How many years will an Apple Watch last?

[GoingDark]

Upgrade cycles always start off short and get longer with every generation. If you had an original iPhone, by the time the iPhone 4 came out your phone was basically obsolete. However, I know lots of people who have an iPhone 6S that's still going strong with no issues, and it's at the same place in its life cycle.

My Series 0 watch was already showing its age 2 years in, but I'd expect a Series 4 to last at least that long if not longer. It's still early days though, which is why I chose aluminum for my Series 4 when I previously had Stainless Steel - if I plan on upgrading in a couple of years, I don't see the point in paying twice as much for a steel model. By the time the Series 6 or Series 8 are out, though, I might change my mind.

 

[sean000]

Put it under a bright light/sunlight and I guarantee you it’s scratched somewhere.

If I have to look that hard, why would it matter? I’m a photographer with thousands of dollars worth of camera lenses. I’ve bought and sold used lenses for a couple of decades, so I definitely know how to look for scratches both deep and surface/hairline. I think the only iOS device I ever scratched badly enough to easily see was my iPhone 6. It got put into a pocket with a name tag and the pin on the tag left a nasty scratch on the display.

 

[Rangers94]

I’m gonna make my SSSB 44mm Series 4 last at least 2-4 years.

 

[Southern Dad]

My original Apple Watch, that I bought on release day, is still working fine. I gave it to my daughter when I got the Series 3.

 

[teknikal90]

It isn’t a waste if you can’t stand scratched up screens. The sport watch screens might as well be made of butter.

I think thats kind of overblown. I got a series 0 from original launch date and didnt have any scratches on it in the three years i had it before i just upgraded now. your mileage obviously would vary.

 

[newellj]

If I have to look that hard, why would it matter? I’m a photographer with thousands of dollars worth of camera lenses. I’ve bought and sold used lenses for a couple of decades, so I definitely know how to look for scratches both deep and surface/hairline. I think the only iOS device I ever scratched badly enough to easily see was my iPhone 6. It got put into a pocket with a name tag and the pin on the tag left a nasty scratch on the display.

Took the words out of my mouth. If you can only see scratches in bright light, looking closely or even with a magnifier, who cares?
[doublepost=1538954689][/doublepost]

It isn’t a waste if you can’t stand scratched up screens. The sport watch screens might as well be made of butter.

Based on two years experience this is just not true. I bang into things a lot and have had no scratches. Consider also that while the ion glass is more likely to scratch, the sapphire layer is more likely to shatter.

If you plan to keep the watch only a year or two you will see much more depreciation on the SS. For example, the Apple trade-in on S3 watches was only $25 higher for the SS.[/QUOTE]

 

[Hater]

I actually have two older 512K Macs. like the one pictured below. These were EOL'd long ago both still work but I don't use them. The watch will be like that, an antique that still works using the old software but you really don't want to use it anymore and Apple would not be able to repair it.

But it would be fun to bring the old Mac to the Apple store and ask if they would look at it.

I wouldn't bother, Apple store Geniuses look at me funny/with disgust when I tried to take my 2009 XServe in, as neither of them even knew what it was.

And no, the lithium battery in your watch will mean it will not work, or even boot in 10 or so years time, much like many first generation iPhones.

Takes 5 or 6 minutes for my 2G to boot these days, and it's pretty much unusable because the battery goes flat during the boot process (even when plugged in) so it just boot loops

 

[44267547]

I’m gonna make my SSSB 44mm Series 4 last at least 2-4 years.

Theoretically, it should with this new S4 64 Bit processor. The First GEN watch I think was discontinued slightly early, but it also was very underpowered and third-party applications were not seeing various updates. Now that the Series 4 is much more efficient and powerful, I would expect at least three, if not four years of watchOS updates.

 

[vintagekeys]

I will replace it yearly, i still do not feel the tech is quite where it is for my kind of usage (very different from most AW users anyways) This version realistically comparing it to a Iphone 6 S model i can see it last at least 4 years in terms of userbillity, but the tiny battery wont last that many daily cyles, so i think realistically you look at 3 years max, of the last year being a bit of a drag based on battery life.

 

[newellj]

I will replace it yearly, i still do not feel the tech is quite where it is for my kind of usage (very different from most AW users anyways) This version realistically comparing it to a Iphone 6 S model i can see it last at least 4 years in terms of userbillity, but the tiny battery wont last that many daily cyles, so i think realistically you look at 3 years max, of the last year being a bit of a drag based on battery life.

I think of it as more like the iPhone 4 or 4S - a breakthrough in terms of design and function from the first generational family group. I had hoped to keep my S3 and probably could have, but the overall features of the S4 were enough to get me to upgrade.

