For Apple Watch + Cellular models, how do they manage active calls when going out of Bluetooth range from their paired iPhone

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The following example assumes that we have an Apple Watch Cellular model that is connected over Bluetooth to its paired iPhone:

  1. An incoming call is received by both the Apple Watch and its paired iPhone. The wearer of the Watch decides to answer the call directly on the Watch

  2. During the call, the wearer of the Watch moves out of Bluetooth range of its paired iPhone – in this example, there are no nearby Wi-Fi networks that the Watch can connect to

In the above situation, how would the Watch manage the call? Does it have the capability of switching from Bluetooth to cellular for calls that are currently in progress, or would the call simply be dropped?

Best Answer

It's doesn't have the capability of switching from Bluetooth to cellular for calls that are currently in progress, so the call would simply be dropped.

When you answer a call on your iPhone and hand it off to the Apple Watch, the watch doesn't actually communicate with the cell network to transition the call from the iPhone's cellular connection to the watch's cellular connection. That's not how it works. This is because that is actually a pretty complicated process that takes a lot of time (i.e. you would be left without a call for several seconds).

What actually happens is that the call is simply "forwarded" on from the iPhone to the watch using Bluetooth/WiFi (Handing off phone calls to Apple Watch, last paragraph). The call is technically still terminated on the iPhone, and thus the cellular modem on the watch is not in play. You must remain within range of your iPhone to keep the call - if you go outside range, the call is dropped. You can then dial up again from the Watch to create a new call ofcourse.

When you answer a call on your Apple Watch and the call is terminated on the watch via your eSIM, you can indeed go out of range of the iPhone without any problems. However this is only the case if the iPhone was never involved in the call at all - and doesn't apply to the situation you describe, where the call was going to the Watch over Bluetooth initially.

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