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Apple Watch 2 Wishlist

T

thekeyring

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 5, 2012
3,508
2,188
London
Whether the first generation didn't quite do it for you; You never buy first gen Apple products on principle; Or you bought the first generation Watch and there are things you dislike... Whatever your reason: What does everyone want to see in the second generation Apple Watch?

I'll get the ball rolling:
>More capable away from iPhone
>Faster: Everyone complains about app loading times. Not sure if this is because the apps aren't native of just the processor is slow to save battery life.
>The same battery life, or better. I don't mind charging the watch every night. 18 hours of mixed use would get me from my 5.30am start to half past 11 at night.
 
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thekeyring said:
Whether the first generation didn't quite do it for you; You never buy first gen Apple products on principle; Or you bought the first generation Watch and there are things you dislike... Whatever your reason: What does everyone want to see in the second generation Apple Watch?

I'll get the ball rolling:
>More capable away from iPhone
>Faster: Everyone complains about app loading times. Not sure if this is because the apps aren't native of just the processor is slow to save battery life.
>The same battery life, or better. I don't mind charging the watch every night. 18 hours of mixed use would get me from my 5.30am start to half past 11 at night.
Click to expand...
1.The current size is fine but I would somehow like a second large complication on a modular face. Maybe the screen has to be a little taller but I can handle that.
2.Faster overall, mostly starting and saving the workouts.
3.GPS integrated but used only with activities, I don't need it on all the time. Maybe with mapping but really just to get a better distance reading without my phone being with me.
 
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1. Faster. The entire OS is slow, IMO.

2. More sensors - body temperature I think would be an easy one. Anything to make this better for health tracking.

3. Slimmer - one of the few Apple devices I think could benefit from a slimmer profile.

4. More iPhone independence. Primarily for workouts. If I take my watch on a run, I shouldn't need my iPhone.

5. Louder speaker for phone calls.

6. FaceTime camera.


Watch OS features could be another list. Generation 1 has been a good start, but these refinements would make it a much more compelling purchase.
 
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Mine are LTE connectivity, GPS, longer battery life, and ability to use multiple watches. It'd be nice to have a steel one for daily use and a sport one for active use.

Also more storage for music, or at least have Apple Music streaming via LTE/wifi, it'd be nice to be able to ditch the phone behind at times.

And add in a voice recorder too.
 
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From what i have read about the SOC that is in watch 1 they can easily gain maybe 20% just by updating to a newer fabrication size. This will all come at no battery life cost. I think that is a given that it will be moderately say 20% faster.

I think i would like to see some sort of Boost power phase during app boots and then throttle back really quickly. This will speed up your overall look of the watch but still keep the battery life.

I would so like to see a faster HR sensor taking almost a minute to get a first accurate reading is a good chunk of time.

The rest LTE and GPS just won't make it for some time. there is just not enough power to go around. LTE would suck so much power your watch would not last even 1/4 of a day. GPS would be nice but then you will get an app that uses it constantly and kill the watch leaving people unhappy and that is very un-apple. So as much as i agree with everyone wanting it just don't get your hopes up. I expect this to go the way of the iPad 2 in the sense it will get a boost in speed from new fabrication and tweeks in how the power is applied more tailored to the watch vs straight IOS like it is now
 
Trade-in program, specially for SS or gold, for model released within last 3-4 years.
I would think they could make a lot of $$ if they marketing it as 30-50% off for equavelent watch body only trade in, SS for SS, gold for gold, and watch body only model specific for trade-in customer, same as they used for replacement. Of course have to be qualified functional watch without severe cosmetic damage, and model released within past 3-4 years.
They will get a lot of people welling to trade in AW at 3-4 years, since that will be about right time need new battery if wear daily, and instead of getting battery replace, just get a new model watch body but only have to pay something like 50-70%.
 
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My number one priority would be for the Apple Watch to be thinner (and lighter as a side-effect). It looks a bit chunky, in my opinion. Also, I'm hoping for the S2 SiP to use the 16nm fabrication process from TSMC, since the current 28nm process was used in the A7 and we're now at the A9.

