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Illusionsoftime

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 3, 2017
38
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With the Apple watch series 3 set to be revealed later on in the year, what do you think the main new features will be? Just an upgrade on battery life ect or perhaps something completely new like built in cellular data?

Thoughts?
 
I'm skeptical if we will see another release this Fall.

My thoughts are it retain the same physical form factor. I think it will keep the S2 processor with the option of LTE and improved battery. Perhaps a faster or more advanced charger to improve the speed of charging.

It will retain OLED and perhaps some minor health advancements.

First Generation will be discontinued in sales and the line up will offer Series 1 through Series 3.

The major leap will be when Apple introduces an all new thinner design, Larger design with 44 or 46 MM, round variant, perhaps Micro LED, two day battery, new casing options in titanium for example and a new user interface.
 
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I'm skeptical if we will see another release this Fall.

My thoughts are it retain the same physical form factor. I think it will keep the S2 processor with the option of LTE and improved battery. Perhaps a faster or more advanced charger to improve the speed of charging.

It will retain OLED and perhaps some minor health advancements.

First Generation will be discontinued in sales and the line up will offer Series 1 through Series 3.

The major leap will be when Apple introduces an all new thinner design, Larger design with 44 or 46 MM, round variant, perhaps Micro LED, two day battery, new casing options in titanium for example and a new user interface.

Agree... I'd love to see a titanium version and a little bit larger display size.. Overall I am very happy with the S2 speed and function. I don't use it for sleep tracking and I have the magnetic charging dock so I just plop it on there at the end of the day and charge it overnight.

I've been getting very good battery life from mine and it easily lasts all day, even with a few hours of GPS on time.. When I cycle I have the watch on but use my Garmin Edge computer to track that.. I generally only use GPS for runs and open water swims..

I'd also like to see the ability to add ANT sensors and to send the HR data to another device (like my Edge cycling computer).. I don't use a HR strap and when I cycle, I am HR'less since I don't use the watch to record the ride. With my fenix 3 HR I can put it into HR mode and pair the watches HR sensor to my Edge computer.. For running, the ability to pair a foot pod would be nice too...
 
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Agree... I'd love to see a titanium version and a little bit larger display size.. Overall I am very happy with the S2 speed and function. I don't use it for sleep tracking and I have the magnetic charging dock so I just plop it on there at the end of the day and charge it overnight.

I've been getting very good battery life from mine and it easily lasts all day, even with a few hours of GPS on time.. When I cycle I have the watch on but use my Garmin Edge computer to track that.. I generally only use GPS for runs and open water swims..

I'd also like to see the ability to add ANT sensors and to send the HR data to another device (like my Edge cycling computer).. I don't use a HR strap and when I cycle I am HR'less since I don't use the watch to record the ride. With my fenix 3 HR I can put into HR mode and pair the HR sensor to my computer.. For running, the ability to pair a foot pod would be nice too...

For cycling and running, I could definitely see this could benefit you. I also think that Apple will likely improve on the heart rate sensor, being more accurate for elevated heart rates as others have stated it's off-base when it reaches a certain rate. I'm primarily a daily weightlifter, which the Apple Watch works for that. The Apple Watch seems to be more suited for cardio-based services.
 
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For cycling and running, I could definitely see this could benefit you. I also think that Apple will likely improve on the heart rate sensor, being more accurate for elevated heart rates as others have stated it's off-base when it reaches a certain rate. I'm primarily a daily weightlifter, which the Apple Watch works for that. The Apple Watch seems to be more suited for cardio-based services.

The ability to add ANT sensors (speed, cadence, foot pod ect) would be huge! Sending the HR data to another device might not ever happen but I don't see why they could not add in ANT+..
 
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I'm skeptical if we will see another release this Fall.

My thoughts are it retain the same physical form factor. I think it will keep the S2 processor with the option of LTE and improved battery. Perhaps a faster or more advanced charger to improve the speed of charging.

It will retain OLED and perhaps some minor health advancements.

First Generation will be discontinued in sales and the line up will offer Series 1 through Series 3.

The major leap will be when Apple introduces an all new thinner design, Larger design with 44 or 46 MM, round variant, perhaps Micro LED, two day battery, new casing options in titanium for example and a new user interface.

So no chance of build in cellular data into the watch? I was about to purchase the S2, but after hearing about S3 supposedly being revealed in September I figured it would be smarter to wait. Although, I don't care more minor tweaks like slightly faster charging ect, but build in cellular would definitely be something I'd be interested in.
 
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So no chance of build in cellular data into the watch? I was about to purchase the S2, but after hearing about S3 supposedly being revealed in September I figured it would be smarter to wait. Although, I don't care more minor tweaks like slightly faster charging ect, but build in cellular would definitely be something I'd be interested in.

