Apple's iWatch Said to Feature Round Design, Production May Start This Summer

Stella said:
A round surface is less efficient for content. But, may entice the fashion victims… ;-) who think all other smart watches look ugly.
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A round surface is actually more efficient. You make the mistake of thinking in terms of width and height. You need to think in terms of what is the largest surface that fits on my wrist comfortably. A watch with a round face has no corners. Since the corners get into the way first, a round watch can have a bigger surface without looking ridiculously large.

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Technodynamic said:
Apple has a trademark on rectangles with rounded corners, right? I'd expect that.
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Rare to see "Apple" and "rounded corners" together in a sentence that is so wrong.
 
Reason077 said:
We need to get over the idea that a watch is an appropriate device for "content".
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Yep.
Just let me remove my calculator watch with the 20 buttons I can only depress with a pushpin and I'll have room on my wrist for a new gadget.


It'll be interesting to see what Apple thinks they can make happen in so little real estate.
 
RabbitLuvr said:
That mockup is hideous. I guess it's ok for a man's watch, but I would never wear that, and don't know any other women who would either. Which would be a shame, as I'm interested in replacing my FitBit Flex with iWatch when it comes out. Unless it looks like this. No.
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Ignoring the fact that there is no indication from Apple that they are planning to create a product named "iWatch" at all, why would you think it would be only _one_ product? Even if it was, everything you see is display and can be changed to look like anything they want.
 
I still say that Apple, Google and Samsung are making a big mistake when they limit their watches to only working with their own systems.

Discussion point: would people switch phones just to get to use that phone's special wrist accessory?

Or is it more about keeping people locked into their current choice?
 
laurim said:
I'm a woman and I think it looks nice. Maybe because I'm older and not very girly. This is the watch I have now:
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The watch you link to is a lot more feminine in styling that the mockup image. I'm also "older" and not very girly. I wear a FitBit Flex every day, which isn't exactly feminine, but it's more unisex than the mockup in this article.


And yes, I know it's just a mockup, and not representative of the actual product. Just throwing in my two cents.
 
Mousse said:
What?! What purpose would the crown and two buttons serve? I guess the crown can become a "home" button and scrolling. If history is any indication, I don't see Apple using more than one button. I'd be interested if sleep mode, allows me to mimic a mechanical watch face with a sweeping second hand.
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I really don't care about the buttons but they would serve as stop watch functions. The iWatch will probably have audio control functions that will control the iPhone/iPod's volume.
 
gnasher729 said:
A round surface is actually more efficient. You make the mistake of thinking in terms of width and height. You need to think in terms of what is the largest surface that fits on my wrist comfortably. A watch with a round face has no corners. Since the corners get into the way first, a round watch can have a bigger surface without looking ridiculously large.
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If you've ever tried to design textual content on a round surface like a button, you wouldn't type this. Text is naturally linear and that doesn't work well on a round surface and too hard to read if you try to maximize the usable area of the round surface by curving the text around it. That's why the mock up shows a continuously scrolling, single line message in the middle, which has its own set of readability issues. A round watch is the worst shape (other than a triangle) for displaying messages but good for simple numerical data like BPM or the time.
 
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RabbitLuvr said:
The watch you link to is a lot more feminine in styling that the mockup image. I'm also "older" and not very girly. I wear a FitBit Flex every day, which isn't exactly feminine, but it's more unisex than the mockup in this article.


And yes, I know it's just a mockup, and not representative of the actual product. Just throwing in my two cents.
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I'm willing to bet any digitally-based watch will have the ability to change the look of the face to suit the wearer so as long as they keep the physical part of the watch neutral, it should have the ability to suit the owner's style, within reason.

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sputnikv said:
why?

it's a watch, it's strapped to your wrist. why?
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People steal watches, too.
 
Stella said:
A round surface is less efficient for content. But, may entice the fashion victims… ;-) who think all other smart watches look ugly.
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right... because Apple can make oodles of money marketing to geeks who want a laptop strapped to their wrist.
 
Disappointing. Apple needs to reinvite / revolutionize the use of the watch - not mimic the current genre of expensive jewelry that happens to keep time.

I'm not compelled to begin wearing a watch unless it's Apple sexy. Round design concept is not at all sexy - regardless how awesome it may be syncing up with my iPhone.
 
GQB said:
right... because Apple can make oodles of money marketing to geeks who want a laptop strapped to their wrist.
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Maybe they should change the phrase to "Try to think outside the circle" since so many people seem to be stuck on what a watch needs to look like.
 
Rogifan said:
Why does MR feel it necessary to show this mockup with every iWatch rumor? This mock up isn't based on any leaked Apple design or schematic. So what's the relevance?
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It gives MR readers a sense of what round looks like esp. when used in a watch design. :D /sarc
 
If that design is true, then it's proof that Apple gets it right while everybody else fails.

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BigHonkingDeal said:
Yes, but if Apple would put more effort into making the phones more durable that would help as well.
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I've had the 3gs, 4, 4s, and 5 and never once had a problem.

My iPhone ended up sliding across the icy pavement when I slipped on ice last winter and walked away with a few scratches.

How much more durable do you want them?
 
this needs to be something that you can workout with not a fashion statement. If you cannot work out in it, then all of the health tracking is pointless.
 
The diverse feedback on these (old) mock ups is the best evidence you can get that there's going to be more to an iWatch than this. A watch is far more intimate and personal than a phone - watches traditionally all do pretty much the same thing so design is the selling feature rather than function, and different people like/dislike different watch styles. I think a degree of that is going to carry over and influence sales, however smart an iWatch might be. The iPhone was different, phones are function over form and I think before the real competition came along, people would have bought an iPhone whatever it looked like. However, Apple are never going to have the same success with just one design of watch, they need to come up with options to cater for different tastes and a desire for individuality.
 
gnasher729 said:
A round surface is actually more efficient. You make the mistake of thinking in terms of width and height. You need to think in terms of what is the largest surface that fits on my wrist comfortably. A watch with a round face has no corners. Since the corners get into the way first, a round watch can have a bigger surface without looking ridiculously large.
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Get in the way of what? This makes no sense.
 
Rogifan said:
Why does MR feel it necessary to show this mockup with every iWatch rumor? This mock up isn't based on any leaked Apple design or schematic. So what's the relevance?
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Simply because their basic article always includes some type of graphic. If they can't get something from the rumors mill, they just use whatever free graphic they can find.

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Joe HS said:
But will it be waterproof?
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Water resistant! Anyone claiming to have a product claiming that it's waterproof is opening themselves up to a ton of litigation.
 
Looking at iOS 7, which has circular elements throughout, round design is all too obvious.

Let's just hope that round face will be larger than the home button. :p
 
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