Last week, Apple announced the 2017 version of the Apple Watch, called the Apple Watch Series 3. Apple started taking pre-orders this past Friday, and it goes on sale this Friday, September 22, 2017. The latest version of the Apple Watch, like the prior versions, looks like a great device for lawyers. Lawyers deal with a ton of communications every day from courts, opposing counsel, clients, etc. via emails, text messages, and phone calls. An Apple Watch can help you to manage (and triage) these communications. Additionally, an Apple Watch is great for helping you to exercise and stay active — important for those of us who do most of our work sitting at a desk.
If (like me) you already own an Apple Watch Series 2, then it may not be worth it to upgrade, for the reasons that I discuss below. But if you have an original Apple Watch or don't have an Apple Watch at all, the Apple Watch Series 3 looks to be a great device for lawyers.
What is new
Let's start with the features that are new as compared to the Apple Watch Series 2 which was introduced one year ago.
Cellular. The main difference between the Apple Watch Series 2 and the new Apple Watch Series 3 is that you can get a cellular version of the Series 3, which supports LTE and 3G UMTS. You can easily see if an Apple Watch has built-in cellular because there is a red dot on the digital crown.
Previous versions of the Apple Watch need to communicate with the outside world via your iPhone. If your iPhone and Apple Watch are relatively close to each other, they will use Bluetooth to connect to each other. If they are not nearby but are on the same WiFi network (for example, your iPhone is upstairs in your house but you are downstairs), the Apple Watch can connect to your iPhone via WiFi. But if you leave your iPhone at home and go for a run around the neighborhood, your Apple Watch will not give you any notifications until you get back in range of the iPhone.
With the Series 3, even if your iPhone is far away, you can use the Apple Watch to make and receive phone calls (using the same phone number that you use with your iPhone). You can use the built-in microphone and speaker on the Apple Watch, speaking into your watch as if you were Dick Tracy. Better yet, you can use Bluetooth headphones such as the Apple AirPods.
You can also send and receive emails and text messages. Chat apps like WeChat and Shapchat will also work even when an iPhone is not around.
The Apple Watch has always been able to control music playback on a nearby iPhone. You could also play songs that are stored locally on the Apple Watch, but the process of transferring songs to the watch is slow and cumbersome. If you have a single playlist that you listen to all the time, then perhaps it is not a big deal, but if you want a large, diverse and changing collection of music, this isn't easily possible with older versions of the Apple Watch. This all changes with the new Series 3 because the watch can directly connect to Apple Music and stream songs. Apple says that this means that you essentially have 40 million songs right on your wrist — a big step up from the original iPod in 2001 which Apple advertised as giving you 1,000 songs in your pocket.
The built-in cellular radio also means that many other types of apps will work even when you are not near your iPhone. For example, you can see the weather using a weather app, or you can request a vehicle from Uber or Lyft.
This all sounds very cool, and is clearly the way that it was always meant to be for the Apple Watch. I think that the #1 use case is taking an outdoor run. It is nice to have access to your music, a phone if there is an emergency, and all of your notifications without having to find a place for your iPhone on your body while running, or deal with the iPhone bouncing around in a pocket. I can also imagine that it would be nice to be able to go outside and walk your dog without having to find your iPhone first so that you can bring it with you. On the other hand, if you are like me, and your iPhone is virtually always near you (for example, you work out at home using a treadmill or at a gym with your iPhone nearby), then you may consider cellular to be just an occasional nice perk and mostly unnecessary.
You can also purchase a Series 3 Apple Watch that doesn't have cellular, which saves some money. But note that the non-cellular Series 3 is only available in the aluminum version. If you prefer the nicer look of the stainless steel Apple Watch or the ceramic Apple Watch, you need to purchase the cellular version of the Series 3.
Faster. The original Apple Watch was quite slow. The Series 1 and Series 2 got faster thanks to updated processors. The Series 3 uses the new W2 dual-core processor and is 70% faster than last year's model.
Talking Siri. On older versions of the Apple Watch, you can talk to Siri and see Siri's responses on the screen. With the Series 3, Siri will respond to your requests more quickly, and you can also hear Siri speak. Since I have my Apple Watch configured to make no noise at all (it gets my attention for select notifications by tapping my wrist), I don't consider the speaking Siri feature very useful, but I'm sure that having Siri work faster is a nice improvement.
Find my friends. You can use the Find my Friends feature on an iPhone so that you know where select friends or family are located and they know where you are. With the Series 3, the Apple Watch will take precedence over your iPhone for telling others where you are located.
Elevation. The Series 3 includes a barometric altimeter to track your elevation, which can be useful for monitoring certain activities such as skiing. riding your bike up a hill, etc. With earlier versions of the Apple Watch, if your iPhone was nearby, the iPhone could sense elevation. With the Series 3, elevation is tracked even if you don't have your iPhone with you.
Size. The Series 3 is just a tiny bit thicker and heavier, but you probably won't notice it. Apple says that the Series 3 is two sheets of paper thicker than the Series 2. And importantly, the Series 3 works with all of the same bands as every other version of the Apple Watch.
Models
Just like before, there are two sizes: the 42mm size and the 38mm size. I typically see men using the 42mm version and women using the 38mm version, but you can pick whichever one is best for you best on your personal preferences and wrist size.
