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Apple Announces watchOS 3 With Dock, Control Center, New Watch Faces and Apps, And More
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Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
Right, I would hate for them to give updates the same inattention, and lack of R&D rigor that they do as iPhone and iPad updates. Those things are crap....
I don't understand your argument at all. Technology changes a lot in a year. Sure not enough to make you update every year but that's a good thing. What's a bad thing is waiting multiple years before updating a product. That displays a lack of attention/interest in the product and causes deep sales declines later in the cycle. With the iPhone's annual cycle the first 6 months are always high with sales plummeting through the next 6 months. Why would Apple want sales to plummet on the Apple Watch for another year? People don't want to buy 1-2 year old tech.
Also, if anything, since the Apple Watch is such a new product the first few years will have significantly faster improvements than the older iPhone/iPad. In processor, battery life, materials, HR monitor, accelerometer.. Not to mention adding additional sensors such as altimeter and GPS. There's a lot that can be done. Why wait?
Another argument that doesn't make sense to me. Are you implying that Rolex and high end jewelry companies only make new watches/jewelry every 2.5 year?? Ummm no.
If anything it's the opposite. It's most important in fashion to be perpetually be updating your products continuing to drive sales and create a diversity of products in the marketplace. People don't want to have all the exact same jewelry.
The "Apple doesn't want to make you upgrade every year" argument is so silly to me. First of all, Apple would LOVE you to upgrade every year... Secondly, how many people upgrade to a new Mac for every update? How about iPads? Those products are very expensive. It's not expected to upgrade with every update.
There has been some hints of the start of the production of anew Apple Watch by quanta around January this year. But didn' t see any more rumors after this.
There are 2 options:
-apple will release an Apple Watch this fall , but with the same exterior, a so called s-update. With faster soc (14nm), etc.
-Apple will release a new Apple Watch, but is waiting for the 10nm process for the new soc. It would be a great test-case for the production of 10nm socks for their 2017 iPhone and iPad line-up.
I already have the first gen watch but I am really looking forward to having GPS. I feel it'll change everything once it gets this. No longer will I need to bring my phone out with me on runs. I realise the watch isn't meant to need to the phone after about 20 min of runs but I have run without the phone and it's just not accurate enough.
Yeah, among the 4 platforms watchOS is the one with the biggest enhancements this time.
I don't have an Apple watch yet but I may get version 2 and watchOS 3 sounds promising
Well let's start by not putting words in someone's else mouth... never said "Apple doesn't want to make you upgrade every year" but "I am sure they do not expect lots of upgraders if they do a year to year update."
You are comparing Apple to Rolex, no I am not implying that Rolex only makes one watch every year, it would be silly ...since they only make watches (a little more but the main revenue comes from that), but Apple does NOT make only that.
2 Rolex are proven to be worth after many years, the watch will be a collectable but useless in 6-7 years (as it would probably not receive that much sw update and it will loose the ability to sync with newer tech phones ....at least likely)
The amount of people upgrading every year is going down the drain, if it wasn't the case Apple would not make everything in its hands to give you a better deal with upgrade programs.... there are plenty of people with iPads 2 still running, I myself used to upgrade every year and yet last year passed an likely will too this year with the iPhone (you don't have to go very far to see that in this forum there are a lot of people that won't be upgrading...not worth every year) many are either on the point update or on the S cycle.
I think pulling your phone out of your pocket and putting your finger on the TouchID sensor isn't much faster than typing your password.
I think you're getting confused about something -- the watch industry comes out with new models every year, and some every season. THat's what drives the watch business. But they aren't waiting for their existing customers to upgrade every season, or even every year.
The Watch has a potential customer base of over 500 million users who own watch compatible iPhones. Even by a conservative estimate of 10-12 million sold to date, that means theres over 490 million potential customers! Unless you're argument is that Apple is catering solely to the 10-12 million that have already bought the Watch, and that's all there' ever going to be, then Apple is a long way away from having to worry about whether the original customers ever upgrade or not. When Apple is selling upwards of 200 million watches a year, then maybe they will have to worry about keeping up that kind of growth rate year over year. But right now, they'd better hope not.
What's clear to me is that many of the potential customer pool have looked at and considered the Watch and have passed on it. But that's not to say 490 million iPhone customers have rejected it outright, they just haven't seen enough to draw them into what is a relatively expensive purchase for what is mostly an iPhone remote/accessory. And that's the reason Apple should be pushing out as many new updates as they can, as quickly as they can. @Knocklaun post above that he is ready to buy one as soon Apple adds GPS. Maybe others didn't like how thick it looks. Still others might not care for how square it looks. And on and on. By doing nothing, Apple is letting the competition catch up with them, if for no other reason than to provide an excuse for a lot of media attention for the next new Apple product.
