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Apple Watch Series 4 (2018)

Fireball Dragon

Fireball Dragon

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 26, 2012
880
256
Chigwell, England
Okay, I know that the Series 3 just came out. And we’re still enjoying our new watches :)

But I cannot but help wonder what changes Series 4 will bring.

Are there any rumours circulating? I couldn’t find any (although not entirely surprised).
 
Good question. I don't know what else they could do beyond iterative improvements at this point? Perhaps more health sensors if they could bring things like glucose monitoring to market, but even that only appeals to a certain market.
 
I’m thinking better battery life and an S4 chip.

Aesthetically, I believe it will retain the same form factor which includes compatibility with all previous Watch straps. But maybe make the display a little more edge to edge as there is a slight bezel? Not too sure if that would affect apps, though...
 
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Pappyland said:
It’s going to probably be round.
Click to expand...

Highly doubtful. Jony Ive himself has stated that a round design isn't something that Apple has really favored in the sense of the Apple Watch design and it doesn't make sense according to him. Apple will likely continue on with rectangular design, possibly contour it more to the wrist or offer a larger variant.
 
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I doubt that we will see a s4 Apple Watch in 2018. s3 really fixed all of the remaining issues with the watch. It now has cellular support and is very responsive. People may argue that battery life could be improved, but I have been a user since s0, and don’t have a problem with the current battery life. I can’t think of anything that would persuade me to upgrade.
 
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Have we had a new AW every year since release? It's very possible we won't see one until Q1 '19. The Apple Watch is in a very, very good position right - something which became abundantly clear when I switched from my S0 to S3 this month. Adding LTE (for some) and Apple Music, it's an absolute killer. Can't see what else needs doing.

Apple should spend the time looking into getting new bio-metric sensors into it, whilst keeping the form factor constant. Then update it when they've tracked that. Maybe they could introduce new 'smart bands' in 2018, like a band to check your blood pressure etc.
 
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2018 will be the 4th year for Apple Watch and it's due for a form factor change. There are plenty of things for Apple to add at the same time.
  • Camera - OmniVision already makes a 720p camera package smaller than 3 cubic mm
  • Pulse oximetry - measured using red and infrared LEDs
  • Other sensors - integrate sensors on different watch bands
 
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Fireball Dragon said:
Yes! I really didn’t think we would, thought it would be more a 2 year life cycle. But seems like a yearly one. Definitely agree about biometric sensors, that would be awesome!
Click to expand...

It's only been a yearly (12-month) cycle once - Series 2 to Series 3.

But if Apple has a story to tell and Watches to sell (for Christmas), why not?
 
broadbean said:
It's only been a yearly (12-month) cycle once - Series 2 to Series 3.

But if Apple has a story to tell and Watches to sell (for Christmas), why not?
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. You’re right. Series 2 came around 16 months after launch, right?

True story. I’m still thinking that Series 4 will come out for fall 2018.
 
There will be a Series 4 next year. You can be certain about this. They know the watch keeps people connected with iPhone.

S0 to S1/2 took some time because there was so much to do on the watch side. S2 to S3 was easier for them because they then knew the rules of the game.
The smart bands are coming and I think it will not be backwards compatible with the older watches whenever they are released - may it be next year or later.
Bluetooth 5 for the watch is also waiting. iPhone 8 and X already use Bluetooth 5. Im almost certain that it will be implemented with the next iteration to get rid of the data I/O bottleneck with iPhone.
 
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broadbean said:
Apart from new features and sensors, I'd like to see LTE available to roam in different countries in terms of carrier support and LTE bands. Also I wouldn't mind a slimmer watch case.
Click to expand...
That's a carrier limitation, not an Apple one. The GSMA hasn't ratified the standard for VoLTE roaming. Yes, many carriers have setup roaming agreements between themselves for VoLTE, but they may have to change those mechanisms once the standard is ratified.
 
WilliamG said:
That makes little sense for something strapped to a warm wrist, often under a sleeve etc..
Click to expand...

Surely the wearer would need to expose his wrist and the watch to see the required information on the display.

Apple would calibrate the sensor(s) to account for wrist temperature and any other variables to ensure an accurate reading of ambient temperature.
 
fischersd said:
That's a carrier limitation, not an Apple one. The GSMA hasn't ratified the standard for VoLTE roaming. Yes, many carriers have setup roaming agreements between themselves for VoLTE, but they may have to change those mechanisms once the standard is ratified.
Click to expand...

Currently there are three different S3 Watches supporting different LTE bands, so just one SKU supporting all bands would be a good start, but not even iPhones get that yet.
 
broadbean said:
Currently there are three different S3 Watches supporting different LTE bands, so just one SKU supporting all bands would be a good start, but not even iPhones get that yet.
Click to expand...
Well, there would be just one iPhone model (except for colour and storage capacity) if they didn't need to make the CDMA iPhones. In a couple of years, there will just be one series for all carriers.
By then, yeah, the modem in the watch may be able to support that many frequencies....hard to say how much of a hit it would have on battery life scanning on all of them though. (and that's the huge problem with such a small form factor).
 
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I would like to see a camera and display always on functions on the new series 4.

Also give us the real sapphire screen same as used in series 0. Heard that the sapphire screen is not as good in SS series 3 so I will skip this time.
 
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Hallstar said:
Surely the wearer would need to expose his wrist and the watch to see the required information on the display.

Apple would calibrate the sensor(s) to account for wrist temperature and any other variables to ensure an accurate reading of ambient temperature.
Click to expand...

Very tricky to do that since we don’t all wear our Watches flush against our wrists, or with the same amount of skin contact etc.

It’s unlikely to happen. Exposing your wrist would still require a good deal of time for the sensor to normalize to ambient temperature to get an accurate reading. It’s simply not practical on any device worn on our skin or put in a pocket.
 
I think for series 4 we might see one or more of the following:
2-3 day battery life
Thinner profile
Always-on display option
FaceTime camera (probably something relatively low-res)
Faster - supporting better graphics, animation and Siri functionality
Improved iPhone-independent app functionality (LTE-Kit API or something)
 
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