Future Apple Watch to Adopt Solid State Buttons With Haptic Feedback

[Lepton]

I was already waiting for a new model to replace my series zero, but now that they obsoleted it, I want the new model right away!

 

[iGeek2014]

Would be good if they could somehow use the solid state button as a double up to Touch ID; be great to use it as well as a passcode?

 

[dilbert99]

I'm wondering how they'll do a solid state digital crown.

They won't the article is misleading when it says solid state buttons, there will only be one solid state button on it that can alleviate water ingress.
The other will still rotate and unless the crown is "floating on magnets" rather than having a physical shaft into the watch, it will still have the potential for water ingress.

My biggest fear of water ingress is through the screen. You just don't know when your Apple watch battery is going to expand and let water in.

As it happens, the touch died on my Apple 1 watch after 2.5 years and Apple made a bit note that if it was water damage that killed it, I would have to foot the bill, I never did so suspect it was not water damage an they replaced the watch.

 

[AndrewWx]

I really hope this feature makes it into this falls new watch announcement. I think it will make the watch look a little sleeker. I hope a also more reliable.

On an unrelated note I just had to switch out of this forum go to 1Password get my password go back here and paste it in. Needless to say I’m really looking forward to iOS 12. I am In Tweetbot not safari.

 

[iZac]

The haptic keyboard will be coming next. Don’t know how I feel about that :-/

But in the case of this device, I’m glad the crown is going haptic, my one for want of a better word feels unbalanced - I probably knocked it some time without noticing. I’m sure it’s exacerbated by the fact it clicks in.

 

[farewelwilliams]

With today's tech, you can have the exact same looking wheel, but its stationary, and as you move your finger tip across it as you do now, instead of it physically spinning, it's surface just detects your finger movement and passes on the movement to the watch.

i'm no hardware engineer but that'll be difficult to detect if the touch point does not change. sure your finger might be gliding, but the contact point is at the same position which will make it hard to tell if you're moving at all.

 

[Icaras]

I’m not crazy about moves like this. There’s nothing that lets you know you’ve pushed a button on a device better than feeling the click but I get that the more they can seal up a device the better they can water proof it.

Sounds like you’ve never used an iPhone 6s or later, a 2016 or later MacBook Pro or 2016 or later MacBook, or a Magic Trackpad 2.

 

[Spartan23]

Increase the battery life!

 

[deckard666]

About time. The current Watch form factor is starting to get dated after 3 years.

Yeah much like the old round form for analogues got a bit stale after a hundred years or so ... oh wait...

 

[JPack]

Yeah much like the old round form for analogues got a bit stale after a hundred years or so ... oh wait...

I had no idea Apple set their standards that low.

Imagine if Apple used the flip phone as their benchmark. We would only see an update every 10 years.

 

[rjp1]

It literally feels like a click.

No, it doesn't. It feels like a vibration.

You know what feels like a button click? A button you click.

 

[jarman92]

Can we please just get an always-on display?

 

[KGB7]

So the watch will cost more, it will be more complex and will drain battery faster.

Yeah, GGreeaaat idea Apple!

 

[FelixDerKater]

As long as they don't make it a device with only on-screen gestures. That doesn't fit a watch well.

 

[haruhiko]

How to force a reboot then?

 

[Macaholic868]

It literally feels like a click.

Perhaps but given my experience with the Apple Watch I’ll believe it when I see it / feel it. With the watch we were told the haptic feedback engine would be inaudible and would feel like someone was tapping you on the wrist. The haptic feedback is clearly audible if the room is silent and I’ve got a call coming in. It feels like the phone feels when it’s on vibration mode in my pocket. That’s not exactly how Apple sold it. It works a hell of a lot better when the Maps app is open on the phone and you’ve got an upcoming direction notification. That feels like 3 quick taps and I don’t hear it but I’ve got a car with a moon roof so it’s not exactly quiet when the moon roof is open or the windows are down.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Implementation is in the details. Can it be used with gloves? Can it be use in water? Or when wet? Then of course the exact design/click feel is important as well.

