Done with Apple Watches for now

[gericb]

Clearly, many are coming from a false perspective of understanding. FIRST, most people overcharge their devices, watches, tablets, computers, and though there is some mitigations to "manage" it a bit better, it still happens, so charging that watch at night while you sleep or you iPhone, you ARE going to kill the batteries sooner than later (heat - the greatest killer of rechargeable batteries)

SECOND - batteries are like tires, you don't get rid of your car because it needs new tires. Apple Watch batteries are totally replaceable, albeit not to be done by your casual user, most 3rd party device repair companies can do these, even the LCD. I have personally replaced over 15 Apple Watch batteries, and a handful of LCD, and many other batteries in devices. It's not designed to be disposable, and if treated well (some of the epic bad things I've seen), it will last a good long time. I myself have a Series 4, bought new when it was released, and my battery health is currently at 83%. My iPhone 13 ProMax bought new at release, 97% battery health. I'm only charging 1x/day.

We use: https://www.ampsentrix.com/ The replacement battery for my Series 4, a whopping $6.21 🤣

THIRD - Even with "perfect" battery charging routine, most modern Lithium batteries used in our electronics (different than EV's) have an "average statistical" life of about 4-5 years before needing to be replaced.

SURE, with electronics, anything can happen at anytime, but in general the largest majority of devices will take our abuse and keep on performing, but they can't do it alone. MUCH of the time, it's owner error or one off accidents.

 

[Indianwin2001]

So you are placing "new" limitations on the definition of a watch?

My current use items....
Citizen Stiletto
Garmin Fenix 7
Citizen World Chrono
Casio G Shock
Apple Watch Ultra

So you are claiming the Ultra is not a watch? Hmmm.....

If you are wearing 5 different watches, you aren’t getting data from Garmin or Apple Watch to reflect your day so you’re not using either one of them to their full potential

 

[jsgreen]

what exactly is this? Is it part of the Watch App on the phone or something else?

The diagnostic was something an authorized repair provider ran on the watch.

I took it to a local store (not an Apple store, but the place I went is apple-specific, and I've had great service there). I had reset the watch to factory via my phone, so the tech was able to pair it to a phone they had on-hand and run some sort of diagnostic test using their paired phone. I was hoping that the issue I was having w/ the touch screen was a software glitch, but their test confirmed that it was most likely hardware. Their test reported that the ambient light sensor could not be found in addition to the battery health of 77%.

 

[Jackbequickly]

what exactly is this? Is it part of the Watch App on the phone or something else?

Just hold down the crown and function button at the same time for 5 seconds and "apple repair diagnostic" will show on your watch.

 

[dk001]

If you are wearing 5 different watches, you aren’t getting data from Garmin or Apple Watch to reflect your day so you’re not using either one of them to their full potential

I don’t wear these all the time (checks both wrists!)

AWU is my daily
Garmin is my outdoor activity device
The others as the mood strikes me or an event I am attending calls for it.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

Have things changed that much in the past few years?

My workhorse of a computer is an 8-year-old 2015 13” MBA that runs well and is on Monterey. My 2016 iPhone SE is great, too.

Depends what you’re using it for I guess. A 3yr old AW will struggle recording a 6hr bike ride without dying.

 

[Rychiar]

Sounds about The life of a watch. I plan to replace my series five this fall. I was gonna do it last year but the series 8 was a useless release

 

[Indianwin2001]

3yrs is pretty much the life of tech these days.

Tons of people are still using Garmin watches that are 6 or 7 years old. Polar also.

 

[Howard2k]

Tons of people are still using Garmin watches that are 6 or 7 years old. Polar also.

I don’t have a Garmin but I’m not sure they’re the same category. Lots of people have very old plain quartz watches too. There’s a complexity Vs lifespan curve for sure.

Not knocking the Garmin, I just don’t know that it had the complexity of the Apple Watch.

 

[dawnrazor]

The diagnostic was something an authorized repair provider ran on the watch.

I took it to a local store (not an Apple store, but the place I went is apple-specific, and I've had great service there). I had reset the watch to factory via my phone, so the tech was able to pair it to a phone they had on-hand and run some sort of diagnostic test using their paired phone. I was hoping that the issue I was having w/ the touch screen was a software glitch, but their test confirmed that it was most likely hardware. Their test reported that the ambient light sensor could not be found in addition to the battery health of 77%.

