I don't know where you live but in Utah in January many people have acclimated and do walk around sleeves up. Also riding bikes, jogging, so that's why I'm interested in this. Funny seeing people posting from SoCal saying this isn't an issue.
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Is Apple Watch worth the price in cold weather?
- Thread starter conifer
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Exactly. Additionally, the brutal winter lasted thru end of March this year in some places in the US.
I've used $70,000 Sony Betacams in -50 degree F (ambient) weather, I seriously doubt that was in the "recommended" temperature range! I'm sure when winter comes back to Alaska I won't have much problem with my Watch, however if my wrist temperature gets below 32, I'll have a much bigger problem! I'll let y'all know in a couple of months. 
Is this what you read? "If you’re exercising in the cold, for example, the skin perfusion in your wrist may be too low for the heart rate sensor to get a reading."
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666
I grew up in North Dakota, and had several outside blue collar jobs in the winter. I've only lived in So Cal for 5 years. My personal record was -50 F without windchill, and I've seen -20 F many many times.
One of my favorite memories was a cold spell in Jan in Bismarck when it never got above 0 F for 20 consecutive days, I stepped out of my front door, took a deep breath and the inside of my nose froze and immediately started bleeding, and forming bloodcicles on my mustache...
I don't recall ever wearing or seeing anyone else wear their watches where they were exposed to the cold for more than a few minutes at a time, particularly metal watches, LCD watches would stop working around 0 F, and have to warm up before working again, LED watches tolerated temperature extremes a lot better.
Cold is really the absence of heat, and a metal Apple watch will conduct the heat of the user to the ambient air, never dipping below 32 F unless the circumstances were extreme, in which case a watch that was 32 F or lower would cause tissue damage and you would have taken it off prior to it getting that cold because of the discomfort, or you're a corpse and your heat has radiated away from your body.
And for the record, I really am Steve's love child, or Tim's partner, I can never keep that stuff straight...
"Apple Watch is designed to work best in ambient temperatures between 32° to 95° F (0° and 35° C), and should be stored between ambient temperatures of -4° and 113° F (-20° and 45° C)."
"For example, Apple Watch shouldn’t sit unattended in direct sun for long periods, undergo dramatic changes in temperature or humidity, or be left in a car on hot days. Storing and using your device outside of the recommended temperature range could shorten its battery life or cause other damage."
This is directly copied from the Apple Watch Owners Manual NO WHERE does it say anything about "NOT USING THE WATCH BELOW 32ºF AT ALL." Period. It simply says that that the watch works best when used between 32ºFand 95ºF. ANY Interpretation other than this is totally incorrect. Note the last sentence which I've put in bold and underlined, the KEY word here is "COULD" not "will." Again any interpretation other than this is totally incorrect, and wrong, pure hyperbole.
I live in east central Illinois where it is not uncommon at all for the temperature to be in -20º F range in winter and easily above 100ºF in the summer. Today the high temperature was 91ºF. My watch did not falter or fail in the slightest at only 4ºF below the 95ºF range listed in the manual, nor do I expect that it ever will. The temperature would have to be hot enough to kill me before it will harm your watch.
If you are worried that much about the temperatures that your watch will function in then either don't buy one or if you have one sell it to someone else who understands the writing in a owners manual.
"For example, Apple Watch shouldn’t sit unattended in direct sun for long periods, undergo dramatic changes in temperature or humidity, or be left in a car on hot days. Storing and using your device outside of the recommended temperature range could shorten its battery life or cause other damage."
This is directly copied from the Apple Watch Owners Manual NO WHERE does it say anything about "NOT USING THE WATCH BELOW 32ºF AT ALL." Period. It simply says that that the watch works best when used between 32ºFand 95ºF. ANY Interpretation other than this is totally incorrect. Note the last sentence which I've put in bold and underlined, the KEY word here is "COULD" not "will." Again any interpretation other than this is totally incorrect, and wrong, pure hyperbole.
