spazzcat
macrumors 601
Very little ... How many people are even still running on UW1.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 Expected Later This Year
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
BigMcGuire
macrumors G4
I’ve got family using unsupported watches and they don’t care. I had a relative using my old Series 3 up till last year - it did 95% of the same things my watch did and they were happy as a bug in a rug. I’ve got several friends on older watches and they are happy as ever, planning on using them till the watch dies.
People go Apple Watch not for the OS support or the new features but instead for the integration with Apple Watch, ability to make / take calls, unlock their Macs, and text people. (Some of us unlock our cars/doors with these things too).
verniesgarden
macrumors 65816
Im on a UW1, I was planning to update every 5 years... not sure I will now.
Nugget
macrumors 68020
I think it depends on what your focus is. Garmin have a superior platform for general fitness/health tracking. Garmin is significantly better for fitness activity tracking. Garmin has custom watch faces if that excites you. Garmin battery life will spoil you. Garmin's software quality control and testing is notoriously poor. The platform has its own weird quirks and inefficiencies. Garmin's support longevity for older devices is even worse than Apple.
For "smart watch" features like payments, app ecosystem, performance, connectivity, display quality, etc... Apple devices are much nicer. The tight integration of the Apple silo is compelling.
I have both. I wear my Apple Watch all day long and I put on my Garmin during workouts. Someone with different preferences might choose the opposite. Definitely worth investigating if you're curious.
Same. That's what I'm thinking. Many of the intelligence features could be stripped from watchOS such that devices like the original Ultra could still be included.
I'm also not planning to upgrade. At this point, my watch requires daily charging since I often do an hour exercise with GPS tracking (outdoor running) and at the same time listening to podcast using my Watch, but there's enough juice left that it's not unreasonable to think this can be sustained for several more years without getting a new battery.
Not upgrading. AWU1 is too expensive of a device to see an upgrade so soon.
spazzcat
macrumors 601
This always comes down to two things, do you only care about fitness focus and battery life vs a smartwatch with fitness features.
spazzcat
macrumors 601
So you are going to miss out on Apple AI for one year and nothing else in terms of features and that enough for you to do what? Move to Garmin which only supports watches for about two years?
Nugget
macrumors 68020
It's weird because I feel like for the past decade I've been waiting for either Apple to close the gap on the fitness side or for Garmin to close the gap on the smartwatch side, but the chasm seems just as wide and deep between the two as it did 10 years ago.
I think it's highly debatable that Garmin's health and fitness tracking is superior. It isn't. It collects pretty much the same data that the Apple Watch does. What it does have it is have native platforms and apps to analyze the data whereas Apple depends, in part, on third-party for this. This isn't a problem at all. You can easily upload your Apple Watch data to platforms like Strava, or Training Peaks, or Intervals.icu, etc. for analysis.
Natively, what Apple offers for data analysis is good for many. In my case, I use a combination of Apple's native analysis, HealthFit, Training Today, and Kiprun Pacer. My data is also synced with Strava, Training Peaks, and Intervals.icu, although I actually rarely go to any of those three platforms any more. I use it mostly like backup.
With a third-party app, it's even possible to upload Apple Watch data to the Garmin platform (e.g., using RunGap). I used to do this, but I don't any more.
I'm a former Garmin user, solely of their Forerunner line.
BigMcGuire
macrumors G4
In my life (which is the only thing I can reference since I’m me) - the marathon runners and those super passionate about exercise seem to go Garmin. Vast majority are Apple. And then there’s some Casio / traditional watch wearers that are a minority.
What I always tell people is - you gotta experience it for yourself - you don’t know what you’re missing unless you try it. Some people really love Garmin, some Apple, others a Casio G-Shock. 😀
I'm on the UW1 too. I wasn't planning to update every 5 years, but I was NOT expecting Apple to drop supporting the UW1 on the latest watchOS in such a quick fashion. I understand UW1 will still get security updates and that, but it won't be getting support from the upcoming watchOS and that's disappointing.
BigMcGuire
macrumors G4
I would be disappointed too. Not sure if you’re aware, but you can get like $200 from Apple on a trade in. You can also get the Ultra 3 $100 off from BestBuy when they have their sales (or AW11).
But just keep in mind, this watch is going to run just like the day you bought it for a good decade (if Apple Watch Series 2 is any indication) - talking software wise (obviously battery is going to degrade).
Nugget
macrumors 68020
Apple's platform has nothing equivalent to the Firstbeat Analytics baked into the Garmin platform. Strava, Training Peaks, et al aren't really competitors in this regard since they're analyzing the activity data only and not incorporating the generalized health tracking from either platform. It's not a direct comparison at all. Garmin's "body battery" and health/fitness trend tracking isn't possible for sites that only ever see the .fit or .gpx file activity data. I've been waiting for some third-party app to close that gap, but nothing has. I think iOS Athlytic is the closest competitor on the Apple side, but it's more shallow and less reliable than Garmin's solution which is mature and well-tested.
