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Buying an Apple watch in another country

Hi,


I'm interested in buying the latest Apple watch series 5 and many of it's features are not available in my country (Israel) like: ECG, Rhythm notification, Audiobooks, and more.

If I buy the watch III m the US where those features are available, will I be able to use them in my country? Or will they be blocked because of my carrier/Apple user location?

Posted on Jan 27, 2020 2:05 AM

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Posted on Jan 27, 2020 2:13 AM

The ECG app will NOT work because your government hasn't approved it yet and also if you buy the cellular version of the watch then that WON'T work either,the best thing would be to buy the watch in Israel and wait for them to approve the ECG app and then you could buy the cellular version that would work in your country.

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Jan 27, 2020 2:13 AM in response to RubioJen

The ECG app will NOT work because your government hasn't approved it yet and also if you buy the cellular version of the watch then that WON'T work either,the best thing would be to buy the watch in Israel and wait for them to approve the ECG app and then you could buy the cellular version that would work in your country.

Jan 27, 2020 3:47 AM in response to stedman1

My question was about other features.


The watches are specific to a region or country - that's not completely correct


As you can see here https://www.apple.com/il/watch/cellular/ there are just two model groups, one for US, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and the other for the rest of the countries. So that not exactly country specific.

I can buy a model in Australia for example and use it with Israeli carrier.



Jan 27, 2020 5:43 AM in response to RubioJen

To summarize.

A U.S. Apple Watch has a North American cellular radio that only works with Carriers in Canada, U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico. Since your iPhone shares its phone number with the Apple Watch, the carrier needs to provide this support, and no carrier is going to do that for a radio not specific to their region.


It is illegal for Apple to sell an ECG device in a country that has not provided government approval, And it is illegal for Apple to allow an ECG device to operate in a country that has not provided government approval. So when an Apple Watch is manufactured, Apple already knows what country it is being shipped to, so its software has information about whether ECG can be used in the country of sale. The Apple Watch has GPS, so it can know when it travels to a country that has not approved ECG. Israel has not approved ECG. When a country approves GPS, the next Apple Watch software update allows ECG use in the new approving country(s).


Apple Watch ECG countries

https://www.apple.com/watchos/feature-availability/#branded-ecg


As for Australia, yes you can get an Cellular Apple Watch that works in Israel, except Australia has also not approved ECG, so you would then be waiting Israel AND Australia governments to approve ECG.


And yes the Apple Watch Series 5 comes in 2 cellular radio models. North American, and the rest of the world. But if you want ECG when Israel approves the app, make sure you do not buy it from a country that has not given government approval, such as Australia. Dubai seems to get a lot users from India, as it seems to be a popular stop on the way home to India and the duty free shop apparently has very good deals, but no ECG government approval.


As to audiobooks, I do not know. Traditional media restrictions are often implemented based on IP addresses, but I'm mostly thinking about streaming services. Not sure what audiobooks use. Also do the restrictions apply to https://www.audible.com/ or just to audiobooks via Apple?

Jan 27, 2020 8:47 AM in response to RubioJen

RubioJen wrote:

Thanks for the detailed answer. So I have to find a country which approved most of the features and have the right cellular model. It seems that Italy and Hong-Kong are good options according to this list.

https://www.apple.com/il/watchos/feature-availability/

I have a trip to Italy soon so I will consider to buy it there.

Just remember that ECG will not work in Israel until the government approves it. Otherwise cellular and other features should work with an Apple Watch from Italy.


And of course you need to be using one of the Israel carriers that supports the iPhone.


And you need to own an iPhone 6s, SE, 7 or newer.

Buying an Apple watch in another country

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