No watchOS 5 for Original Apple Watch

[dumastudetto]

You're not being asked to care about what I or anyone else does with their first generation Apple Watch. The point is, it is not being obsoleted. Owners of of these watches can keep using them or not entirely on their own volition. The same will be true when the next generation becomes unsupported by OS updates. It is neither unusual nor the end of the world as we know it.

Of course they can, but they will start missing out on a lot of cool stuff.

Here's a good quote on twitter from _davidsmith (who has written loads of Apple Watch apps):

"My favorite announcement of the morning. Goodbye Series 0 Apple Watch. It’s been fun but you were holding the platform back. I can do so many more interesting things with Series 1/2 was the baseline! https://t.co/W2olzP16G7"

 

[IJ Reilly]

Of course they can, but they will start missing out on a lot of cool stuff.

Here's a good quote on twitter from _davidsmith (who has written loads of Apple Watch apps):

"My favorite announcement of the morning. Goodbye Series 0 Apple Watch. It’s been fun but you were holding the platform back. I can do so many more interesting things with Series 1/2 was the baseline! https://t.co/W2olzP16G7"

Again, none of this factors into what I've said.

The actual obsoleting issue for hardware more than three years old, such as Apple Watch Series 0, is the battery. Eventually you will be faced with either replacing the battery or the device. That will be the main decision point for owners of a Series 0, not some feeling of technological inadequacy created by the OS update. Those feelings, if you have them, will be in your mind.

 

[sean000]

I’ve had my series 0 aluminum Sport since July, 2015. I actually didn’t expect it to last me this long, but mine is still going strong and the battery still lasts me all day. WatchOS 4 has definitely slowed my watch down a bit though, so I figured OS 5 would be a no-go. I had planned to upgrade to the S3 a few months ago, but now I’m thinking I might as well hold out for the S4!

 

[OllyW]

Moderator Note:

See also the news discussion thread:
watchOS 5 Not Available for Original Apple Watch

 

[dumastudetto]

Again, none of this factors into what I've said.

The actual obsoleting issue for hardware more than three years old, such as Apple Watch Series 0, is the battery. Eventually you will be faced with either replacing the battery or the device. That will be the main decision point for owners of a Series 0, not some feeling of technological inadequacy created by the OS update. Those feelings, if you have them, will be in your mind.

It might not, but that was the central reason for my celebrating the end of support for older Apple Watches - that you then jumped on. Some people will feel this means their watch is obsolete, others like you are quite calm and fine in the knowledge your watch will still be functional. Your points are entirely valid and true, but everyone has to decide for themselves how they feel. I hope most will see this as an opportunity to jump in and buy a new Apple Watch, just so they can start enjoying the rich new watchOS 5 experiences.

 

[OllyW]

It might not, but that was the central reason for my celebrating the end of support for older Apple Watches - that you then jumped on. Some people will feel this means their watch is obsolete, others like you are quite calm and fine in the knowledge your watch will still be functional.

The watch will be obsolete when it no longer works with the latest version of iOS on the iPhone. Is there any word on whether watch OS4 will still synchronise with iOS 12?

Your points are entirely valid and true, but everyone has to decide for themselves how they feel. I hope most will see this as an opportunity to jump in and buy a new Apple Watch, just so they can start enjoying the rich new watchOS 5 experiences.

I'm not interested in where Apple seem to be taking the watch so I'm jumping in the other direction and bailing out. It's been fun trying it out but at the end of the day it's not compelling enough for me to justify the upgrade.

 

[matrix07]

"watchOS 5 will be available this fall as a free update for Apple Watch Series 1 and later"

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018...y-and-communications-features-to-apple-watch/


Moderator Note:

See also the news discussion thread:
watchOS 5 Not Available for Original Apple Watch

This's actually great news for original watch owner like me.. because we won't be forced to update to it for once! Woohooooo!!!!

 

[Lennyvalentin]

I’ve had my series 0 aluminum Sport since July, 2015. I actually didn’t expect it to last me this long, but mine is still going strong and the battery still lasts me all day.