That's a hell of a wait. The S2 just came out, the S3 if it comes out this year is more than 9 months from availability.
 
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The one thing some people need in it is cellular.

It was a deal breaker for my colleague who was an early adopter.

He was wanting to use it for fitness and the functions he wanted required the phone to be with him. The whole point of the watch for him was to not have to carry his phone whilst jogging.

A variant with cellular in it, even if the battery life tanked a bit with the cellular turned on whilst out of phone range would probably get him back on board.

He went back to his fitbit (i think) because the additional Apple Watch features needed the phone...
 
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So no chance of build in cellular data into the watch? I was about to purchase the S2, but after hearing about S3 supposedly being revealed in September I figured it would be smarter to wait. Although, I don't care more minor tweaks like slightly faster charging ect, but build in cellular would definitely be something I'd be interested in.
Very wise decision. Cellular capability is the significant feature differentiating the incoming watch from previous versions.
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The one thing some people need in it is cellular.
Agree with the point noted above.
 
I mean i don't mind not having cellular, because i'm not really super desperate for all of the exercise features that need it. My exercise is mostly weights and exercise bike and my phone can sit in the room with me.

But my colleague runs (i hate running).

What they should do is put a cellular modem in it, but only activate it when it loses contact with the phone (toggle to enable this feature if you want it to do this).

That way, for the 99% of the time you have your phone with you, it isn't killing your battery. But during your morning jog or whatever, it can deal with no iPhone being available... Most people probably don't jog more than an hour or so away from their phone, so even if battery was drained say 2-3x faster when running cellular by itself, it wouldn't have a MASSIVE impact on your total battery life during a given day.
 
So no chance of build in cellular data into the watch? I was about to purchase the S2, but after hearing about S3 supposedly being revealed in September I figured it would be smarter to wait. Although, I don't care more minor tweaks like slightly faster charging ect, but build in cellular would definitely be something I'd be interested in.

I mentioned LTE (Cellular) being included in the first thread you quoted me on. They're are both the same thing.
 
[pre-PS edit] I've got no complaints about the current models' size, style, screen, or -- especially -- the strap connection (which I think is the biggest advantage the AW enjoys). I'm fine with the OS, and although different materials would be fun (other ceramic colors, titanium), I don't think they're necessary.
[/edit]

The biggest change I could see worth making would be adding cellular (in other words, "I concur"). It really depends on how it's implemented, though, especially how it would affect battery life.

However, users would need to understand the caveats of trying to do so many more functions on an inherently limited interface. There isn't going to be a Safari-like browser, and there shouldn't ever be a QWERTY keyboard (or even DVORAK). Scribble is a step in the right direction, but it's still not perfect.

I would be forgiving of limited functions if I could take it without my phone for a run or bike ride and know my wife could still reach me. But that's a pretty limited case, even for me, and I don't know if it'll be worth the effort.

What I can't predict is how the broader user base (or more importantly, potential users who haven't bought an AW yet) would tolerate a partially-functional cellular connection.
 
Preferably I want features that I never thought of. But with my pleb product sense tingling, what I'm hoping for the most is the W1 chip (or W2?): Fast unpairing and re-pairing, strong connectivity at further ranges, energy efficient. I'd want greater health tracking technology but understand the barriers. At the least I'd love to see a better Workout app, one with a focus on weight training. A better Taptic Engine would be nice. A barometer would be lovely. And iBooks support.
 
Here's another hand in the air for cellular.

I would like Apple to have an agreement with cellular providers that when the worn and unlocked watch is out of range of the iPhone that your cellular account moves with the watch. That way I'm not paying for two cellular plans when I really can only use one at a time. I seem to recall Apple has been pushing for non-SIM card devices and the Watch would be a logical choice of device to implement this on.

Other than that I would like to see waterproof across the model lines, faster processors, and of course more watch straps (j/k)
 
Here's another hand in the air for cellular.

I would like Apple to have an agreement with cellular providers that when the worn and unlocked watch is out of range of the iPhone that your cellular account moves with the watch. That way I'm not paying for two cellular plans when I really can only use one at a time. I seem to recall Apple has been pushing for non-SIM card devices and the Watch would be a logical choice of device to implement this on.

Other than that I would like to see waterproof across the model lines, faster processors, and of course more watch straps (j/k)

If they implement cellular, I would think they need to make the battery significantly larger or have a lot more Of an efficient processor and or both to incorporate that feature.
 
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Better battery life
Faster processor
An additional health sensor (I'd love to see a UV sensor. As I go swimming at the beach a lot with my Series 2, I'd love a UV sensor to let me know if I've been in the Sun too long)
Reduced bezels for bigger screens in the 38mm and 42mm cases
 
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