Apple Watch Bands a Standard for Future Generations?

[949011]

So I was talking about this with someone on Twitter, and he made an interesting point. He believes that the Apple Watch bands for the current generation Apple Watch will work with future Apple Watch generations. (i.e. you can buy a link bracelet now and use that with generations 1,2 and 3 - akin to the 30-pin and lightning standards on iPhones/iPads).

What do you guys think? Will Apple allow bands from this generation to be used in future generations? Or will Apple change up the band connectivity in the second generation Apple Watch to sell more bands?

 

[RodChester]

I think they will be useable for a few generations. Just like the old 30 pin connector Apple will keep using that form factor as long as it doesn't hinder any future arch advancements.

 

[dacreativeguy]

They'll remain standard until Apple decides that they have maximized their profit from their investment. Then they'll change the design to something else.

 

[thekev]

Apple so far has never been about maintaining maximum backwards compatibility. They have orphaned some very expensive things. Now I don't expect these things to be incompatible by generation 2. I think they'll try to maintain compatibility for a few years. Their typical vintage cycle is 5 years. I wouldn't count on anything longer than that.

 

[Lloydbm41]

Apple so far has never been about maintaining maximum backwards compatibility. They have orphaned some very expensive things. Now I don't expect these things to be incompatible by generation 2. I think they'll try to maintain compatibility for a few years. Their typical vintage cycle is 5 years. I wouldn't count on anything longer than that.

Yep. CD drive, FireWire, 30 pin and now it looks like Thunderbolt (and possibly Lightning connectors).

 

[pjh]

I think it's fair so say any band you buy for a gen 1 device will almost certainly work with gen 2. Expecting anything beyond that is risky.

I'm not so worried about this issue though. I think within a few months of release the market will be flooded with high quality adapters to allow the use of other bands.

I guess Apple could try and block this, but I think they'd me mad to do so. The accessory and product market have fed off each other for a long time. This relationship has contributed to each parties success. Why mess with it now?

My advice would be to choose the watch you want put initially go for the least expensive band. This'll give you a chance to see how you get on with the device and how the third party accessory market matures.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I think no one knows. Depends on how much the Next generation watch changes.