Name 1 portable product that apple hasn't made Thinner
and i think 2nd gen should be slightly
and i think 2nd gen should be slightly
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No New Apple Watch For 5 Years?
- Thread starter Davidchicago
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Name 1 portable product that apple hasn't made Thinner
and i think 2nd gen should be slightly
The watch isn't portable. It's wearable.
This is like inferring from a soldier about the country's foreign policy.
Have you actually watched a tear down? There is no "drop in" anything on this device at all. I guarantee that there will never be a program to upgrade the internals on this device period. To think anything else is just silly.
A five year upgrade program just could not be possible. Remember the Iphone is a key part of the infrastructure and there is going to be many upgrades on the phone in that five year period. It would be very difficult to keep compatability between the two devices.
The other aspect to consider is AC+. If Apple truly intended to support the use of these for 5 years, there would have been tiers of AC+ made available to support that longevity. Instead, we're limited to 2 years.
There will be new API's made available to the dev's at WWDC. Hopefully the performance improves. If we continue to see sluggishness in the apps, then it's a given we'll see a hardware upgrade in 18 months or less. Apple won't want anything other than a snappy performance. Anything less reflects poorly on the brand. Can't have that - especially with those buying the higher end watches (who likely also refresh every year). The Edition crowd likely buy a lot of idevices as gifts as well.
Edit: I think rev 3 will be the first "thinner" device and I think Apple will keep the band connector for some time. Hopefully the future watches keep the same width, providing longevity for the bands.
There will be new API's made available to the dev's at WWDC. Hopefully the performance improves. If we continue to see sluggishness in the apps, then it's a given we'll see a hardware upgrade in 18 months or less. Apple won't want anything other than a snappy performance. Anything less reflects poorly on the brand. Can't have that - especially with those buying the higher end watches (who likely also refresh every year). The Edition crowd likely buy a lot of idevices as gifts as well.
Edit: I think rev 3 will be the first "thinner" device and I think Apple will keep the band connector for some time. Hopefully the future watches keep the same width, providing longevity for the bands.
I don't think Apple will go this route. They need to ditch the over-sized AW bezel as soon as possible.
Until the 2nd generation Apple Watch is released, we will have no clue as to the product's life cycle and upgrade cycle.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
I say second gen Watch in 3 years the earliest. Unlike phones where people can get just as good devices for cheap depending on a contract, it'll be heard for competitors to match the success of Apple Watch. I honestly don't see how profitable competitors can be with their own wearable devices if they plan on making a similar product. We know android wear has a couple quality watches but when you factor in build and design, they're cheap...or cheaper than Apple Watch. Are Android owners suddenly going to go berzerk and start charging stores for an Android watch because Apple has this cool product? Even if Android wear has some cool factor and is cheaper...is that really competition for Apple Watch?
There really is no competition for Apple Watch. Apple Watch is intended only for the iOS ecosystem. Apple is competing with themselves. In my opinion, they're in no rush to deliver a new version every year unless Android wear leads to loss in iPhone sales from people switching to the Android world.
I honestly don't believe Apple was thinking about competing with other smart watch makers, and were solely focused on how the watch can exist in its own ecosystem and if it made any sense to....much like Apple TV, where generation 1 was released in 2007, gen 2 in 2010, then gen 3 in 2013. I see Apple Watch going the same route....every 3 years.
If anything...maybe Apple eventually releases an affordable "fitness watch" with limited functionality: get texts but can't respond. Unable to install apps. But it has a good amount of storage to fit a decent size song library. It'll replace the iPod Nano but be priced a little more expensive at 199.00.
There really is no competition for Apple Watch. Apple Watch is intended only for the iOS ecosystem. Apple is competing with themselves. In my opinion, they're in no rush to deliver a new version every year unless Android wear leads to loss in iPhone sales from people switching to the Android world.
I honestly don't believe Apple was thinking about competing with other smart watch makers, and were solely focused on how the watch can exist in its own ecosystem and if it made any sense to....much like Apple TV, where generation 1 was released in 2007, gen 2 in 2010, then gen 3 in 2013. I see Apple Watch going the same route....every 3 years.
