I still cannot believe that in order to use the latest Apple watch, you still need an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 12 or later. I was dead set on grabbing a watch once I heard what it would feature but after reading the small print, why would I spend money on getting an iPhone, then an expensive monthly plan, followed by a watch, then a separate plan for that?

Is there something I'm not seeing? This seems like a lot of money to front just to get into the device I really want but at the same time having to deal with something I don't want, plus 2 monthly plans.

Edit/update:

So as it stands now, $749 for an iPhone XR, roughly $80/month plan, $499 for GPS + Cellular watch, and $10/month for watch (based on current series 3 watch plan).

That basically breaks down to $1250 plus taxes in upfront costs to get access to a device that, for me anyway, has more useful utility to it than the phone, plus over $100/month (again, after taxes) just so I can utilize the full feature set of said watch.