If done correctly this could be a good thing, but I don’t have any problem with the physical buttons either

 

[zahuh]

So same will happen to the iPhone? No buttons anywhere? Also, I stopped using the digital crown to scroll. I just use it as a home button and if Apple adopts iPhone X swiping gestures on Apple Watch, there's no need for it in my opinion.

 

[sully54]

I’m all for this! Apple also has the technology from the click wheel iPod to do a solid state scrolling mechanism for the Digital Crown.

 

[kirreip]

I guess, that‘s what happens when an American company makes a watch designed by an english man.
No style, no soul, no value...

 

[fontman]

Well it looks like they want to make it easier to fail . sad face apple shame on you . useless tech . it a watch right .
[doublepost=1528515462][/doublepost]

A future version of the Apple Watch will be updated with solid state buttons that don't physically click but instead use a Taptic Engine to provide haptic feedback to users, reports Fast Company.

Apple will continue to use a two button configuration with a Digital Crown and a Side button, but neither button will be a traditional physical button.

What Fast Company is describing is the same solid state button design that Apple first introduced with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus Home button. These devices, and later iPhones with a Home button, use solid state buttons that provide haptic feedback from the built-in Taptic Engine to mimic a button press. Apple uses a similar method for its MacBook and MacBook Pro trackpads, which also lack physical buttons.

Solid state buttons will improve water resistance in the Apple Watch and also take up less space, leaving more room for a bigger battery or other components. Fast Company's source also alleges Apple is working on using the top of the buttons as sensors to gather health-related data like heart rhythms as some types of measurements require more than one point of contact with a user's skin.

According to Fast Company, the Apple Watch could adopt solid state buttons as early as 2018, but if the feature doesn't make it into the 2018 Apple Watch models, solid state buttons will be introduced in 2019. In the future, beyond 2019, Apple is also said to be working towards a watch that has no buttons at all, with the sides of the device designed to respond to touch and swipe-based gestures.

Previous 2018 Apple Watch rumors have made no mention of solid state buttons, but we have heard that the fourth-generation Apple Watch models could feature a display that's 15 percent larger, perhaps through a reduction in bezel size. New models are also said to feature a longer battery life and improved health monitoring capabilities.

Article Link: Future Apple Watch to Adopt Solid State Buttons With Haptic Feedback

NO !

 

[ike1707]

going off in your pants all the time.

Aaand I think that’s enough Internet for me for one day.

 

[mpavilion]

I always felt this was obvious.

Why have a physical wheel (crown) that actually spins?
You need a shaft and waterproofing.
And it's pointless.
With today's tech, you can have the exact same looking wheel, but its stationary, and as you move your finger tip across it as you do now, instead of it physically spinning, it's surface just detects your finger movement and passes on the movement to the watch.

Think of it exactly like the iPod circular control dial/disk.
You ran your finger around it, to do things just as you would have a moving wheel.
But your finger just slipped over the surface, and it stayed still

I knew this was going to happen as it's so obvious and the user experience will be 99/9% the same as it is now.
With e benefit of no moving parts.

I think that’s a great idea for clicking. Wonder if it’ll apply to spinning as well.

The article says, “The digital crown will still physically rotate to navigate through content.”

 

[iLLUMI]

I think the Digital Crown will still spin. There's just something satisfying about that.

Huh? But isn't a "solid state button" exactly that? Therefore it doesn't move?
If it still spins then its not really "solid state".
And then the article also states "Apple is also said to be working towards a watch that has no buttons at all".

Therefore according to the article the progression will be solid state button then no button at all.

 

[AnonMac50]

Does it have to be? The home button on my iPhone 7 is a nightmare, much worse than my 6s. Doesn't recognise fingers as well, is harder to press, and only worked about half the time with my capacitive glove...