In most countries, setting up a cellular plan on watch is restricted to the carrier that the family iPhone is on. The only countries where Apple does not allow watches to be 'carrier locked' are: US, UK, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Switzerland—in these countries the watch can have not only its own phone number but also its own independent cellular plan directly with Truphone (available in six countries), Telekom (in Germany), or, in Switzerland, Sunrise or Swisscom.
Stand alone cellwatches
The following models are capable of "family setup" since Sept 2020, provided the model is GPS+cellular (GPS-only models are not permitted to use family setup):
| year | initial price (USD) |
Display | ECG | int'l emer- gency calling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | S4 | 40mm: $499 44mm: $529 |
yes | no | |
| 2019 | S5 | 40mm: $499 44mm: $529 |
Always On |
yes | yes |
| 2020 | S6 | 40mm: $499 44mm: $529 |
Always On |
yes | yes |
| 2020 | SE | 40mm: $329 44mm: $359 |
no | yes |
Cellular plans for standalone cellwatches
Truphone
https://go.truphone.com/select-plan
Truphone was selected by Apple as the first multi-country carrier to offer cellular plans for standalone Apple Watches. Truphone offers this service in the following countries:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Poland
- Spain
Local Carriers
apple.com/watch/cellular/#table-family-setup
bold indicates that the carrier allows the watch on their network even if the associated iPhone is not on that carrier
Americas:
- Canada: Bell, Telus
- United States: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, US Cellular, C Spire
Europe
- United Kingdom: EE
- Norway: Telia
- Germany: Telekom
- Switzerland: Sunrise, Swisscom
- Spain: Movistar
Asia and Middle East
- Bahrain: Batelco
- Japan: au
- Thailand: AIS, dtac, TrueMove
- Singapore: Starhub
- Taiwan: Chungwa, Taiwan Mobile, FarEasTone
- Hong Kong: 1O1O, csl, SmarTone
- China: China Unicom, China Telecom(in 7 cities)
Oceania
- Australia: Truphone