This Apple Watch 3 model just got killed — what you need to know

This Apple Watch 3 model but got killed — what y'all need to know

(Image credit: Futurity)

While all wearable-wearing eyes were on the Apple Watch 6 and all-new Apple Watch SE during yesterday's Apple tree issue, the company behind some of the best smartwatches quietly killed one of its near pivotal products off — and it's non the Apple tree Scout 5.

When shopping Apple Watches on Apple'southward website, you'll observe the Apple Sentinel Series 3 is limited to $199 GPS models. The $299 LTE-capable Apple Picket three is no longer listed for sale. The lineup's entry-level model for a watch with cellular connectivity is the $329 Apple tree Watch SE.

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Though $xxx isn't a premium worth losing sleep over, the legacy of the bygone model is worth our attention ane last time.

Back in 2017, few saw a demand for an Apple Sentry that worked independently of their iPhone. Nosotros went and so far equally suggesting you skip the Apple Scout Series 3 with cellular in our original review, despite it beingness get-go major smartwatch with the feature.

But times have changed, and there are more instances where LTE on your wrist comes in handy. With many gyms and fitness classes operating at limited capacity (or on hiatus all together), outdoor activity is user-friendly. Bringing a telephone along is not.

And with the ever-growing adoption of contactless payments, the Apple Watch's NFC chip means yous can literally walk out of the door without your wallet or phone to pick up groceries or toiletries and still exist reachable. On-board music storage, stride-by-step map directions and Siri integration add together to the Apple Watch'due south instance for autonomous utilize.

Then there's the introduction of Family Setup, which Apple added this week. The new Apple Watch setting is intended for kids and older users who might not accept iPhones. Instead, a single iPhone-owning family fellow member can assign controls to several Apple Watches, with the catch that those peripheral Apple tree Watches must have LTE.

Family Setup but works with Apple Lookout man Series 4, Series 5, Series vi and SE. So possibly Apple removed the Series 3 with LTE to avoid defoliation for shoppers looking to take advantage of the multi-sentry control feature.

Or possibly that Series 3 sentinel'southward internals are just too outdated to continue up with the standards of newer flagship models, and the pricing would be out of whack. The Apple Watch three with LTE costs more than the the starting price of the Apple Spotter SE, which features a newer S5 bit, autumn detection, always-on altimeter and larger brandish.

Whatever the true reason, let it exist known the Apple Lookout man three with LTE walked and then all LTE-capable smartwatches tin run. We might not have given it enough credit back then, simply that showtime cellular-connected Apple Lookout man created an irreversible expectation for the inevitable evolution of independent wearables.

Kate Kozuch is a senior writer at Tom's Guide covering wearables, TVs and everything smart-dwelling house related. When she'due south non in cyborg mode, yous can discover her on an exercise bike or channeling her inner glory chef. She and her robot army will dominion the world one 24-hour interval, but until then, reach her at kate.kozuch@futurenet.com.