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% Chance that current bands are compatible with Apple Watch 2?
- Thread starter anthonymoody
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It might depend on what you think Apple Watch 2 is: Are we talking about the rumored "S"-upgrade (Apple will upgrade only the internal components Fall 2016) or the highly anticipated all-new model in 2017?
Personally I hope Apple will keep the bands working at least for another year or even longer. Even if the watch will be thinner in the next generation as for now there is not one understandable reason to change the size or form of the lug.
But on the other hand, Apple is still a company with some financial interest—so I keep my fingers crossed they will reward loyalty and even unveil new bands.
Personally I hope Apple will keep the bands working at least for another year or even longer. Even if the watch will be thinner in the next generation as for now there is not one understandable reason to change the size or form of the lug.
But on the other hand, Apple is still a company with some financial interest—so I keep my fingers crossed they will reward loyalty and even unveil new bands.
That's sort of the point of my question - the chance of them changing the frame (size) of the watch either to make it thinner or simply to force a new round of band purchases for those upgrading from AW1 to AW2.
I'm hesitant to say 100% as nothing is ever certain, but with the amount of bands Apple has released over the past year (they sell 117 bands separately, and that's not including the special anodised versions for Rose Gold and Gold bundled with the watches or the Edition bands) plus the astronomical prices of some of them (Hermes, Link Bracelet especially), I highly doubt they would change it so soon.
Considering the Hermes bands, nylon bands, and various other color options were just made available there would be no point in dropping the band compatibility and left with an overstock of inventory. Plus Apple spent the first 30 minute of their last keynote to stress on recycling.
Good points all.
I posted because I'm a late (refurb) buyer of an AW. Got a great price on the gold sport so figured why not - can't get too hurt on a resale.
Wasn't sure whether to pick up some additional straps though.
I posted because I'm a late (refurb) buyer of an AW. Got a great price on the gold sport so figured why not - can't get too hurt on a resale.
Wasn't sure whether to pick up some additional straps though.
Agreed. I have a gold sport and it's very tough to find bands with a matte gold finish to the hardware.
All of the leather options are removable from the lugs, so even if Apple changed the shape of the watch case, the old bands could be easily switched to the new watch lugs. This would be especially useful for the Hermes bands. The bands that wouldn't work would be the Sport & nylon bands, which at $50 are easily replaceable -- it's no different than buying a few cases for your new iPhone to replace your old ones. The steel bands might be a little more difficult, but I'll bet there's a way to update the lugs there as well, assuming they continue to offer the same band designs.
That said, I think people are looking at the watch the wrong way. It's not a commodity product a person only has one of, like a phone that needs to be upgraded every few years. The next watch may have a few new interesting features added, or it may be a little faster, but there's really no need to upgrade it just for that, especially if a person don't need those features. Moreover, there's no reason to upgrade at all, especially for as little as the Watch costs. Why not add the next gen Watch to your collection -- own both Watches. That way, it doesn't matter if the new bands are incompatible with the old bands -- you have a collection of bands for each. You retain your investment.
Again, there's very little about the first gen watch that's going to be obsolete anytime soon. And other than complete autonomy from the iPhone, there's very little the second gen watch is going to add that people can't do without, at least occasionally. Apple didn't enable the ability for multiple parings to one iPhone for customers to buy one watch and upgrade it every year or two. They're expecting customers to buy multiple watches, or at a minimum, buy a new one every year or two to rotate with their older watches -- just like watch people do with their own collections. And it won't be about features, but design and looks may inspire even the same features in a new package.
So whatever Apple does, the bands will not be rendered useless just because they aren't compatible with latest watch, and no customer needs lose their investment in them, unless they want to.
I think it might be one of those a little bit of both kind of scenarios. The AW2 will be compatible AW1 bands, but not vice-versa, and Apple will redesign the AW2 bands to be slimmer or angled differently where you will want to use the AW2 bands, even though the AW1 technically fit.
I get the feeling that all watch bands will be compatible for any watch that Apple puts out in the future. The watch itself may change over time such as its internal components, thinner case, etc. but the bands and their connectors will all be the same. The watch is partly being marketed as a fashion piece and hey extoll how the variety of bands make it more personal. Amass a collection for bands for AW1 and AW2 only to have Apple make them all incompatible for AW3? Ouch.
I think it would be a huge mistake for apple to revamp the apple watch and make all those bands incompatible. That's one way to kill off interest in a fledging product. People would not be very motivated to then go and buy a new watch or new bands, as they'd think that their investment would not work in the 3rd iteration.
Like it or not, Apple is tied to the current setup for the foreseeable future.
Like it or not, Apple is tied to the current setup for the foreseeable future.
I don't quite understand how this thread could be anything other than idle speculation. It just seems like a waste of resources to me, being that our opinions aren't going to dictate how well current bands fit into a next Apple arch.
Just my $0.02.
Just my $0.02.
If the next watch is a S, performance upgrade then they'll fit. But you know apple will want to make it smaller and thinner, and those connectors just had to be changed to make it .17mm thinner... So the next time the case is changed they will not fit IMO.
No different then other threads in the iPhone, MBP, iMac forums with their speculations. Nothing wrong with talking it through and speculating.
A thinner Watch will still have sufficient depth for existing bands.
Not necessarily. Depends on the contours of the case. If Apple keeps the sides exactly the same and changes only the curvature of the top and bottom edges then the existing band lugs will still fit. But chances are that won't be the case based on previous Apple design refinements. And it definitely won't work if they narrow or widen the corners of the watch.
This is a good question. Form my perspective, I have quite a few bands to use with my SS. If the new watch has different bands then the is zero chance I would buy it. If it can use existing bands, and it is a significant upgrade, there is every chance I would buy it.