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kevingaffney

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 17, 2008
577
54
firstly I don't have money to burn so I have to think carefully before investing in new gadgets. My fear is this. Lifespan of iPhones and iPads are probably three years as iOS and apps evolve. Traditionally expensive watches could be expected to last many many years. The current iwatch could be virtually obsolete relatively quickly making it a hell of an expensive device. Don't get me wrong, I'd love one but finding it hard to justify 5 or 600 hundred euros for a watch with a short lifespan. Example, will current watch even function with an iPhone on say iOS 11
 
As most of the processing is done on the phone I would expect the lifespan to be at least a few years longer than the iPhone. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't still be working with the latest iPhone in 5 to 10 years, the only reason why the original iPod doesn't sync with iTunes anymore is new macs don't have the firewire port it needs, but iPods well over 10 years old will still sync with the newest computers.

What I think will be the problem keeping the lifespan short is the battery. The current time is pretty close to the minimum that most people will find acceptable. However over time batteries loose some of their capacity so in a year or two your all day battery life probably won't be all day anymore.
 
As most of the processing is done on the phone I would expect the lifespan to be at least a few years longer than the iPhone. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't still be working with the latest iPhone in 5 to 10 years, the only reason why the original iPod doesn't sync with iTunes anymore is new macs don't have the firewire port it needs, but iPods well over 10 years old will still sync with the newest computers.

What I think will be the problem keeping the lifespan short is the battery. The current time is pretty close to the minimum that most people will find acceptable. However over time batteries loose some of their capacity so in a year or two your all day battery life probably won't be all day anymore.

Let us hope they update things to squeeze more life out of the battery before it degrades.
 
firstly I don't have money to burn so I have to think carefully before investing in new gadgets. My fear is this. Lifespan of iPhones and iPads are probably three years as iOS and apps evolve. Traditionally expensive watches could be expected to last many many years. The current iwatch could be virtually obsolete relatively quickly making it a hell of an expensive device. Don't get me wrong, I'd love one but finding it hard to justify 5 or 600 hundred euros for a watch with a short lifespan. Example, will current watch even function with an iPhone on say iOS 11

I would guess yes.

If Apple TV (extension of a MAC) is any indication, Watch could last for a while.
 
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