AW grows old more like MacBook than iPhone

[Luba]

I'm thinking the Apple Watch will age more like the MacBook than the iPhone. With the iPhone if you're 2 generations behind I believe you really feel it. I am one generation behind and I have already plan on getting the 6S when it comes out. My MacBook is 5 years old, but I don't really miss the current features. I could sell my MacBook now and upgrade to the newest one, but I don't feel any frustrations or the "want" to get the newest one. Perhaps, it will be that way with the Apple Watch. When the next gen AW comes out it'll probably have better battery life and maybe thinner, but the AW works off the iPhone. If the iPhone is up to date, then you'll for the most part be up to date. Perhaps the AW will grow old like a MacBook and last for 5-6 years before we feel the "want" to get a new one. Opinions?

 

[MICHAELSD]

I do hope they follow the minimal update strategy. Right now I actually prefer my 2012 15" rMBP over the current offerings and feel like an upgrade would be a complete waste yet I upgrade my iPhone and iPad yearly (although I'm returning my unopened Air 2 since I probably got under 20 hours use out of my Air.)

The Apple Watch is a product I'd prefer not to be enticed to upgrade yearly, but I feel like it's in the price range where upgrading is more sensible than it would be for a Mac. It just doesn't make sense to entice people who purchased a Mac last year to upgrade this year since a Mac is a more major $1000-$3000 purchase, and there is only so much they can do. With the iPhone, cellular technology is outpacing the progression of computer hardware, getting substantially faster and improved year-after-year.

Yet, with an Apple Watch it's in the sweet spot Apple prefers where they can add a major feature or two and have a substantial amount of owners pay another $349+ to upgrade year-after-year. Feature-wise, I would prefer that it is only upgraded every 2-3 years but it is a revenue opportunity that Apple could pursue. I would prefer not to upgrade every year, but I probably will if Apple decides to... Frankly most owners probably feel this way and Apple will realize this.

 

[Wallabe]

It really depends on the features and what's really important to you.

If your existing Macbook is already snappy, and you can do whatever you want on it, there's little reason to upgrade, even if it's a few years old. Buying new updates frequently, you're basically paying another 100% of the purchase price, but you're only getting 5 or 10% improvement.

I got the Macbook Pro Retina, everything is snappy, PCI-E SSD and plenty of RAM. It just doesn't make sense to get another one for at least a few more years unless it dies on me or it starts crawling, which I'll doubt happen anytime soon. I think it's about 2 years old now (got it when they first introduced PCI-E SSD in it), I don't even bother to look at any newer updates. It fits my needs. When 700MB read/write is considered slow, then I'll start to worry.

For the Apple Watch, the main concern is probably battery and thickness. I see the first gen Apple Watch is like the first gen iPhone. If you look at their shape and thickness profile, they are very similar. After a few generations or battery and tech innovations, it'll be 1/3 the size. Maybe by then, the battery will last 3-4 days, depending on use, and up to a week if on reserve mode. Until then, you're going to have to do daily charging like the phones.

In a few years, it'll be past memories, and it'll get better and thinner. You won't be able to use any of your collection of bands from your first Apple Watch on newer generations, as everything is thinner and downsized. In 10 or 20 years, people will look back at the Apple Watch like they do with the cassette tape or CD players. Just enjoy what is being offered now.

Now if you want to feel better about how much money you've foolishly spent on upgrades, watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXSpfwYL6eE

 

[8CoreWhore]

I agree. The AW is much more mature starting in 2015 than iPhone was starting 8 years ago.

 

[Supermallet]

It really depends on the features and what's really important to you.

If your existing Macbook is already snappy, and you can do whatever you want on it, there's little reason to upgrade, even if it's a few years old. Buying new updates frequently, you're basically paying another 100% of the purchase price, but you're only getting 5 or 10% improvement.

I got the Macbook Pro Retina, everything is snappy, PCI-E SSD and plenty of RAM. It just doesn't make sense to get another one for at least a few more years unless it dies on me or it starts crawling, which I'll doubt happen anytime soon. I think it's about 2 years old now (got it when they first introduced PCI-E SSD in it), I don't even bother to look at any newer updates. It fits my needs. When 700MB read/write is considered slow, then I'll start to worry.

