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Apple Aiming for 19 Hours of Apple Watch Battery Life With 'Mixed Usage'

If only Apple had given the device a crappy processor and display. Sigh.
 
bobob said:
Apple quotes real battery life times, not fantasy ones like it's competitors.
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You're clearly delusional. When was the last time an iPhone actually reached its listed battery time (11 hours of Safari on the iPhone 6 ie)
 
Sky Captain said:
You seem to be completely ignoring people who actually.. kinda do. What I mean by that is what about the frequent traveler. Many journeys across the globe can take upwards of 24 hours between catching flights, the flight itself lay overs etc. Point is, you can find yourself many times in situations where it is not realistic or convenient to pause to tie your arm to the closet power plug you can find to charge your watch, all the while staring at said watch in desperation as you see your boarding time drawing near.

That's just one example. Long bus trips is another.. etc etc.
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Sounds like someone needs a ... um ... watch?
 
This battery life data is at time zero - if you look how batteries degrade (or just look at your iphone experiences) you can expect to at least charge them twice per day after 2 years.
Yeah, I'll skip that one.
 
Sky Captain said:
You seem to be completely ignoring people who actually.. kinda do. What I mean by that is what about the frequent traveler. Many journeys across the globe can take upwards of 24 hours between catching flights, the flight itself lay overs etc. Point is, you can find yourself many times in situations where it is not realistic or convenient to pause to tie your arm to the closet power plug you can find to charge your watch, all the while staring at said watch in desperation as you see your boarding time drawing near.

That's just one example. Long bus trips is another.. etc etc.
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LordVic said:
I was just recently on a european trip. My flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen got cancelled. My phone battery died. I was stuck in the airport then running around amsterdam for an additional day with no hotel or home to plug anything in. My watch though, kept me going with the time. I never had to think about it. thats the purpose of a good quality watch. that and fashion.
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The race for worst case scenario's is on!

The Apple Watch is for full-on participants in a connected world - - if I'm going to be marooned on a desert island, I'll stick with a waterproof, self-winding Rolex.
 
jessejarvi said:
So? I take my watch off at night anyways. No one stays up for more than 19 hours.
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I think, considering the watch can do more than simply tell time, this is a fair argument.

I remember my old motorola razor could go days between charges. I don't expect that from my iPhone, because my iPhone is a pocket computer.
 
I already plug my iPhone and iPad to charge before going to bed. To add another device won't be a problem.

I do hope Apple finds a way to make it water-resistant at least. That seems to be a bigger problem, especially if you're going to pay at least $349, if not more. What, they'll offer you Apple Care Plus for your :apple: Watch if it gets wet, with a $50 deductible but only for 2 replacements? :(
 
Thanks but no thanks! I'm buying most of what apple makes. iPads and iPhones every year. New iMacs and MacBook Air almost every year. But this is the first product from apple that truly don't appeal to me. Simply because of the battery life. If that doesn't change in future version I don't see this becoming a big hit at all. The watch should at least last 2 days. If you sleep somewhere else, are on a trip or what not you need to bring the charger with you all the time if you simply want to check time...ugh!
 
Hilarious that anyone thinks 1 day (or less) of battery life is acceptable for a watch, whoever the manufacturer might be.

For now, I'll stick with my Pebble (granted, far less functionality) which gives me 5-7 days of life. Anything less is a deal breaker for me.
 
19 hrs of mixed use is great for a first gen watch ... as long as it's roughly the same or better than the iPhone. So if my iPhone lasts me all day, and the watch does the same under the same usage profile, its ok by me... this is mainly because I'll have to charge my phone up anyway.

For longer trips, I'll have to carry the Watch charger as well as a iphone phone charger/cable.
 
This definitely smells like a product Jobs would have killed / tabled had he been running Apple.

The device is a solution looking for a problem to solve, and the tech simply isn't ripe enough if the battery can't make it a full day without needing a recharge.
 
LordVic said:
19 hours is not exceptional. At all. And the time it takes to charge is irrelevant if you're not in a place you can charge it.

Unlike your phone, it will require its own dock to charge. That means if you're stuck in an airport for 20 hours, your watch isn't getting charged. it means that this product is going to be a non-starter for many people who know they are frequently away from home base for more than a day.

The same does apply for other smartwatches too who have the same < 1 day battery life.

I was just recently on a european trip. My flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen got cancelled. My phone battery died. I was stuck in the airport then running around amsterdam for an additional day with no hotel or home to plug anything in. My watch though, kept me going with the time. I never had to think about it. thats the purpose of a good quality watch. that and fashion.

neither the Apple watch is going to hit. This is going to put it into the same category as every other 1 day smart watch maker. Your average geek will wear it. but thats about it.
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It is for a watch that has a Retina screen and is capable of running at a fluid 60 FPS.
 
LordVic said:
But are you going to carry your watch power dock with you?
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Huh?!? The Apple Watch charger is a USB cable with a circle smaller than the watch at the end of it.

apple-watch-charging.png
 
What kind of battle is it going to be like for AC outlets at the airport, now with all these power hungry devices randomly losing steam?
 
When the iPad launched, it had a 10 hour battery. But, in terms of hardware it was a scaled up smartphone, so there was loads more room for battery.

This watch has to have double the iPad's battery, in a fraction of the space.

No wonder Apple are making your iPhone do the processing work!
 
Naturally mileage is going to vary greatly based on usage. Are you working out every day and using the sensors and constantly monitoring? Do you get a crapload of emails and other alerts. Are you constantly fidgeting with your watch? If so - you're likely to run out of juice with ANY smart watch on the market.

I picked up a LG G android wear because it was ~$80 and I figured why not. Wasn't in the market for a smart watch.

I get a lot of email alerts. I don't do the fitness thing on my watch. But I would say with a normal amount of usage - I can get almost 2 full days. Sometimes it's more like 1.5. But I charge overnight regardless.

Mileage will always vary. I imagine the Apple watch will be no worse, nor all that better either.

This is where we are, forum readers. Right now, based on technology, there isn't going to be a wide variance in battery life among these devices.
 
FieldingMellish said:
What kind of battle is it going to be like for AC outlets at the airport, now with all these power hungry devices randomly losing steam?
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Someone should invent a portable battery that you wear as a fashion bracelet on your other wrist so that you can recharge your phone / watch when they inevitably die mid-day.
 
The most amazing thing about Watch is no one is forced to buy it. :)
 
FieldingMellish said:
What kind of battle is it going to be like for AC outlets at the airport, now with all these power hungry devices randomly losing steam?
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What's more damning is that if I were at an airport and my watch ran out of battery I can't think of one reason why that would be a problem.
 
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