WATCH series 3

With a built-in SIM , Apple’s wearable is ready to let you leave the iPhone at home

The latest generation of Apple Watch takes the next logical leap and removes its need to be tethered to an iPhone, with an optional 4G connection, starting from £329 for non-4G models, or £399 with 4G.

That’s not the only change, of course. The Series 3 Watch includes a barometric altimeter, meaning it can detect your elevation for the first time, which is great for getting a more accurate view of the effort you put into a day – if you climb a mountain, that’s kind of a big factor. There’s also a new faster wireless chip for getting information into the Watch, and a 70% more powerful dual-core processor, so that apps run much zippier, and which enables Siri to speak on the Watch for the first time.

It means the Watch line-up is fairly complex now: you’ve still got two sizes, and now have models with GPS only, and  models with GPS+Cellular. The GPS-only models are all aluminium Sport models, while the GPS+Cellular come in Sport, stainless steel, or ceramic Watch Edition (which includes super-smart new grey colour option). The GPS+Cellular option also has more storage than GPS alone – 16GB instead of 8GB, mostly so that it’s a better companion to Apple Music, for streaming without your phone.

So, how does a contract and calling for the 4G Watch work? It’ll be an add-on to your existing contract, using the same phone number. EE is offering a Watch contract for an extra £5 per month, which seems pretty decent to us. The potential catch is that EE is the only network supporting the Watch in the UK at launch. Expect more in the future, but no one’s saying when just yet.