From the Forums: Apple Watch Size Comparison

[nookster]

Not really...

I got the first iPhone and it was a great product. Looks like a lot of people had the same experience. I got the original iPad and loved it. Looks like an overwhelming proportion of people (who actually bought one) felt the same.

I also got the first intel-based Mac Apple made. Again, a great computer.

I see this "wisdom" spewed out all over the place, but it just isn't true.

It's not all rosey. I got a 900 MHz G3 iBook -- not a 1st gen product -- and had to have the logic board replaced four times. Apple finally replaced it with a G4 iBook -- even less of a first gen product -- and that eventually died... with a bad logic board. Apple's not perfect by any means, but they have no problem with first gen technology.

At this point, they've been creating leading electronic products for decades. *Nothing* they make can really be considered 1st gen.

Some 4GB launch buyers possibly felt like spewing.

Didn't affect me in the UK though.

My 8GB original still mostly works, apart from the lead free solder killing the Wi-Fi.

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I agree. Something about the screen and the rounded bubbly corners just doesn't sit right with the steel band.

The curvature and glass reflection is reminiscent of the old iOS icons, it feels jarring against the current trend for flat.

 

[GadgetSN]

Yes, they do. A man with small wrists is not a girl, he is a man with small wrists.

Got any other sexist theories you'd care to share with us? If so, please don't.

What are you talking about. There is nothing sexist in my comment. I was going to reply with an explanation of the watch industry but have decided not to bother.

I guess you have no idea about watches. If you ask many women nowadays, even they prefer to wear the bigger mens watches. Its nothing to do with wrist sizes.

What an idiotic reply.
Ret....

 

[IJ Reilly]

What are you talking about. There is nothing sexist in my comment. I was going to reply with an explanation of the watch industry but have decided not to bother.

I guess you have no idea about watches. If you ask many women nowadays, even they prefer to wear the bigger mens watches. Its nothing to do with wrist sizes.

What an idiotic reply.
Ret....

OMG. So that makes me a girl? Let me check and get back to you.

Nope, still male. After all these years.

 

[iYiy-yiy-uh]

Is that really worth $400+?? Maybe when wireless recharging technology gets built into the Apple watch so you don't have to take it off every few hours to charge it when battery life gets low over time.

What benefits do you see wireless charging providing for the Apple watch? I doubt that most people will want to stand at a wireless charging pad with their wrist positioned in such a way that their watch will charge slowly. It's equally, if not more annoying than taking off the watch and snapping on the inductive charging connector in my opinion.

 

[iYiy-yiy-uh]

A bit off topic, but if you found the 6+ too large why did you not exchange it out for the standard sized 6? Just curious.

If your 6+ is too big, would you be up for a trade? PM me.

 

[MojoRisinSD]

42mm seems right to me...

This thread has sort of gone off the rails from the original post... anyways, I have actually printed the templates out and am very suprised how the 42mm is not nearly as big as people are making it out to be. This is especially true when you take into consideration that the lugs for the different bands are either very minimal or even non-existant with the unique design that Apple has implemented there. I was in the 38mm camp all the way until I was able to compare the sizes on my wrist, now I'm thinking 42.

 

[gaximus]

If everyone believed that "if everyone" scenarios were real, then this thread wouldn't exist, I wouldn't be too concerned about hypothetical mass actions, they really won't happen.

The first gen iPhone wasn't exactly a huge success, I profited on that by getting a new one in April 2008 for £179. After Apple got their act together, prices like that would never be seen again.

Not early adopting worked out very nicely for me, I always let other people subsidise the cost of day one 1st gen hardware, and for that, I am always grateful.

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Or, will call it a "hobby" and make it cheaper.

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There's nothing baffling about history.

The iPhone is still three same price it was the day it released, there are just Cell companies that are willing to subsidize it.

 

[nookster]

The iPhone is still three same price it was the day it released, there are just Cell companies that are willing to subsidize it.

It was a one-off due to delayed winter launch and no consumer interest in the UK, nothing to do with regular pricing. Unlike this.

