I don't know how you do that. I have an 11 Pro Max, which is this year coming up on being 4 years old and the battery health is down to 85%. I have always been careful with it, slow charging and never charging and using at the same time. It has been declining steadily over time (as does the battery of my MBP M1 Max 14" BTW). I probably use my iPhone 3 to 5 hours a day and never really heavily except when recording video.
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Done with Apple Watches for now
- Thread starter jsgreen
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Great post. I miss my mechanical watches. They both sit in my drawer having depleted their batteries years ago.
One reason why I hopped on the Apple Watch Ultra so quickly was because of the battery life. I can easily get 70+ hours of usage before having to charge this thing. This puts it far more in the desired "watch" category for me because I can do a 3 day work trip on a charge if I really wanted to (without changing anything). Previously, I was getting ~1.5 days on my AW3-7. Just popping it on the charger during a shower kept it mostly charged without having to go out of my way to worry about charge.
Agreed about the water proofing. Always wondered why that was - I imagine all the external radios, speakers, and their connections to the electronics inside probably do not help.
This is something I did not miss - traveling internationally for work (years ago, AW3 days), having my Apple Watch instantly update the time - I'd get off the plane and see dozens of people set their watches to the clock and mine was good to go. It was a really cool feeling at the time and something I take for granted now when I travel. Also the fact that yes, both my mechanical watches would lose time was something I never really got used to.I could be wrong, but I don't think that many AW owners hang onto their watches for 10 years. If you take the Ultra at US$799, use it for two years, and then sell it for say $350, then the price of the watch is arguably $449.
Arguably that's actually worseas if your cost is $449 every two years then over 10 years that's $2,245.
At the same time though, you're getting upgrades and new features during that time. Just like a phone, laptop, or any other computing device. You could try to get 10 years out of a phone too, and you might just be able to do it, but you'd be well behind the tech curve. But hey, if you just want to make phone calls then that's ok.
I agree though, if your intent is to have accurate timekeeping, cost effectiveness, and ease of use, watches like the Citizen Eco Drive and Casio G-Shock are tough to beat, IMO. Particularly if you have the version that do over the air time synchronization. I pulled out my G-Shock the other day. It gets a pretty poor radio signal where I live and had not synchronized since September last year, so 9 months. The time was out by about 2.5 seconds over that period, which in my view is pretty spectacular. A day and a night on my balcony and it was charged, synchronized, and ready to rock again. It's been years since I wore a "regular" watch daily (went to Fitbit, then AW) but the G-Shock (and my Eco-Drive for that matter) don't miss a beat. Actually my Eco-Drive is now flat too, but easy to rectify. Hopefully. My Tag has had the battery removed and it effectively in cold storage.
For the water resistance, I wonder if the speaker/microphone brings in some complications there? The Ultra is totally fine for water sports though, including Scuba down to 40M.
That said... a really nice mechanical watch looks a LOT better on the wrist than even the Titanium watch imo. But I've grown far too reliant on my Apple Watch to go back. I really do miss them though. Someday I will save up and buy a mechanical desk clock to get my "fix"
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It seems comparing apples to oranges never gets old, does it? Just one thing: I very much doubt that mechanicals in the 500$ range will last a very long time because who‘s gonna spend hundreds of dollars for the revision that will be necessary every couple of years? Also, these cheap mechanical watches usually absolutely do not keep or even grow in value; only select high-end mechanicals from very few manufacturers are an actual investment case. So all things considered, low-end mechanicals are just about as „disposable“ as Apple Watches, only a thousand times less useful while depreciating.
(Disclaimer: I do have a few quartz and low- to mid-end mechanical watches myself, but only because I sometimes like a different look than computer-on-the-wrist. But I do not entertain any illusion that these watches will hold or appreciate in value or be „heirloom“ pieces.)
Mechanical watches don‘t have batteries.
does it? That is totally in the eye of the beholder imo.That said... a really nice mechanical watch looks a LOT better on the wrist than even the Titanium watch imo. But I've grown far too reliant on my Apple Watch to go back. I really do miss them though. Someday I will save up and buy a mechanical desk clock to get my "fix"
I consider a “nice mechanical” watch a piece of jewelry and I personally do not wear jewelry and would never wear such a watch. Me that is.
