How many generations band compatibility?

[joealanjones]

How many generations of Watch do you think the current bands will be compatible with?

I'd like to think that if I spend all that money on a link bracelet, I will get a few years out of it. (It's inevitable I will upgrade to G2)

 

[Piggie]

Knowing how slow Apple moves.
I would suggest you could be looking at 5 years easy if not 10.

They can change the case and still keep the band slot, would take a MAJOR change to cause and problems.
I'd suggest the band connector has been designed to stay the same for a long long time

 

[maflynn]

No one really knows. Any guesses would be just that a guess.

 

[joealanjones]

Knowing how slow Apple moves.
I would suggest you could be looking at 5 years easy if not 10.

They can change the case and still keep the band slot, would take a MAJOR change to cause and problems.
I'd suggest the band connector has been designed to stay the same for a long long time

Do you not think they would change it intentionally to force people to shell out more?

 

[KauaiBruce]

I would give it a minimum of 5 years but it is probably much longer. The only thing that would make them change it sooner is either a patent issue or there is something about it that turns out to be flawed so a radical change is required.

Yes, it could get so thin they will not work but the basic form factor should not change. I personally do not want a watch so thin the mechanism will have to change. And from the looks of it, the watch could get at least 30% thinner without changing the strap design.

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Do you not think they would change it intentionally to force people to shell out more?

The way to get people to shell out more is bringing out more nice bands. They could be like the Swatch and bring out a limited edition designer band each year that some would collect.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I would say approximately 5 years.

 

[papa8706]

I have a feeling they won't be doing a re-design for at least a couple of years. Since they are marketing this as fashionable product, I could see them really pushing the bands as a way to keep costumers coming back to further customize their watch.

 

[Piggie]

Do you not think they would change it intentionally to force people to shell out more?

I don't think even Apple is stupid enough to do that until after a few years, them being able to demonstrate that in order to further improve the product, they had to change the band connector system.

EG:

The new Apple watch 6 is such an amazing enhancement from the old model, using the latest developments in case construction materials and design, that you are going to want to select new bands for it.