 

[cfc]

As a developer writing a watch app I have written a working simulator of it into the iPhone app so that I can check that it is usable (that the buttons are large enough etc) and to see how it works when out in the real world (it is a POI app so dependent upon location). The simulator allows me to switch between 38mm and 42mm and has helped me decide which version of the watch that I want.

I have attached a two sets of screenshots of it running on an iPhone 6. If you email them to your phone and do a QuickLook on them then you can swipe between the sizes to see which you prefer. The first two show the main screen, which is just larger on the 42mm, but the second two show a results screen, which gives an example of how you can see more information on the larger screen.

Note that the status bar at the top is not exactly the same as it will look on the real phone as that meant installing the watch's San Francisco font, which wasn't worth the effort in a demo intended just for me (I didn't bother updating the clock either).

One of the things that surprised me when implementing it is the size of the black border around the screen, which has interesting implications for my app in particular.

If anyone is interested then I can add screenshots for the iPhone 5/5S or 4/4S. Unfortunately the 6+ doesn't have the same PPI so I haven't made the simulator work on that. I'm not intending to release it and so only bothered to make it work for my iPhone. I'm sure someone could adapt the screenshots with a bit of photoshopping if they wanted though.

Hope they help people decide what they want.

 

[lars666]

The simulator allows me to switch between 38mm and 42mm and has helped me decide which version of the watch that I want.

Thanks a lot for the screenshots. I'm curious: Will you go for the 38mm or the 42mm? Still undecided here – judging by a first look at your photos the extra space does seem a less significant factor than the question which size will look better at my wrist.

 

[cfc]

I'm going for the 38mm. The 42mm looked a bit big on my wrist, partly because my wrist isn't that wide and partly because I don't like large watches. Having said that as a developer I just want a watch to properly test my app, so I'd go for the 42mm if the 38mm sells out too fast.

The extra information that you can fit on the larger screen wasn't enough for me to justify the extra bulk. It does vary depending on what you are viewing though. Here are screenshots of particularly wide results (nearby major tourist attractions). They are in iPhone 5/5S format and show that, even though the extra space does show extra letters in the results, those the extra letters don't always help. Also it's worth noting that it took me a while to find a good example of wide results because most POI names seemed to fit (which surprised me).



The extra rows due to the height can be useful though, especially when text wraps round, as you can see from these screenshots of directions to a hotel, where the larger size allows for 7 directions instead of only 5.

 

[lars666]

Thanks again for the answer and additional info. I am tending to the 38mm, too, but will definitely have a look at both sizes in the Apple store before making the decision when the time comes.

 

[cfc]

In an ideal world I'd do the same, but I really need the watch as soon as it's available, so I can't really risk waiting to see them in the metal. After spending months on writing the app it will be very annoying if supplies are restricted and it takes me ages to get hold of a watch in order to test, debug and release the app!

 

[iSee]

Some 4GB launch buyers possibly felt like spewing.

Well, that customer satisfaction survey I linked to was just after Apple dropped the price, so I guess it didn't make anyone that unhappy. People will whine about anything, even a price drop. But in this case I'm glad they did because I ended up with $100 credit as a result.

Anyway, that's was bad marketing, not a technical issue: The iPhone was a great 1st gen product, even overpriced at $599 on contract.

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...Having said that as a developer I just want a watch to properly test my app, so I'd go for the 42mm if the 38mm sells out too fast...

I think the 38mm is probably the way to go as a developer unless you have pretty fat fingers... You can make sure everything feels good in the smaller space, then give 42mm users a little more room.

(Though, if you are bigger, especially with fatter fingers, your experience on the 42 might be more equivalent to the average person's experience on the 38.)

 

[cfc]

I think the 38mm is probably the way to go as a developer unless you have pretty fat fingers... You can make sure everything feels good in the smaller space, then give 42mm users a little more room.

(Though, if you are bigger, especially with fatter fingers, your experience on the 42 might be more equivalent to the average person's experience on the 38.)

I agree. It's another reason for me to get the 38mm - if the app fits and is usable on that then it should only look better on the 42mm. But as I say I will get the 42mm version if I have to.