I live in east central Illinois where it is not uncommon at all for the temperature to be in -20º F range in winter and easily above 100ºF in the summer. Today the high temperature was 91ºF. My watch did not falter or fail in the slightest at only 4ºF below the 95ºF range listed in the manual, nor do I expect that it ever will. The temperature would have to be hot enough to kill me before it will harm your watch.
If you are worried that much about the temperatures that your watch will function in then either don't buy one or if you have one sell it to someone else who understands the writing in a owners manual.
It's the same for iOS devices. I'm not worried about damage to my watch battery from cold winters, since I wear a very warm parka and don't spend long periods outside when it's below freezing.
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Had my watch 6 weeks, and sad to report it is true - I have seen the degradation in accuracy as the weather got colder here in Melbourne (Australia).
I do outdoor walks, and the heart rate monitor is spotty at best. It gives me dud readings of one half or 3/4 of the correct rate. On cold days (like under 15C/60F) these dud readings happen nearly all the time. On warmer days the happen about a quarter of the time.
I am 6'4" and have skinny wrists. Maybe I should try gloves to warm my hands/wrists.
I do outdoor walks, and the heart rate monitor is spotty at best. It gives me dud readings of one half or 3/4 of the correct rate. On cold days (like under 15C/60F) these dud readings happen nearly all the time. On warmer days the happen about a quarter of the time.
I am 6'4" and have skinny wrists. Maybe I should try gloves to warm my hands/wrists.
I've certainly had my iphone shut down a number of times in early 90's temperature in sunlight after 20 minutes or so on a phone call.
Here is the language from an iPhone manual from a few years ago, I assume it hasn't changed much:
"Use the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (4th generation) in an environment where the temperature is between 32 and 95ºF (0 and 35ºC). If the temperature is lower or higher than recommended, battery life may be change or the unit could temporarily not work properly”."
So I am taking the "could" language seriously based on what I know from other electronics.
I am attempting now to see what peoples' experiences are in cold weather as I am not in cold weather now. It is a valid query that will help me determine if the phone is worth close to $400 expenditure.
QUOTE="Smurphy Gherkin, post: 21419163, member: 954958"]Had my watch 6 weeks, and sad to report it is true - I have seen the degradation in accuracy as the weather got colder here in Melbourne (Australia).
I do outdoor walks, and the heart rate monitor is spotty at best. It gives me dud readings of one half or 3/4 of the correct rate. On cold days (like under 15C/60F) these dud readings happen nearly all the time. On warmer days the happen about a quarter of the time.
I am 6'4" and have skinny wrists. Maybe I should try gloves to warm my hands/wrists.[/QUOTE]
Wow, very very helpful.
When Apple suggests a customer use the watch within a specified temperature range, because it COULD cause damage, that's pretty much putting the customer on notice that they should not do it, and that's a perfectly valid interpretation . Indeed they use the word "shouldn't" with respect to dramatic temperature changes, and I can think of nothing more dramatic than going from -20 outside to 78 inside. If you want to argue semantics, and feel that strongly about it, then you should offer an extended warranty to anyone who takes your advice to store and operate it in temperatures just below that which are "hot enough to kill" you. Talk about hyperbole.
Haha, you are game. But of course, it ain't about the Watch, it is about how cold your wrist is. Bloodflow.
I work with medical heart monitors all day every day, I really dont care.
Heck, my co workers cant even seem to function without electronic monitors, I can calculate a pulse rate manually in about 5 seconds, its pretty simple.
I am getting a kick out of all the drama about the accuracy of the HRM on the Apple Watch, medical monitors cost tens of thousands, and they still get it wrong.
Its all about everyones situation. If you sit in an office during the day, theres no problem using your Applewatch. If you're walking outside, maybe you'll duck in a store to use it.
If the weather isn't that cold then maybe you'll pull up your sleeve.
Theres no general answer.
If the weather isn't that cold then maybe you'll pull up your sleeve.
Theres no general answer.
But what if I cross the international dateline with my frozen Apple Watch, what then?
Interesting but kinda irrelevant, but I guess you know that, and are familiar with the 30-30-30 rule in extreme cold survival. I'm talking about temps in the 20's while running,bicycling, hiking/snowshoeing type of activities.