Before 2011, every iPhone and iPad had to be plugged into iTunes before you could use them. A Mac or PC was required for the activation and basic setup process. Apple cut that cord with iOS 5, allowing iPhones and iPads to start working right out of the box. Now that Apple Watch Series 3 has gained LTE connectivity, I wonder if it will head down a similar path.
I’ve met people who would love to have an Apple Watch (and a Bluetooth headset) for basic calls and messaging, then an iPad for everything else. They don’t take a lot of photos, and they don’t have a large need for carrying around a phone other than calls and messaging—things the Watch does pretty well now.
From an end user perspective, I’d love to see this option arrive. I certainly would like for my Apple Watch to have connectivity when I’m away from my phone, but I’m not ready to pay $10 per month for that luxury just yet. Down the road? I could see it.
From a product design perspective, though, I wager there’s a significant challenge to building an autonomous Apple Watch: setup. It’s easy to type your iCloud account into an iPhone or iPad. But a Watch? Not so much.
In watchOS 4, Apple did make this process easier by bringing the AirPod setup simplicity to the Watch. This might be exclusive to Series 3, but I’ve seen a demo where all you need to do is unlock your iPhone and power on your brand new Watch, and they just find each other and begin the process.
It isn’t a 100 percent cordless setup, but it’s a step. If Apple allowed the iPad to set up a new Watch, it might help users who don’t necessarily want or need an iPhone.
