I'm not talking about the general population. Who on here still has the 4 or 4s? A large number of us upgrade our iPhones yearly.
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Current Apple watch users will you be upgrading to the next apple watch if one comes out?
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I'm not talking about the general population. Who on here still has the 4 or 4s? A large number of us upgrade our iPhones yearly.
You will always be able to do far more on a phone so the comparison isn't a great one. Extra sensors is worth spending £500-600? Not really. I can't imagine apple adding enough to it t make it worth upgrading every year.
First off, before I answer the main question of the thread, I want to just voice my opinon. I don't think Apple is going to release a new Watch every year. Although, I could very well be wrong.
Anyway, the only thing that would get me to upgrade would be 48 Hour battery life, along with a Facetime camera. It would also need to have sleep tracking. Once it has all three, I will upgrade...however, I don't plan on upgrading until the Apple Care runs out on my Watch
Anyway, the only thing that would get me to upgrade would be 48 Hour battery life, along with a Facetime camera. It would also need to have sleep tracking. Once it has all three, I will upgrade...however, I don't plan on upgrading until the Apple Care runs out on my Watch
I have concerns about cameras on there. Sure, FaceTime on the watch would be great, and I would certainly use it. However, you can be darned sure that it won't be long before all smartwatches have to be removed in all sorts of places and that would be a pain. The apple watch has already made it so that our local universities don't allow watches of any type in exam rooms. If it gains a camera it might end up with the sort of stigma that Google Glass gained in the more paranoid places.
Some do, particularly on here. But the fact remains that the 4S does almost everything the 6 does, and certainly phones two or three years old are completely fine. iPhones are often tied to contracts (particularly in the US) making upgrading less financially painful. Your signature shows you using a 24" iMac at work and an ipad4. So you don't upgrade every year on every product, why should you on a watch if there's no significant upside?
I still continue to believe that most of the functionality of the watch will stem from the phone and whatever software is on that particular device. So upgrading the phone/and, or software is more relevant. As for the physical watch device itself I can see upgrading it every 5 years or so without really missing out on anything. Apple may well introduce new models more often than that but probably only as a way to pull in new purchasers. I don't think anyone who currently has one will miss out on anything for several ( 5? ) years or so.
Off the top of my head, the 4s has no Touch ID and doesn't do Apple Pay. The camera in the 6 is much better, and it does things like burst photos and slow motion video that I don't think the 4s does. Sure, the 4s is still completely fine as a phone. But I wouldn't say it does almost everything the 6 does.
I moved from a 4S to a 6 because of the improvements in the camera. Touch ID is nice but not the sort of feature I'd bother upgrading for (I get that Apple Pay is a bigger deal in the US but here it's essentially the same as using a contactless bank card so not a major step forward; I registered my cards on the first day but have yet to bother trying it). Clearly if I hadn't upgraded last year I would have needed to to get the watch and that would have tempted me.
It seems unlikely that the next generation watch will have significant enough feature changes to entice me, though a design I prefer might (but probably only if it works with existing straps).
It seems unlikely that the next generation watch will have significant enough feature changes to entice me, though a design I prefer might (but probably only if it works with existing straps).
As of right now, no. I think it would really have to blow me out of the water for me to upgrade to the new version. However, if they don't release one for another year-year and a half from now then I probably would. I think the watch itself will last for about 2-3 years before the battery/hardware starts to decrease in quality.
I can't control when my workplace issues me a new computer and the iPad is for the family use. I'm far more likely to upgrade iDevices that I actually use on a daily basis (namely iPhone and Watch).
You'll have to excuse me if these were discussed before…
AW upgrades?
CPU: what for? To play games with a billion polygons while roasting the battery? Not necessary.
Battery: Would be nice. A different battery tech allowing super-quick charging and greater storage capacity in the same size would be a real breakthrough.
Screen: pixel density is fine. Brightness could be better. But, changes to both would probably require more power. If reflectance can be improved without a coating, they'd have a winner.
Camera: No. Dumb idea. Privacy concerns make it socially awkward (see Samsung's stalker-ish ad for its Gear camera). It takes up space, unless they use a tiny module that sacrifices other features. The screen is too small to clearly see what you're shooting (is the shot blurry?). You can't edit the shot on the watch, so you'll need the phone. Sharing the pic from the watch would be a pain in the ass, so you'd need the phone.
Sensors: what do you think you need? There's already a multi-axis accelerometer and optical HR. Is there a non-invasive way to measure blood glucose? Should it measure HR via electrical impulses even though it's nowhere near the heart? How much more battery power will additional sensors require?
GPS: Meh. Eats battery, not good for much besides boasting. IMO.
Strap connection: No. Keep it the same. Compared with what the rest of the watch world does, it's fantastic.
Cellular radio: Big sticking point. Okay, say you want it. Add the radio chips and antenna. It needs another phone number (cellular iPads have their own numbers, too, remember?) and a phone bill. It needs more battery power. If you're out and about without your phone, how will you add things like contact info, or follow email links? Some things are just done better on a larger device, so you're going to have your phone with you anyway.
