Right now, you must pair an Apple Watch with an iPhone.

Even the cellular Apple Watch has to have a parent iPhone for setup and ongoing support.

Control Your Apple Watch Your Way

iPhone and Apple Watch pairing goes two ways.

Closeup on someone with their arm raised as they look at information on an Apple Watch.

Luke Chesser / Unsplash

Or with all of their devices.

Or just not buy an iPhone at all?

In fact, because of the Watch, I rarely use my iPhone at home.

Closeup on someone looking at the Activity Rings on their Apple Watch.

Solen Feyissa / Unsplash

WatchOS 10 Could Mean rig Independence

This has happened before.

You also needed a computer to apply software updates.

Well, almost everything.

An Apple watch sitting atop an iPhone with AirPods and an iPad displaying Apple Music nearby.

Thomas Kolnowski / Unsplash

You still need the Apple Music app on your Mac to add music to your iPhone’s music library.

Thomas Kolnowski / Unsplash

The Apple Watch is already paired with your iPad in limited ways.

We are seeing the development of the Apple Watch as its own platform.

First, it was just an accessory, thenwith the cellular optionit started to break away.

And one wonders if the AR headset will become an independent platform that can be used standalone.

Until then, let us choose which rig we want to pair with the Apple Watch.

For many people, a cellular iPad plus Apple Watch might be all they need.

At the very least, let us choose which gear to pair for music playback.

That would be an excellent start.