So we shall see what happens, but considering the kind of product it is, and how Apple has positioned it as a fashion item; drawing out the upgrade cycle is going to do it no favors towards igniting the customer base. For now, they've lower the price, and introduced a bunch of new watchbands, so they've done all they can do, and the sales have only fallen off based on what can be extrapolated from the "other" category in year-over-year earnings.
Are you referring to just the Apple watch or all wearables that track sleep? If the latter I obviously agree. No device truly knows if you are sleeping. But they do a pretty good job using their sensors and I find the data useful. Secondly, I wonder if trackers with heart rate capabilities could also factor that in to sleep algorithms. I don't know if that even makes sense, or maybe they already do.
The watch in particular, because I don't have other trackers. But it likely applies to all. The whole track my sleep thing is a bit of snake oil. It can track when you move, it may be able to reach some conclusion from heart rate, but it does not truly track your sleep. Otherwise, you wouldn't have to tell it you're going to sleep and waking up.
Based on my experiences with the MacID app, it can. The trick is to pull out your phone and unlock your Mac as you are walking towards it. So your Mac is unlocked and waiting for you by the time you sit down in your chair.
The main problem I had with the app was flaky Bluetooth which made the whole experience very reliable. Sometimes, it wouldn't trigger. Sometimes it would try to trigger multiple times when I am seated at the table, sending multiple notifications to my pebble watch. In the end, it was just too annoying for what it was worth.
The ideal scenario is when you are at work, with your iPhone in your pocket. Leave your desk to use the toilet or get a drink, your Mac automatically locks once you walk beyond a certain distance. Return to your desk, your Mac is unlocked by the time you sit down.
The very fact that apps now launch instantly demonstrates that there is indeed untapped potential.
Just like video game consoles release their most graphically impressive games near the end of the console cycle, Apple is still learning how to tap the potential of the hardware in the first generation Apple Watch.
I bought an Apple Watch Sport fully expecting it to be a disposable one year use purchase that I'd replace with a new one a year later but given what was demoed with watchOS 3.p. I can see this first gen Watch going the distance and staying on my wrist for at least a full 2 years.
exactly!!!!! why be leashed to your phone? let the watch do the work, after all it is a fitness wearable right?
Does anybody know how to enable this in the beta?
I'm on macOS 10.12 and watchOS 3 but don't see how this feature is enabled.
I'm running the beta and i think your gut feeling was right. Together with the iOS update it's definitely faster feeling and easier to utilize. No more in between partial data, the apps are now as easily reached as the glances were before.
I don't know the Watch's SoC in details, but Watch apps are pretty simple compared to the one you can find on the iPhone, so I'm not surprised they can launch favourite apps almost instantly now.
What we can expect from Watch2 is more RAM on the SoC to allow more apps (or bigger apps) in memory at the same time.
Exactly.
It's like the invention of preemptive multitasking back in the 60's: It made one computer appear to be a dozen computers. All done in software.
A 911 feature seems to me it suggests both GPS and Cellular. A bundled SIM that can be used only for 911 unless locked, and a GPS that is only used for this and running could be a winner and limited use could address the battery issues. I even see parents getting it for their kids, and older children getting it for their aging parents.
For 100% effectiveness, yes. However, since the watch is meant to be used with the iPhone, which has both capabilities, this would not necessarily imply anything new added to the watch.
However, you bring up a pretty significant observation. If Apple releases software that is promoted as being able to call 911, then it had better be in ANY situation. Imagine the person who is out jogging without their iPhone, has an accident that incapacitates them, and tries to call 911. Unless Apple sells this feature with a HUGE DISCLAIMER, then they will have a lawsuit on their hands, one which they would probably lose.
So I think you may have something here ... the watch has to have both cell and GPS for an emergency responder to find them. cell triangulation is good, but not accurate enough for a life threatening situation, where the person calling may not know where they are.
Since the rumor is that watch 2 will be released at the same time as the iPhone in September, which is when we'll see iOS 10, then it would make sense that the new watch OS features will support new hardware. I'd go so far as to say, the 911 feature might not even be available in the update for the 1st gen watch, for the legal reasons I mentioned above.