Garmin's health and fitness tracking has broader support and native data comprehension of activities like scuba, horseback riding (with hardware for the horses, believe it or not), golf, and other niche interest activities that simply aren't present on the Apple side.
For endurance sports, Apple can't bring the battery life necessary to track an entire event. Garmin has hardware that can sustain a >24 hour long activity without any drama or complication.
"Back in the day", Polar was the watch device that runners used. This was before wearable GPS tracking was possible. Polar watches only monitored heart rate at that time (back in the late 90s and earlier). Then, when Garmin came in with wearable GPS, I saw a trend go that way and so did I. I started with a Polar watch, then later with with the Garmin Forerunner 205, 305, and 630.
I moved away from Garmin when the Apple Series 4 came out, but it did have one significant drawback: there's no way to indicate/mark an interval other than tapping on the screen display and when you are sweaty or bobbing around during track workout, tapping on the screen is NOT EFFECTIVE. When the UW1 came out, I immediately upgraded, and since then feel like there's nothing about the Garmin Forerunner line that I need and the UW1 does more and better for what I need both for running, strength training, and day-to-day wear. The Action button is absolutely necessary (in my case) for running intervals.
terrapinjess
macrumors regular
I 100% agree; well said! There are very good use cases for both devices/device classes and there’s no right or wrong one. I know for sure I’m clearly in the one fitness focus with battery life category.
I don't think that's comparing superiority, rather than indicating what line is better for what kind of sport.
Not many people are the kind of endurance athlete that does a 24-hour event. And not many people ride horses either (and yes, Polar long had heart rate monitors for horses, too). But for those who train for that kind of endurance event or type of sport, they can find what is workable for them.
I would say that for many sports, Apple's platform is just as comparable. The whole thing about the plethora of analytics (note: same data collected, it's how to make sense of that data which is what we call analytics) is suspect. Not really all that useful for training. I feel it gets so much into the weeds of data and so far removed from just the exercise. It's data analytics capitalism.
Apple has made me cautious and this is one of those products.
From now on I'm going to be very careful to only buy watches when they get an actual new SoC that looks like it'll actually be supported for a while.
With the watch, the more relevant question has become not about feature updates, but:
How often do they completely change the interface for no reason and then abandon it?
Osxguy
macrumors 6502
its not that its not going to work but we have all had Apple Watches that fall out of sync because of a software update not being performed. its how I know there is an Apple Watch update that for some reason (I call it crap design from a company that used to take pride in its work..) didn't install that night/weekend or even a few days out. I am not going to baby sit a device any more. If you as a company cannot create a stable, easy to use, environment then the flip phone and a Casio calculator watch are in my future.
For those bootlickers out there, FYI what is currently out ... iOS 26.... is crap its beta and should have never left Cupertino... I'm tired of spending $1,200 on a device thats only a year old and it feeling like it's six years old. It over heats, lags constantly, and ive reinstalled the OS more times than an end consumer should..
Anyone know if there's a published table somewhere that shows what version of the SoC each Series or Ultra version is using?
I guess another question I have is would the UW4 be using a new SoC design or would it be using an existing one? I guess we won't know for sure until it comes out.... ?
(When the UW1 came out, I probably did not know that it uses the same SoC design as the Series 6 which was already 2 years old at that time! I don't think it would have meant much for me at that time either, but NOW I understand that it can matter!!!)
BigMcGuire
macrumors G4
If that works for you then I envy you! You’ll definitely save a bundle.
I bought my first Casio G-Shock a few months ago. A Japanese made GW-5000U 🙂 I wish I could use this watch - I’m told it can last 20+ years on the rechargeable battery. I use it a few days every month and wish I could go back to a simpler time.
I rely too heavily on my iPhone and Watch. (Opening doors, operating my car, haptic alarm as I sleep, ability for my loved ones to contact me despite me being in deep sleep, ability to call 911 while I’m out and about, and I could go on and on and on).
verniesgarden
macrumors 65816
BigMcGuire
macrumors G4
You can get a really nice Thailand made Casio G-Shock for under $100 that’ll last a lifetime. Mine are within +-5 seconds a month too.
CWallace
macrumors G5
I have zero interest in the Siri / Apple AI functions of watchOS 27 so not super upset that my Series 8 Stainless Steel cannot update to it. I am on a general four-year cycle so I am vaguely in the market to update to either a Series 12 Titanium or an Ultra 4, but I want to see what they bring to the table as I may just wait another year with my Series 8.
verniesgarden
macrumors 65816
Ive I go traditional watch, I'll likely go something more minimalist and Clean lines. any suggestions?