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No sim on cellular Apple Watch?

Hey there. I have a Apple Watch SE with acellular plan ( yes red ring on crown). I am trying to connect it to my iPhone XS. that DOES NOT have a cell plan. And I keep seeing a No Sim in the cellular setup. If I connect it to my wife’s iPhone with a cell plan it works fine. Any ideas what is up. Using Verizon. Have the account showing the two plans.

Posted on Jun 29, 2022 8:24 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 30, 2022 1:37 AM

Just because it connects from the same cellular SIM card(phone number) as your phone, you don't need your phone next to you when you use the cellular, but it would be better if you link the watch to the phone that you use. Apple Watch can operate more functions when it is connected to the phone that set up the watch.

An Apple Watch doesn't need a SIM card plugged inside it, but there's definitely somewhere that the cellular is coming from. You need to at least link the watch's cellular to a phone number(for some cellular carrier companies) to be able to use it on a watch. The other way is using a GPS+Cellular subscription on Apple Watch(but is also just like a cellular plan).

If you skipped the part of setting up cellular, you can still use the watch, but just that you need to keep your phone next to you when you cannot connect to the WiFi.

More information:

https://www.myhealthyapple.com/can-i-use-an-gpscellular-model-apple-watch-without-purchasing-a-cellular-plan/#:~:text=The%20good%20news%20is%20that%2C%20yes%2C%20it%20is,if%20you%20want%20to%20use%20its%20cellular%20features.

Set up cellular on Apple Watch - Apple Support


3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 30, 2022 1:37 AM in response to P_Jay

Just because it connects from the same cellular SIM card(phone number) as your phone, you don't need your phone next to you when you use the cellular, but it would be better if you link the watch to the phone that you use. Apple Watch can operate more functions when it is connected to the phone that set up the watch.

An Apple Watch doesn't need a SIM card plugged inside it, but there's definitely somewhere that the cellular is coming from. You need to at least link the watch's cellular to a phone number(for some cellular carrier companies) to be able to use it on a watch. The other way is using a GPS+Cellular subscription on Apple Watch(but is also just like a cellular plan).

If you skipped the part of setting up cellular, you can still use the watch, but just that you need to keep your phone next to you when you cannot connect to the WiFi.

More information:

https://www.myhealthyapple.com/can-i-use-an-gpscellular-model-apple-watch-without-purchasing-a-cellular-plan/#:~:text=The%20good%20news%20is%20that%2C%20yes%2C%20it%20is,if%20you%20want%20to%20use%20its%20cellular%20features.

Set up cellular on Apple Watch - Apple Support


Jun 29, 2022 9:35 PM in response to P_Jay

Hi, well... Apple Watch uses the cellular from your phone(without having to plug the SIM card into the watch). But you do need to have a SIM card plugged into your phone, and it has to be able to work. In the Watch app, there is a Cellular section, you can check the plan that the watch is using. And while setting up the watch, there would be some sort of notification to allow the device to use the internet by using the same SIM card from another phone. Make sure you clicked allow on the page, and then you can start using the cellular anywhere(on the watch).

Jun 29, 2022 9:40 PM in response to Ocillus

I’m kind of following. But why? The phone has a cellular function. If I bought a cellular watch for my mom who lives across the country I could set it up as a family on my phone and ship it to her and it will work fine.


why wouldn’t I be able to set it up on an iPhone that doesn’t have a cell plan?


silly

No sim on cellular Apple Watch?

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