So, what part of the hardware really needs an "upgrade"?
AW upgrades?
CPU: what for? To play games with a billion polygons while roasting the battery? Not necessary.
Battery: Would be nice. A different battery tech allowing super-quick charging and greater storage capacity in the same size would be a real breakthrough.
Screen: pixel density is fine. Brightness could be better. But, changes to both would probably require more power. If reflectance can be improved without a coating, they'd have a winner.
Camera: No. Dumb idea. Privacy concerns make it socially awkward (see Samsung's stalker-ish ad for its Gear camera). It takes up space, unless they use a tiny module that sacrifices other features. The screen is too small to clearly see what you're shooting (is the shot blurry?). You can't edit the shot on the watch, so you'll need the phone. Sharing the pic from the watch would be a pain in the ass, so you'd need the phone.
Sensors: what do you think you need? There's already a multi-axis accelerometer and optical HR. Is there a non-invasive way to measure blood glucose? Should it measure HR via electrical impulses even though it's nowhere near the heart? How much more battery power will additional sensors require?
GPS: Meh. Eats battery, not good for much besides boasting. IMO.
Strap connection: No. Keep it the same. Compared with what the rest of the watch world does, it's fantastic.
Cellular radio: Big sticking point. Okay, say you want it. Add the radio chips and antenna. It needs another phone number (cellular iPads have their own numbers, too, remember?) and a phone bill. It needs more battery power. If you're out and about without your phone, how will you add things like contact info, or follow email links? Some things are just done better on a larger device, so you're going to have your phone with you anyway.
So, what part of the hardware really needs an "upgrade"?
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That's what people said about the iPhone 3GS and so on. Just as nobody had the foresight to predict Siri, TouchID, Apple Pay, Force Touch, etc., it's something new that hasn't been released yet.
Every iPhone has had to keep up with carrier networks. The Watch doesn't have the same problem.
Same here, but lately I've been skipping the S upgrades, this year is no exception. They're minor and the cost is just too high to justify it.
That has nothing to do with new features such as Siri, TouchID, Apple Pay, Force Touch, etc.
I guess that TouchID could be added to the AW to replace the passcode.
What else needs to be added, then? Which companies has Apple bought recently?
Like I said, it's something that hasn't been invented. People asked the same question you're asking back in the iPhone 3GS days, before we got Siri, TouchID, etc.
I think that the next watch will have some major advances in specifications to keep the market turning over. More independence from the iPhone, different case types etc. And i think it will be here next year.
Already exists in a way. You can use TouchID to unlock your iPhone which in turn, unlocks your Apple Watch. At first I turned that off, but now I love it.
I think Apple has painted themselves in a corner with the annual updates, it's simply too frequent to invent new technologies in such a short period of time. It's likely why we see the phased S series, which is minor to say the least. The iPhone was revolutionary for sure, but there's no way to match that every single year.
Some people may be, but I'm not in that camp and not sure if I'm in the majority or minority here.
Generally my family is not early adopters even though DH works in tech. We wait for stuff to shake out. However on the Watch, I was at first "no way; gotta phone already", and then as time went on and I saw the presentations on stage and spent some time on the website, decided this was one product I wanted to get on board early with. I had a 4S since it came out and was extremely happy with it with the exception that my closeup vision was getting worse and thought the 6+ would probably be the best for my eyes if I was going to spend a bunch of time on the internet on it. Since I had the 6+ at that point, the Watch was an easy move. My reasons had really nothing to do with being up on technology so much. I enjoy the great screen, battery life and camera and image stability though. Actually love both my current phone and Watch and am very satisfied.
Though a tech junkie and watch lover, I'm probably going to hold off upgrades for another 2 generations. AW1 is already pretty good. Better waterproofing is highest in my wish list.
But if something really spectacular comes along, it might bump up the upgrade cycle!
But if something really spectacular comes along, it might bump up the upgrade cycle!
But the question remains if you have a 4s do you absolutely need Touch ID, burst photos, slow mo. Does it really improve your life in someway? Sure the higher quality photos are nice but the 4s still does a nice job. I love my 6+ camera but honestly if not for the eye strain with my changing vision I would have been happy with the 4s. As for Apple Pay, I still don't have that unless my dumb credit card company finally adopts it or I give up and switch to another provider which I've been considering doing. Kills me I have a phone and Watch I could be using it on. But then I have the Apple Watch so if I had the 4s still wouldn't that give me the Apple Pay there? Really haven't been following that since I've upgraded phones.
I guess I'm just thinking the refresh rate where Watches get major updates won't happen yearly.
I agree with pretty much everything you've said. The only additional sensor that might be nice to have would be an altimeter to count floors climbed. It could be part of the activity metrics.
GPS is a huge battery drain. The FitBit Surge claims a seven-day battery life but if you use GPS, you're down to 5-6 hours. I know, I used to have one. I would think the Watch battery life would be even less with GPS, so it might not be of much use to long-distance runners.
I would have to say that I'm not interested in cellular radio, either. Don't want to add another line to Verizon!