I wouldn't mind for the watch to use an ARMv8 architecture and be 64-bit compatible. This would make the watch much more powerful (and faster as a result), so it might be possible with the newer and more efficient fabrication process.
 
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airdrop. i asked for it before! so you can have people airdrop stuff to and from your apple watch and then
that stuff gets put on your iPhone / iCloud when it connects next time

heres a new one i thought of! allow 1 iPhone to pair to 2 watches!!! so you will always have something to wear, while one is charging!!!!!

wifi sense!!?? windows has this new feature that shares your wifi with your friends!!! if we cant have cellular
then apple could share your iPhone and its data plan to any watch nearby!! oh I'm sure everyone would like that
 
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Hardware:
  • Faster. A way better processor.
  • FaceTime. I could see this becoming a killer feature more on the watch than the phone if executed right.
  • Slimmer would be nice, but not a necessity.
  • More sensors. See health bullet below.
WatchOS
  • Independence. Absolutely no reason in 2015 should the watch have to depend on iPhone for basic features. The only exception would be FaceTime/Phone/Texting if you choose to pair your phone. This could also work on Apple's end because nobody wants a device that doesn't have all its features unlocked. If they make this device so lusted after, iPhone sales increase too. No harm no foul.
  • Revamp of the OS. It looks and feels too much like an iPhone (which turns some people off. Hence, why we get so many reactions like "Why do I need that when I have an iPhone?") The Mac has a distinctive look, so does the phone. Our watches are carbon copies of the phone - it needs to be more distinctive.
  • Customizable Watch Faces / Waay more faces.
  • Influx of healthcare apps. This can be a crucial/required device for fitness/health/medicine. They should hire a team dedicated to development of groundbreaking apps - what they should have done in the beginning.
  • Time Management. Apple could develop an app that replaces the trillions of Fantastical/To-Do/Clear/Omni apps out there. Infused with Siri at its core, some sort of continuous stream of "tasks/what to do, see, exc. would be really cool and utilize what it means to be a "Watch". Exclusivity to the watch with no iPhone requirement would sell this thing super fast.
Honestly, Apple has done a fantastic job with v1. It's the first Apple product I pre-ordered and I don't regret it in the slightest. They just need to realize that this is not the type of device that they can just "limit the SDK" and see what developers can do with such limited options. Developers, right now, have 0 interest in something this new/this limited in capability with such a joke of an SDK. I'm praying this is just Apple "testing the waters" in a way so that they can now BEGIN on making this the device that you will actually NEED instead of WANT.
 
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thekeyring said:
Whether the first generation didn't quite do it for you; You never buy first gen Apple products on principle; Or you bought the first generation Watch and there are things you dislike... Whatever your reason: What does everyone want to see in the second generation Apple Watch?

I'll get the ball rolling:
>More capable away from iPhone
>Faster: Everyone complains about app loading times. Not sure if this is because the apps aren't native of just the processor is slow to save battery life.
>The same battery life, or better. I don't mind charging the watch every night. 18 hours of mixed use would get me from my 5.30am start to half past 11 at night.
Click to expand...
ACTUAL LETTERS FOR TEXTING. I hate talking to my watch only. Honestly the Galaxy Gear would be a great idea to try and imitate. Videos, texting, calling, etc. slimmer and sleeker. And cheaper.
 
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In order of preference

1) GPS
2) Faster/more efficient Processor
3) Larger in size (same thickness, but larger screen and surface area)
4) Improved existing sensors (specifically HR, but go to town with the sensors)
5) Increased storage (I want to store podcasts/audiobooks locally for runs)
6) Additional health sensors
7) Cellular/4G (or 3G)
8) No Camera (this might be odd that a request is to leave something off, but I think a camera would be awkward, low quality, and the amount of space required for a camera would take aways from battery life/other capability)

My expectation for Gen2 is 1, 2, 4, and 8. Honestly, if GPS were the only thing changed (assuming Apple was able to keep reasonable daily battery life), there's an 80% chance I'd upgrade.
 