I think the same way you do, that for the next few years the improvements are likely to make annual upgrades attractive to me. That doesn't mean that a S3 watch doesn't have several more years of great use, but I think in terms of hardware and software capabilities as well as UX the S4 eclipses the S3, and will in turn be eclipsed by the S5.

 

[LDec]

Have mine for 2 years and 9 months. Using it everyday. Charging at night. There were few occasions when I run out of battery and it went to “sleep”. Really happy and hope it will last another year.

6 years and still working without battery replacement.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I was going to say... we gifted/sold our AW3s to family and ... they're still being used every day. These watches last quite awhile. A few years ago when I was traveling like crazy for work, I was surprised to see so many AW1s in the wild.

 

[ChrisA]

Good to see this thread continuing. I'll come back in 15 years and see what people are saying.
When these watches came out Apple was selling $3,000 gold versions of the watch. You hope for that price the watch would last more than 4 or 5 years before you chuck it in the recycle bin.

 

[entropi]

My series "0" will be six in october and I have 70% of battery when I charge it around six in the evening before bedtime and sleeptracking, I can't complain!

 

[nickdalzell1]

My Series 5 has a bugged out battery meter but it otherwise goes well over a day (24 hours) only getting charged to 80-90 % (I don't like going to 100% because it shortens battery capacity over time) for an hour or hour and half each morning. That's with AOD, Wifi, all features except background app refresh turned on.

Obviously I blocked updates so I don't suffer any needless change, bugs, or performance issues. Same for my iPhone 6S. Still feels brand new.

The bugged out battery meter usually shows first thing in the morning after my alarm goes off. It tells me 'Good Morning', shows the weather and sometimes shows my battery level at 0% or single digits (usually hovers around 20-30% but depends on how much I used it the day before) but oddly doesn't complain about it or turn power reserve on. My iPhone showed 1% when placed on charge once, but was still going. Come to think of it, my HTC Thunderbolt sometimes showed a 'battery icon that's empty with an "!"' inside it if extremely low but never shut off.

I think technically the battery isn't truly dead when it hits 0%, since Li-Ion batteries have well, explosive issues after they're drained to less than 20% in reality and then charged, but I could be mistaken. I was just surprised my screen was still on when my battery shows 0%. Makes me far more confident about how long it lasts though. Never tried testing how long that 0% lasts for before it shuts down though.

Slowest app I've ever run on my Watch is YouTube Music. It takes up to five minutes to 'get playlists' before it functions. Otherwise all the apps it has are built in, and many of the included apps haven't really been updated since 2015 so I can't imagine how even a Series 0 could 'slow down' unless you needlessly updated to the latest OS.

 

[max2]

6 years and still working without battery replacement.

Bingo.

 

[jz0309]

S4 still going strong after ~ 2yrs 7 mos, Battery health at 87%, gets worn throughout the day, charged at night, and I typically end the day between 40-50% charge, latest watchOS ... might get S7 depending on features but maybe not, so expect the S4 to be good through 2022 but I do not get the S7 I might stop updating watchOS ...

 

[ErikGrim]

SS S3 still allowing for a full day and night cycle with charging in the morning and 1-2 workouts (although that has varied a bit across betas lately).

 

[millerj123]

I'm at just shy of 4 years on the S2 I still use everyday.

 

[Feisar]

My 6 year old, AW SS-Milanese Series 0 aka Gen 1 is still running without issues - no battery replacement required but takes forever to boot if I turn it off, LOL. Most of the time it spends off, since I rotate my two Series 5 and the latest Series 6.

 

[Rodan52]

This thread is so old that we should be able to get some valuable feedback from the first poster's.
My guess is about 3 years though. Maybe some of the members who posted this thread in 2015 would like to respond?

 

[nickdalzell1]

Also, 'obsolete' is a subjective term. For some folks it is age and the tech innovation since a device launches that determines it, for some it's how far behind software-wise it is, but for most folks, a device is only obsolete when it stops serving their needs.

Case in point, before my dad died, he still used the original iPhone 2G, in 2016. He only needed something that could make or receive calls, used Safari to look up aviation info, on wifi a lot, and kept notes. For him, at least, that phone was not obsolete.

Just wanted to point that out. What's 'obsolete' is not so cut and dry. Plenty of folks on this forum are still using PowerPC computers just fine, and development still exists to keep those devices online, and out of our landfills. Sometimes it's better to reduce and reuse, rather than recycle (recycling still takes resources).

 

[sananda]

6 years and still working without battery replacement.

My series "0" will be six in october and I have 70% of battery when I charge it around six in the evening before bedtime and sleeptracking, I can't complain!

I recently asked Apple to change the battery of my launch day original Apple Watch as it wasn't always making it through the day. Apple changed the whole watch. So I suppose it turns out my watch lasted just under six years.

 

[ViktorEvil]

my wife and I are still using our series "0" watches and they both last nearly all day. Don't think I can resist upgrading for much longer though.