For the Apple Watch, the main concern is probably battery and thickness. I see the first gen Apple Watch is like the first gen iPhone. If you look at their shape and thickness profile, they are very similar. After a few generations or battery and tech innovations, it'll be 1/3 the size. Maybe by then, the battery will last 3-4 days, depending on use, and up to a week if on reserve mode. Until then, you're going to have to do daily charging like the phones.

In a few years, it'll be past memories, and it'll get better and thinner. You won't be able to use any of your collection of bands from your first Apple Watch on newer generations, as everything is thinner and downsized. In 10 or 20 years, people will look back at the Apple Watch like they do with the cassette tape or CD players. Just enjoy what is being offered now.

Image

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Now if you want to feel better about how much money you've foolishly spent on upgrades, watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXSpfwYL6eE

I know Apple values thinness, sometimes to the point of removing features people want (like more battery life on their phones or more than a single port on their laptops), but I'm not sure how much thinner Apple can make the watch without seriously affecting a lot of aspects of the watch itself. It's got a lot of tech packed into an already small space, and unless battery tech radically improves to get both smaller AND more efficient, I think the best we can get is more battery life for the same space. Also, given the diversity of bands they're selling on day one, and the ingeniousness of the band swap system, I think this particular form factor may stay in place longer than we've seen in the iPhone. There's a lot more riding on the shape and size of the watch than there is for the phone.

I'm sure there will come a point that the size and shape of the watch will change and your bands will no longer be compatible, but I don't think that change will happen until at least the fourth or fifth version of the watch.

 

[tresmith]

I also believe it has to age slowly. No one buys a watch to replace it every year.

I'm buying the first gen apple watch cause I believe it will be a collector's item being the first.

but I don't plan on changing my smart watch as often as my smart phone.

if Apple is smart it should be on a 4 to 5 year update cycle.

 

[Ries]

No, not going to happen. The other smartwatch producers would crush Apple if they don't keep up. LG already has a watch with LTE, GPS and more.

 

[Piggie]

I agree. The AW is much more mature starting in 2015 than iPhone was starting 8 years ago.

The problem is, it's wonderful to say that in hindsight.

Let's be honest here shall we and consider the following:

1: A battery that can't last an entire 24 hour day in normal use.

2: A device that needs another device nearby to function fully.

3: A screen with dead bezel areas that take up about 1/5th of the actual face of the watch.

4: Minimal sensors when many more were expected and other brands already offer far more.

5: Not Waterproof according to the maker.

6: Inability, dictated by the maker, to run apps that are more than a few second views of the screen for fear of killing the battery.


Yes, really sounds a mature product does it not!

 

[yegon]

Mature product? Hilarious. Comparing it to an ultra mature product like the MacBook (not the new rMB)? Do people seriously believe that? XD

Sure, I fully expect it to work effectively for two full years, but that second year is likely going to be rough - the software will start to lag upon the first major update. Third year and second major update? It'll run like a turd and the battery, even a new one, will likely be 20%+ less effective due to the software upgrades.

If anyone is on any kind of budget, I strongly advise skipping the first iteration, it simply isn't worth the price of entry. This isn't even a critique of Apple before the defence force ready their unicorn lazers, it's the nature of the beast where new product categories are concerned. Yeah yeah, smart watches have been around for years in some form, I'm not suggesting for one moment Apple have invented it, but the category is undoubtedly still in its absolute infancy.

Me? Fortunately, I'm not on a budget and am getting one because I'm always interested in new tech, but I'm fully aware that it'll have a very limited useful* life. I'll buy the second iteration most likely, assuming a) it's a big improvement and b) I actually find it useful.

*Useful life. I never mentioned the word obsolete, an oft misused term. I'd hate to have to use an iPad 2 these days, but you can still largely use it for what it was bought for. The iPad 1, in contrast, I would say IS obsolete, because browsing, one of it's core features at launch, is nigh on unusable these days due to Safari crashes, lack of ram and a very high % of websites that simply will not load. My mum has mine, is still fine as a basic video/podcast player in the kitchen. Great, someone will popup and say "mine still works" but it is, for almost all intents and purposes, obsolete.

 

[chrise2]

$349 every year or two isn't so bad. What about the people paying more? I really like the stainless version, but I'm not going to spend extra cash on looks knowing that I'll want the updated version next year.

I splurged $2500 on a watch back in the day, and its still working awesome 10 years later without doing anything to it. I highly doubt I'll be using my Apple watch in 10 years. If Apple offered to upgrade the guts while keeping the case, I would spend more on the stainless version with a fancier band.