Apple Watch bought in the U.S. paired with a Japanese phone carrier

Question

Level 1

8 points

Apple Watch bought in the U.S. paired with a Japanese phone carrier

My family of four are Americans living in Japan. We all have iPhones and service through AU a Japanese phone company. We live in Okinawa so there are no Apple Stores here. My wife has an older Apple Watch that needs to be replaced and wants the 10 series with cellular. We cannot find one around us but are traveling back to the U.S. in two weeks and are thinking we will go to an Apple Store while there to buy one. Will we easily be able to disconnect the old watch and add the new one? Thanks.

Apple Watch Series 6

Posted on Jun 24, 2025 07:24 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Ingo2711

Level 9

77,871 points

Jun 24, 2025 10:12 PM in response to Trey421

According to Apple, the Apple Watch is supposed to be used in the country of purchase, due to the different built in hardware, that has to support the local carriers. So not all cellular features might work as expected.

Apple Watch - Carriers - Apple

The watchOS is also country specific. An Apple Watch bought in the US will always install the watchOS version and all available features for this country, including restrictions for some features, for example the removal of the Blood Oxygen feature for Apple Watches sold in the US.

About Blood Oxygen availability - Apple Support

Also remember, that the warranty for an Apple Watch may be restricted by Apple to the country of purchase.

In case of a warranty claim, you will have to bring the watch back to the country of purchase, Apple Support does not ship internationally.

Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty

Reply