If anything...maybe Apple eventually releases an affordable "fitness watch" with limited functionality: get texts but can't respond. Unable to install apps. But it has a good amount of storage to fit a decent size song library. It'll replace the iPod Nano but be priced a little more expensive at 199.00.
Since most of the watch functions off the iOS of the phone, my guess would be 2-5 years. We could all be wrong but I'm thinking they would not have offered the Edition at that price without planning on a fairly long life.
Name 1 portable product that apple hasn't made Thinner
and i think 2nd gen should be slightly
"The New iPad" (3rd generation) gained weight and thickness over the iPad 2 due to the larger battery required to drive the retina display (primarily the 4x brighter backlight to push enough light through a less efficient screen).
I think this is likely. Although we'd all like to think our watches will be current for a while, I also bet there will be a watch s or similar that has been announced by this time next year. However talk of a replacement is pure speculation, and I would be totally amazed if it takes five years.
I also hope this is the case, and I think likely since iphone support usually lasts quite a while (not sure if its five years though).
I won't be surprised if there's a new watch in the spring, and I won't be surprised if we don't get a new watch until fall 2016 (though I'd be nice if Apple would stagger their device releases, instead of everything in the fall).
I will be surprised and disappointed if there's a new watch this coming fall.
I'm with the others who think we'll get a new watch within the next two years, mainly because Apple Care is only 2 years.
I will be surprised and disappointed if there's a new watch this coming fall.
I'm with the others who think we'll get a new watch within the next two years, mainly because Apple Care is only 2 years.
Honestly it wouldn't matter to me personally.
I like the watch & use it everyday but I can't see my self buying a new one each year. Maybe every 2 years.
I doubt I'll use/run out of storage either. Personally my watch is only for fitness tracking. No game or other apps on it.
Plus, besides a different design what more hard wear can you add to the watch? Inb4 camera because I think that's just plain dumb.
Call me when they put a later on it..
I like the watch & use it everyday but I can't see my self buying a new one each year. Maybe every 2 years.
I doubt I'll use/run out of storage either. Personally my watch is only for fitness tracking. No game or other apps on it.
Plus, besides a different design what more hard wear can you add to the watch? Inb4 camera because I think that's just plain dumb.
Call me when they put a later on it..
I don't believe they'll wait longer than two years to release an upgrade, if only because of battery life issues. I would be surprised if battery life doesn't start dropping off after the 12-18 month mark-- none of my devices which are older than three years have anywhere near the battery life they initially claimed, and in the case of the Watch, that means it dropping down from 18-24 hours to 12-18 hours, or worse. Apple don't want the bad press and customer ill will which would come with that.
Apple TV and other plug-in appliances (like the Mac Pro) can't really be compared to battery-powered devices for that difference alone. Things like the Nano and classic iPod are the only battery devices which haven't received regular refreshes, but that tends to be towards the end of their life cycle. I don't think Apple is going to consign the Watch to that kind of fringe status on its second generation. Wearables is predicted to be a massive revenue stream in the future, so I have a feeling they'll increase rather than decrease their focus on them.
Apple TV and other plug-in appliances (like the Mac Pro) can't really be compared to battery-powered devices for that difference alone. Things like the Nano and classic iPod are the only battery devices which haven't received regular refreshes, but that tends to be towards the end of their life cycle. I don't think Apple is going to consign the Watch to that kind of fringe status on its second generation. Wearables is predicted to be a massive revenue stream in the future, so I have a feeling they'll increase rather than decrease their focus on them.
I wouldn't be surprised if they wait over a year to refresh from the first to the second but then refresh annually for the remainder. I just don't see much in terms of form, other than making it thinner, that they can really do to improve upon what it has already (and also other than what's under the hood) in terms of functionality for what it is intended to do.
Under the hood they will change GB and the processor or whatever the watch has maybe battery improvements. But mainly will be thinner and few design changes.