Hah. Same thing here. AW launched in july 2015 in my country, and naturally I had a preorder waiting for launch day as well, heh. Was going to replace it with an S3 LTE last year, but of course my country didn't get any of the LTE models until may this year, by which point it would feel too late to switch to an S3 for an incurable geekazoid like myself. After all, I still get more than one day of life out of this little guy (although less than 2 now, unlike with wOS 3 and prior versions.)

WatchOS 4 has definitely slowed my watch down a bit though, so I figured OS 5 would be a no-go.

I was actually sort of half-expecting the OG to still be supported, with the focus on performance and optimization that iOS saw. But...no go! It's a bit disappointing really, considering wOS 3 was noticeably more fluid and with much better battery life. Although seeing as the OG watches didn't sell amazingly well, and bunches have probably died due to expanding batteries and whatnot or been retired, maybe it just wasn't worth the bother to try and inject new life into these old clunkers.

So I'm waiting. It's not THAT long now anyhow, and I will most likely get LTE models from day one now that eSIM finally is supported in my country.

 

[dumastudetto]

The watch will be obsolete when it no longer works with the latest version of iOS on the iPhone. Is there any word on whether watch OS4 will still synchronise with iOS 12?

I'm not interested in where Apple seem to be taking the watch so I'm jumping in the other direction and bailing out. It's been fun trying it out but at the end of the day it's not compelling enough for me to justify the upgrade.

I haven't tested it - but it's pretty much certain watchOS 4 will continue synchronising just fine with iOS 12, much like older versions of iOS can continue using the iCloud features that were supported before Apple stopped updating that version of iOS. Apple won't want to put any obstacles in the way that will prevent people from upgrading their devices to iOS 12.

 

[Dino F]

Great news as this means sluggish old hardware will be killed off at last. It's time to upgrade for anyone who is still hanging onto the first gen Apple Watch.

...I still have my Series 0 (42mm Space Grey) and the watch still works flawlessly. Battery on it is still awesome and easily gets me through the day, with more than 50% left, when it goes on the charger in the early evening. I wouldn't say its slow running apps either - native Apple apps open within 5 seconds (the only one which takes a little longer is Maps).

It still looks good as new with not a single mark on the screen or the bezels so it will be a shame to have to upgrade to a Series which is compatible with Watch OS5, seeing that there is nothing wrong with my Series 0....!!



However, having the Series 0 and a second Series 1 & above would have its benefits as it would mean I could then use my Series 0 to track sleep while using the second watch for stuff during the day...!!

 

[truesepho]

I'll change my S0 SS only when there's an hardware redesign, which will hopefully be this year.
Not one bit excited about watchOS 5...

 

[texasstar1981]

I haven't tested it - but it's pretty much certain watchOS 4 will continue synchronising just fine with iOS 12, much like older versions of iOS can continue using the iCloud features that were supported before Apple stopped updating that version of iOS. Apple won't want to put any obstacles in the way that will prevent people from upgrading their devices to iOS 12.

fingers crossed. my S0 watch gets me easily through the day without having to re-charge so I likely still have at least 1-2 yrs of life left... i use it primarily for the time, apple pay and work outs which all still work just fine and will continue to do so. I can't justify $600 for a watch unless i get 4-5 yrs of life out of it (especially when the used market value goes below $100 that fast....)

 

[melman101]

fingers crossed. my S0 watch gets me easily through the day without having to re-charge so I likely still have at least 1-2 yrs of life left... i use it primarily for the time, apple pay and work outs which all still work just fine and will continue to do so. I can't justify $600 for a watch unless i get 4-5 yrs of life out of it (especially when the used market value goes below $100 that fast....)

I use it just for time, weather, and the apple pay, so like you, I'm hanging on. My wife also has an apple watch, so i'd have to pay $1300+ to replace both of them. I'm out still. I just don't use it enough.

 

[IJ Reilly]

It might not, but that was the central reason for my celebrating the end of support for older Apple Watches - that you then jumped on. Some people will feel this means their watch is obsolete, others like you are quite calm and fine in the knowledge your watch will still be functional. Your points are entirely valid and true, but everyone has to decide for themselves how they feel. I hope most will see this as an opportunity to jump in and buy a new Apple Watch, just so they can start enjoying the rich new watchOS 5 experiences.

