virtual money to the watch, which the user can spend with Apple Pay.
But now that Apple has addressed the possibility of a standalone Apple Watch, it is likely to continue in that direction. Family Setup was made possible by incremental releases in recent years, including cell phone-equipped watches in 2017, and a change last year that gave the Apple Watch its own App Store and the ability to run apps without pinging the phone. iPhone.
Before the iPhone, Apple used lower-cost iPods to get people used to Apple hardware and software, then once they were customers, they proceeded to sell them more expensive Mac laptops and other devices. More recently, the iPhone became the hook of the ecosystem: An iPhone user would have a better experience if they also subscribed to Apple services, such as Apple Music, and used wireless headphones like Apple’s AirPods.
On Tuesday, the Apple Watch took a step toward becoming many people’s first Apple product.