Yep, was going to reply something similar.
Comparing what in my mind is a piece of jewelry to a “wearable computer” is…
And the argument “$800 for a disposable piece” can be made for so many things, it doesn’t really count for anything nowadays.
Tis true. I mean mechanical as in battery and moving arms on the face - but you're right not the true "mechanical" watch that's wind up or motion driven - always wanted a true mechanical in that sense.
Anyone else watch: https://www.youtube.com/@watchfinder?
You make some interesting points (for which I've given you a 'like'). However based on my experience not all are particularly valid points.
'If chosen with care' (which I made a special point of mentioning) there is absolutely no need for an average priced mechanical watch purchased today to require a revision every couple of years as you state, although for their personal interest, dealers and the manufactures will advise you that they do require regular maintenance. Whether it be a mechanical auto, quartz or Eco Drive with mechanical components, they should be worn fairly regularly and if so should last for many, many years without problems. There are quite a number of very inexpensive mechanical movements today that are incredibly reliable - the 'superb workhorses being the ETA 2824-2/Sellita 200-1. My inexpensive Seiko with a wonderfully sturdy 6117 movement still performs well even after 40 years in regular use without a service. Similar for a recent s/h purchase; a much more expensive and complex Omega with Cal.910 movement that the original owner wore daily from 1970 and never had serviced. It was running fine but no longer within COSC limits, so I've just had it serviced.
I certainly agree with you that many cheap mechanical watches do not keep or even grow in value, but those (even vintage) chosen "with care" and with advise from a reliable collector will not deteriorate in value over the years, and many will indeed increase.
Not strictly true. Some watches with mechanical escapements are complex and rely on a battery power.
Then there are mechanical power sources driving a quartz-regulated escapement such as a Mechaquartz, although granted not a 'mechanical watch' in the generally accepted sense.
I’m literally going to try this out with my old WATCH 4 this Sunday. Will let you know.
I’m in the U.K.
Apple will inspect the watch and if damage is found they will ask you to pay the out of warranty replacement cost of the watch which is way more than $79... The battery replacement will only be honored if the watch is in perfect working order and the battery is the only issue. Normal wear and tear like chips and scratches on the body and display won't make any difference they'll still exchange the watch for a refurbished one..
They took the watch in for repair last Friday. They’re going to change the battery. We just got a notification today that they’ve started working on it.
So hoping we can pick it up in the next couple of days.
So they do replace the bat. At least on older models it seems. Well, at least that. That makes the Watch much more useful and I might, considering that, use my S7‘s always on display and other battery sucking features.
Well. Looking at the cost, and I shouldn’t have expected anything else, 99€ (as of today) is a third of what I payed for this Watch, soo. It’s good to know it won’t be useless in 2 years.
But I might still try to stretch those two years even further before I spend that kind of money on an expensive watch that’s already mine.
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Absolutely! I’m getting the battery on my watch replaced almost after 4 years.
Although this gives me some comfort, I keep playing with the AOD every now and then, but it doesn’t serve a purpose to me. I even asked friends of whom one has a S4 and one has a S7 why they use and what it does for them. I get the appeal of a traditional watch that always has an active display, and a quick glance at the time can be useful, but it’s still a display that’s on mostly when it’s not in active use. Wake to wrist is enough for me. How about you, have you used it with your S4?
S4 doesn’t have AOD to begin with and raise to wake feature perfectly worked for me without any issues.
AOD is essential for me for sports, other than that, I’m not fussed.
I’d wish for there to be an option to have it on during certain activities, or to have a shortcut for easy access, instead of going to the settings every time you’d want to turn it on or off, so annoying.
As it’s so often with Apple, everything or nothing.
I use a shortcut to toggle AOD on and off.
Huh, makes sense. I didn’t think about an AOD shortcut working for the Apple Watch, I am only familiar with stuff I use and with an iPhone 11 Pro oh well. But good to know, thanks! 👍🏻