I'm not really disagreeing with any of that. I am just pointing out that the word obsolete is often trotted out to describe something that doesn't have the newest features, which isn't what it actually means. The word and concept obsolete describes something that is in immediate need of being replaced because it no longer useable or useful. That will certainly not be the case for Apple Watch Series 0 when the new OS is released. They will continue to work exactly as they are working today. And to take this a bit further, I would not be at all surprised if Apple released a fractional update to watchOS 4.0 to prevent updates to iOS from breaking functionality with millions of Series 0 watches.
[doublepost=1528215570][/doublepost]

The watch will be obsolete when it no longer works with the latest version of iOS on the iPhone. Is there any word on whether watch OS4 will still synchronise with iOS 12?

True, but ask yourself: when was the last time Apple deliberately broke older hardware? A lot of times we hear basically the inverse argument, that an OS update supports hardware that isn't really up to running the new version.

 

[rjp1]

My S0 is useful as a backup for when my S3 is on charge. Essentially, this means I use it for sleep tracking every other night. It works fine for that and I’d be sad to lose it.

That is actually a good idea. I never thought to use an old one for sleep tracking.

 

[Radon87000]

IS Apple Watch Series 4 expected to launch in September this year? I haven't been following rumours on the Watch.

 

[44267547]

IS Apple Watch Series 4 expected to launch in September this year? I haven't been following rumours on the Watch.

Yes. Ming Kuo has predicted that a Series 4 Apple launch in September with additional health sensors, extended battery life and a 15% larger display. Also, being that the Apple Watch has a three-year design, I think it’s time and in need of a hardware update. At This point, I think it’s almost guaranteed this will happen.


https://www.macrumors.com/2018/03/27/apple-watch-series-4-redesign-rumor/amp/

 

[eclipse01]

I am still happy with my S0 sports, however I was thinking of upgrading when the next version of the watch is out. The watch is still working well. It is an option not to upgrade the software, right?

Same here, lots of things are a bit sluggish but for the most part it does the main things i care about.
[doublepost=1528293480][/doublepost]

Yes. Ming Kuo has predicted that a Series 4 Apple launch in September with additional health sensors, extended battery life and a 15% larger display. Also, being that the Apple Watch has a three-year design, I think it’s time and in need of a hardware update. At This point, I think it’s almost guaranteed this will happen.


https://www.macrumors.com/2018/03/27/apple-watch-series-4-redesign-rumor/amp/

Do people really want a larger display? heck 42mm looks huge on my wrists already?

 

[OllyW]

Do people really want a larger display? heck 42mm looks huge on my wrists already?

I think the plan is to fit a larger display in the same size case by reducing size of the bezels.

 

[44267547]

Do people really want a larger display? heck 42mm looks huge on my wrists already?

Depends. We don’t know how Apple will be addressing this. Others have speculated by reducing the bezels in a similar size casing.

 

[Shanghaichica]

S0 owner here with a Stainless model... good to know that Apple supports a $600 watch for a whopping 3yrs...

I saw the way my SS series 0 degraded over time. This is why my series 3 is aluminium.

 

[perezr10]

It’s not really the “end of the line” for the S0. It’s not like they are all going to be remotely killed. They will continue to operate as they always have. If all you want is to see your notifications on your wrist than the S0 does its job well.

 

[mj1108]

Me and my wife still have our S0's that we got a little over 2 years ago. They have been rock solid. As someone else here said it's been a little sluggish for some stuff (on OS4), but overall it's done it's job and done it well for what we need it to do.

 

[44267547]

It’s not really the “end of the line” for the S0. It’s not like they are all going to be remotely killed. They will continue to operate as they always have. If all you want is to see your notifications on your wrist than the S0 does its job well.

Valid points. I’m also willing to believe that the majority likely use the first generation Apple Watch for simple fitness tracking or communication. Now that the Apple Watch is expanding with more technology and LTE, it’s likely requiring more battery requirements.