Your story sounded familiar, my wife’s AW S5 is having battery issues… A quick look at the Settings/battery Health shows a battery health of 75% and a battery service required… we shall see how that goes…

 

[magicMac]

Sometimes the less tech you own the better

 

[Reggaenald]

I have a second hand S7 with 88%.
In a year, when the battery is below 80, can I just go to Apple and have it replaced with another for a lower than original cost?

Apple does have a battery replacement available. If you take it to a store and they confirm the battery is under 80% capacity they will replace the watch with a refurbished identical model for $99. Apple doesn't replace the battery, they replace the watch..

 

[johnmacward]

Apple does have a battery replacement available. If you take it to a store and they confirm the battery is under 80% capacity they will replace the watch with a refurbished identical model for $99. Apple doesn't replace the battery, they replace the watch..

That turns a simple battery replacement that could be a very reasonable price considering the size of the abttery into something much more expensive. One quarter of the price to make it work for another 3 years - is that the definition of insanity or what, not even to talk about the lack of ecology of once again replacing a whole complex thing instead of just ONE highly disposable part. Ridiculous.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I have a second hand S7 with 88%.
In a year, when the battery is below 80, can I just go to Apple and have it replaced with another for a lower than original cost?

Not sure where you're located but, in the U.S. as long as Apple confirms the battery is below 80% you can pay the $79 and have the watch replaced

 

[seek3r]

It has got to be the stupidest thing imaginable.
Just 20 years ago, imagine telling someone you'd bought a $400 watch, but the battery couldn't be replaced.

Do you actually remember 20 years ago though? Most people didnt wear expensive watches and replace the battery, they wore cheap watches that they often treated as disposable. Don't get me wrong, a lot of folks did and do wear decent or very good or even extremely expensive watches, but the majority of folks were using relatively cheap not particularly durable watches.

The extra money is because of the tech in the device, not longevity (also $400 today is worth a lot less than it was 20 years ago, $400 20 years ago would be ~$700 today, the equivlent to today's $400 aW would have been a ~$230 watch, and, yes, a lot of watches in that price range would never have gotten their batteries replaced), I'm not sure that most people expect their aW to last any more than their old cheaper watches did

that said my series 6 is still going strong and I expect it to last at least 5 years

also the batteries *are* replaceable, it's just a massive pain if you want to do it yourself (new EU regs may change that)

 

[JapanApple]

I lucky Apple four series 87 percent health battery.

 

[jsgreen]

Your story sounded familiar, my wife’s AW S5 is having battery issues… A quick look at the Settings/battery Health shows a battery health of 75% and a battery service required… we shall see how that goes…

I received my “new” S5 this morning - all in all it took just 4 days to send it to them and receive a replacement S5 back (I’m in the USA). Really quick turnaround.

When I paired the new one with my phone the process to set it up as a new watch (which I opted for rather than restore from backup) asked me if I wanted to put the new watch on my mobile plan and disconnect the old one - Apple (and T-Mobile) made the process super easy. I’m in the customer experience business, this was very well done CX.

 

[ndouglas]

I received my “new” S5 this morning - all in all it took just 4 days to send it to them and receive a replacement S5 back (I’m in the USA). Really quick turnaround.

When I paired the new one with my phone the process to set it up as a new watch (which I opted for rather than restore from backup) asked me if I wanted to put the new watch on my mobile plan and disconnect the old one - Apple (and T-Mobile) made the process super easy. I’m in the customer experience business, this was very well done CX.

Glad to read your updates. I hope this “new” one serves for a good while longer!

A family member recently showed me her very old AW, still going strong (S3 maybe?)…. I may or may not upgrade mine (S7) depending on the features of the new one this year or next, but it’s encouraging to know that the battery and/or watch can 1. Last a while and 2. Get replaced for <$100 …. Mine is on 89% …. also I pay $3.99 monthly for Apple Care on it, sometimes I think it’s not really needed, but, I think it’s worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[weather34]

often treated as disposable.

you hit the nail on the head . apple devices are disposable products they are NOT life long, totally driven by software restrictions(i.e software releases not compatible with older devices basically making them redundant ) and poor battery technology .also 99% of us trapped in the apple ecosystem frustrated at unable to simply buy replacement parts that are user friendly to fit. i have an apple watch S1 and S3 just sitting in the box not a mark on both just very poor (almost unusable for half a day put them on at 8am by 1pm there at 10% not something you want to hand down to your children/relatives/friends or even sell ) . my just over a year old S7 is currently at 93% battery health. the S7 will be my last for many a year until the battery life/performance is improved .search around these forums and topic of battery life/performance is abundance..