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To be honest, I can only think of 3 main upgrades that would make v2.0 an essential buy from those on the fence.
  1. Built in GPS
  2. Faster processor
  3. Fully waterproof to 10m+
I don't have a problem with the battery life and personally feel that a device should either be daily or should be in excess of weekly, as consumers need to rely on a pattern for charging and the last thing they need is v2.0 being able to last 2-3 days and then just leaving it a few days before charging it and then getting caught short (as they say).

Assuming we are talking about a 18-24month cycle per version of Apple Watch, then I don't see me upgrading until v3.0, unless they introduce an upgrade cycle for current owners where they can trade-in for 50% of the value or something like that.

Also on a final point, I have noticed that it's been mentioned, people would like to see the Apple Watch with more storage. I don't understand this, seeing as the Apple Watch comes with 8Gb of storage which is double everything else on the market. If this isn't a sign of forward thinking and longevity from Apple, I don't know.
 
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davygee said:
To be honest, I can only think of 3 main upgrades that would make v2.0 an essential buy from those on the fence.
  1. Built in GPS
  2. Faster processor
  3. Fully waterproof to 10m+
Also on a final point, I have noticed that it's been mentioned, people would like to see the Apple Watch with more storage. I don't understand this, seeing as the Apple Watch comes with 8Gb of storage which is double everything else on the market. If this isn't a sign of forward thinking and longevity from Apple, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Good point on the waterproofing, I forgot about that (however I swim with mine anyway ;))

Regarding storage, I would like to compare to my needs rather than the competition. So far storage has been fine (I don't even know how to check it), but as more and more apps become native it could become a problem. For me, I do a lot of podcasts/audiobooks and there are times when they alone take up 8GB of space on my iPhone. There may be an "app thinning" type solution that can solve the need for more storage, but ideally I would like to be able to go run phoneless but still have access to whatever I was listening to as well as everything else that is downloaded on my iPhone. Cellular/data capability would be another solution for this.
 
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My wishlist, in no particular order would be:

Better health sensors. After coming from a Fitbit with heartrate sensors in a package 1/4 the size, why does the Apple watch need something the size of a dinner plate to do the same thing?

Better App range, and faster apps. Even native ones seem slower than they should be.

I also want better controls over apps on my iPhone, specifically the Podcast app. Yes there are other options, but I watch/listen to podcasts on my MacBook Air, iPad and iPhone, (as well as my PC) and iTunes keeps where I am up to synced on the devices, so 3rd party apps really don't work for me.

Price. It might be a great item, but in reality it's way overpriced for the functionality. Drop $100 or more off each level and it might be closer to the right price.

Battery life. While I could probably get close to 2 days of use, I think the next generation needs to look at 2-3 days of normal use with 25% left at the end of that time. I want to be able to use it for sleep tracking as much as fitness tracking, and this is the one big functionality I miss coming from the Fitbit Charge HR.

Finally add waterproofing for swimming/showering. I don't want to wear it diving, but doing pool laps, or time in the pool exercising would be an ideal use for the phone and Siri reminders with feedback via the taptic engine.
 
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More sensors. Focus much more on health/fitness stuff.
Integrated sleep tracking feature. (hence more battery life, has to get through 24h easily)
More sensors?

The reason I didn't buy the Apple Watch was because it was focused too much on notifications. I believe the stuff that has the most potential are health tracking features and sensors. They have the potential to change the world. I hope whenever Apple comes up with Apple Watch 2 they improve sensors "a lot"
 
Temperature sensor, more remotes for iPhone apps, better stability (in software mainly), more funny and geeky faces (binary face clock as an example).

Currently the Watch is OK, excepts that it requires restarts too often (random battery drains, dictation not always working etc.).
 
1. Fully waterproof.
2. Faster updates for major OS (currently took 1 hour) or incremental OS updates (currently took 1/2 hour). I certainly don't understand the limitations of the Phone-to-Watch connection and so this may well fall under the general "faster" wish.

For me, everything else is plenty fast/responsive enough, but then apparently I'm slow. :)
 
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