Just like before, there are three basic types of body finishes: the cheaper (and a little lighter) aluminum model, the more expensive stainless steel model (which I think is nicer and more professional, especially when you are wearing nicer clothes such as court attire), and the high-end ceramic model. When the first Apple Watch was introduced in 2015, Apple also sold a super-expensive gold "Edition" model starting at $10,000, but in 2016 Apple changed the Edition model to ceramic — still more expensive than stainless steel, but much cheaper than gold.
Just like before, you can also buy two special versions of the Apple Watch: the Nike+ version, and the Hermès version. The primary difference is that those versions come with special bands, but they also come with special watch faces.
Price
Apple is still selling the Series 1 version of the Apple Watch that it introduced last year, and it now costs only $249 for the 38mm version or $279 for the 42mm version. But it is so much slower than the Series 3, and lacks so many other features, that I do not recommend it to any attorneys.
There are many different configurations of the Apple Watch Series 3, which means that there are many different prices. But in general, the aluminum version of the Apple Watch costs $330 to $430, depending on the size (the 42mm version is $30 more) and whether it has cellular (which is $70 more). Thus, the Series 3 aluminum 38mm costs $329 without cellular and $399 with cellular. The larger 42m model costs $359 without cellular and $429 with cellular.
In you want the nicer stainless steel case, it only comes in a cellular version, and the stainless steel cellular costs $200-$220 more than the aluminum cellular. Specifically, the cost is $599 for 38mm and $649 for 42mm.
If you want the high-end ceramic case, it costs $900-920 more than the aluminum cellular. Specifically, the cost is $1,299 for 38mm and $1,349 for 42mm.
All of these prices assume that you purchase a model with an entry-level band, such as a sport band, which Apple sells separately for $50. There are other models with nicer bands which cost more. For example, I love wearing the Milanese Loop with the stainless steel Apple Watch (that's what I wear to work every day and whenever I am dressed more nicely on the weekend), and that model costs $100 more: $699 for the 38mm version and $749 for the 42mm version. And while the versions with the Nike+ bands costs the same as the Apple aluminum models, the versions with the Hermès leather bands range from $1,199 to $1,399.
Additional bands are also available to purchase separately, including the new Sport Loop band which Apple says features a "soft, breathable nylon weave with an easily adjustable hook-and-loop fastener."
Finally, the cellular costs I noted above are only for the Apple Watch itself. You also have to purchase a data plan for the Apple Watch. It looks like the U.S. carriers are adding an additional $10 to your monthly fee if you want to add an Apple Watch, although some carriers have discounts for the first few months.
Should you get one?
I noted at the outset the reasons that the Apple Watch is so incredibly useful for lawyers. Communication is a major part of our profession, and it is so nice to get a subtle tap on your wrist when you need to be notified of something, and it is so nice to just glance at your watch screen to see what is going on instead of having to pull out your iPhone or iPad. It is sort of like having a personal assistant. And the Apple Watch works especially well for tracking activity and motivating you to be more active.
Last year, I wrote about my first year with the Apple Watch, and most everything that I wrote in the "what I love" section in 2016 remains true today. I also noted in that post the things that I didn't like, and fortunately many of those things have improved thanks to speed increases in updated hardware and interface improvements in updates to watchOS.
If you don't have an Apple Watch yet, this is a great time to get one. If you are still using the first generation Apple Watch, this is a great time to upgrade to the Series 3. The most notable improvement (besides cellular) will be a huge speed increase, but you will also get a much brighter screen, GPS, and you can swim with the watch because it is waterproof.
If you are like me and you have a Series 2 Apple Watch, I think that the upgrade is really only worth it if you plan to go outside frequently without your iPhone, for the reasons I noted above. As I think back over the 2+ years that I have been using an Apple Watch, it is hard for me to recall more than one time every month when cellular would have been really useful. So I'm not going to upgrade this year. Having said that, I am going to be jealous of the speed increase in the Series 3, and I suspect that I will now start to think of even more situation in which it would have been nice to have cellular on my Apple Watch. So if you find yourself talking to me and I look a little green with envy, don't take it personally; it's just because I see that red circle on the digital crown of your Apple Watch.
On the other hand, if you are ready to buy your first Apple Watch or upgrade from an older model, I actually do recommend that you get the Series 3 cellular version. First, if you want the nicer stainless steel (or even nicer ceramic) case, then you have to get a cellular version. Second, even if you want the aluminum case, the $70 price difference is not that much, and then you will have cellular if you ever decide that you want to start using it. Indeed, as more Apple Watch apps are designed to take advantage of cellular, cellular may be come an even more essential feature. There is no requirement that you activate the cellular features when you first buy the watch; you can wait to activate the cellular feature until a later date and then start paying the $10/month.
With the upcoming iPhone X, I cannot help but think of how incredibly far the iPhone has come in ten years. We are now only about 2.5 years into the Apple Watch, and Apple has been doing a great job with the hardware and software improvements. The Apple Watch is already an incredibly useful device for me today, both in my law practice and in my personal life. I hope that Apple continues the pace of improvements, and if so, the Apple Watch is going to amazing when it celebrates its tenth birthday.