I love the whole concept of apple watch ,iphone etc but as with all apple devices battery is the negative concern like my 2015 apple air MacBook perfectly clean/unmarked but lucky to get more than 3 hours out of it on battery .

got a 15 year HP laptop that last two days...albeit a lot bulkier/windows/bigger physical battery(i can buy a slot in battery pack replacement off the shelf doesn't require a apple service /technician)...

like it or not apple devices are disposable devices.

 

[leescottdavis]

Sometimes the less tech you own the better

Never has a dumber phrase been used

 

[George Dawes]

I had a seiko titanium that supposedly never needed a battery change

They forgot to mention the capacitor in the Watch lasts 10 years and after that it costs so much to replace you may as well buy a new one

I went for an Apple Watch Series 6 it’s still going strong and no way would I buy a normal watch ever again

 

[seek3r]

you hit the nail on the head . apple devices are disposable products they are NOT life long, totally driven by software restrictions(i.e software releases not compatible with older devices basically making them redundant ) and poor battery technology .also 99% of us trapped in the apple ecosystem frustrated at unable to simply buy replacement parts that are user friendly to fit. i have an apple watch S1 and S3 just sitting in the box not a mark on both just very poor (almost unusable for half a day put them on at 8am by 1pm there at 10% not something you want to hand down to your children/relatives/friends or even sell ) . my just over a year old S7 is currently at 93% battery health. the S7 will be my last for many a year until the battery life/performance is improved .search around these forums and topic of battery life/performance is abundance..

I love the whole concept of apple watch ,iphone etc but as with all apple devices battery is the negative concern like my 2015 apple air MacBook perfectly clean/unmarked but lucky to get more than 3 hours out of it on battery .

got a 15 year HP laptop that last two days...albeit a lot bulkier/windows/bigger physical battery(i can buy a slot in battery pack replacement off the shelf doesn't require a apple service /technician)...

like it or not apple devices are disposable devices.

You realize you just built a whole essay around taking part of my post way out of context, right?

 

[the future]

You realize you just built a whole essay around taking part of my post way out of context, right?

Some people will just take any opportunity to vent.

 

[Indianwin2001]

Do you actually remember 20 years ago though? Most people didnt wear expensive watches and replace the battery, they wore cheap watches that they often treated as disposable. Don't get me wrong, a lot of folks did and do wear decent or very good or even extremely expensive watches, but the majority of folks were using relatively cheap not particularly durable watches.

The extra money is because of the tech in the device, not longevity (also $400 today is worth a lot less than it was 20 years ago, $400 20 years ago would be ~$700 today, the equivlent to today's $400 aW would have been a ~$230 watch, and, yes, a lot of watches in that price range would never have gotten their batteries replaced), I'm not sure that most people expect their aW to last any more than their old cheaper watches did

that said my series 6 is still going strong and I expect it to last at least 5 years

also the batteries *are* replaceable, it's just a massive pain if you want to do it yourself (new EU regs may change that)

Apple won’t be supporting the series 6 5 years from now.

 

[seek3r]

Apple won’t be supporting the series 6 5 years from now.

With the latest OS? probably not. With security patches? possibly. The series 3 just got a security update for watchos 8 a month ago (EDIT: I misread the date on the last 6.3 security update)

But that's not the point either, non-disposable doesnt mean eternal. How many normal folk's watches last more than that is the proper question, and the answer is that the average period of time people typically use a watch is 5-7 years. That's about equivlent to the aW. Yes, with proper servicing most watches, and certainly more expensive watches *can* last longer, but most watches typically don't. People break them, lose them, etc. That's been true long before smart watches. I have like a whole box of broken watches from my grandfather (because he never threw any out) that are decent but not quite decent enough to pay someone to fix but I havent decided if I should try fixing them myself - the electric ones, repairing a mechanical one requires some serious chops.

And a sidenote on repairs and servicing: I got my personal self winding mechanical watch serviced recently, it needed some actual work that required a watch maker, it has sentimental value to me so I bit the bullet.... and it cost 3xmore to repair it than my aW cost. Most people dont want to drop that kind of money on their watches.