I'd be interested to know how many of each size Apple are manufacturing. Initially I thought that the 42mm would be more popular because I assumed that the two sizes were for men and women, and most early adopters would be men. But now that I've seen what it looks like on my wrist I am expecting the 38mm to be more popular.

 

[iSee]

I agree. It's another reason for me to get the 38mm - if the app fits and is usable on that then it should only look better on the 42mm. But as I say I will get the 42mm version if I have to.

I'd be interested to know how many of each size Apple are manufacturing. Initially I thought that the 42mm would be more popular because I assumed that the two sizes were for men and women, and most early adopters would be men. But now that I've seen what it looks like on my wrist I am expecting the 38mm to be more popular.

On day one, I think that most buyers will be men who assume 42 is for men and 38 is for women.

But I think, in time, as people have a chance to try these out and see them on real people's wrists, the 38 will become much more popular.

My bet is that Apple sees it this way too and that they are manufacturing for the next several months, not day one. So... I think the 38 will be in relatively good supply early on. Relatively.

(This is probably obvious by now, but I'm a developer angling for a 38mm watch as well.)

 

[cfc]

(This is probably obvious by now, but I'm a developer angling for a 38mm watch as well.)

I'd imagine that there are a lot of us in the same position!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

History suggests that people shouldn't rush out to buy the first iteration regardless.

Who's history? I buy 1st gen products all the time and I'm still living and smiling. If the watch is truly a stinker I'll figure that out within the return period.

 

[epilyx]

Apple 42mm on top of Movado watch bezel

The 42mm does appear to be a smidgen too big for those with smaller wrists.

 

[nookster]

People will whine about anything, even a price drop.

They undoubtedly do, about price hikes, price drops, lack of day one enthusiasm, opinions. I'll happily wait and watch.

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Who's history? I buy 1st gen products all the time and I'm still living and smiling. If the watch is truly a stinker I'll figure that out within the return period.

I'm sure it won't be that bad. Even if it was, I'd still consider it if the bargain bin price was right.

 

[SaraMac95014]

Those are hideous and ridiculously large.
Fail

 

[Plinga]

its 2015 and they still havent figured out an energy efficient way to display the time all the time? i will wait for gen 3

I'm confused. Do you look at the time without looking at the time? What does it matter if the time doesn't appear until you lift your wrist up? Don't you do that with a normal watch anyhow?

No, you glance at you wrist to see the time on a normal watch. It does matter if you're in a crowded place or are already holding items with hour hands

 

[macduke]

If history is any measure, the only price drop when gen two is released is for the older gen one version.

I didn't mean that I thought it would get cheaper, I meant that I would budget it in for a later year as I'm fairly strict with my finances—although I occasionally splurge. I've got a few things that need upgrading this year (mainly camera gear as I'm still rolling on an old 7D for my personal camera and thinking about switching systems to Sony) and I try to plan things out long-term. I don't always succeed. Do I have the money to buy it? Sure. But that money would probably be better spent this year if it remains invested, especially with the recent market upturn. I've become a lot more patient since having a kid last year, lol.

A bit off topic, but if you found the 6+ too large why did you not exchange it out for the standard sized 6? Just curious.

Well first of all I was trying to give it a fair shake. I absolutely love the display. I tried to stick with it but it grated on my over time. Also Apple last year apparently changed their return window from 30 days to 14. Then later I started having a lot of problems with it crashing. I'm still debating whether I should try to exchange it for being faulty, as many other users haven't experienced the same thing, and if I do try to return it, if they would let me exchange it for a refurbished, cheaper 4.7" model. It seems like that would be a reasonable thing to do if it's faulty, but many corporations nowadays aren't very reasonable—even if they're saving money it's against "protocol".

 

[sniffies]

Ironically, out of all designs, the best looking one is the cheapest version, not the $5K one. LOL

 

[alexgowers]

The screen should have dual display, behind the LCD should be some kind of very low battery usage digital watch display that dims when the LCD comes on or is obscured. I'm not sure whats in the works but it would be kinda cool to see someone crack this and have both without LEDs being on behind the display.

There needs to be a change to the screen tech for the watch to be a buy for me.

It's not about the apps etc but a watch with a blank face is just not great to look at, the traditional watch has the face candy that this is gonna be missing.