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Report: Apple Watch Redesign Coming Next Year With New Band System

mistymac said:
We do lol. I will say though, thickness of the watch still seems to be a big thing detracting those who have yet to get on the Apple watch bandwagon. I think its likely that to get a meaningful reduction in the watches thickness Apple will have to come up with a new band attachment mechanism.
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I left the Apple Watch eco-system last year and the watches' appearance being ugly and toy-like was one of many reasons. The battery life is downright awful compared to competition and Apple's answer to the battery issue is for users to pay $400 more for a few more hours of battery life. My Apple watches have historically drained 70%~ during half marathons and I had to charge my 10 3 separate times during an overnight backpacking trip last year (which is what finally convinced me to sell it and leave the Apple Watch behind for good). My Coros Apex 4 makes it 2~ weeks on one charge and lost 5-7% during an 8 hour hike a few weeks back. The Apple Watch can do "more" than the Coros but most of what the Apple Watch "does" is unnecessary while it can barely be a reliable activity tracker for folks that go outside. IMO it's one of Apple's most disappointing products.
 
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anthony13 said:
changing the bands on Apple Watches is lame. it undermines the legacy of the product and cheapens the brand in my opinion. then again I'm pretty sure it will make them tons of money. I just feel like watches are supposed to be timeless in a sense. I know it's not a sound model, but in my mind any new Apple Watch should be a new design. the year over year obsolete model for a watch is just odd to me.

but again I get it, money. and also the whole health angle of the device (which is awesome for those that want and use those features) has no appeal to me, and that seems to be the entire basis for every update other than battery.
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It’s an electronic device that people upgrade every few years, not a Rolex…. There’s no legacy
 
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I have read elsewhere that the Apple Watch Ultra is to be redesigned this fall, unless that's considered the 2027 version. If there is a redesign, I wonder if it will be the first to introduce a new watchband system. I have an ultra one; and I'm planning on upgrading it to have the AI features and be able to run iOS 27. I expect the price to be at least $100 more than it is now for the ultra, but it's worth it.
 
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mk313 said:
I have no idea how a magnetic connection would work. Seems like lots of potential issues, but who knows.
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Some sort or mechanical fixing is needed even with magnets. You can't have your watch pop off your wrist like a MagSafe connector 🙂

Apple could keep the current slide-in arrangement but hold the strap in place magnetically instead of with the little spring-loaded mechanical latch. That would eliminate a few troublesome mechanical parts in the watch and strap - but it's not going so save much internal space. Having said that, there might be a clever way to make this work to extend the life of old straps on new watches? That would be a crowd pleaser.
 
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jclardy said:
I'd bet the bands do end up holding back the possibilities of future watch designs. But it is tough now that they've already built the perfect band - the Titanium Milanese for the Ultra.

It's gonna be a rough transition for people - I've got 10 years of collected Apple Watch bands...hopefully there is a tasteful way to make a compatibility adapter.

But 10 years feels right. I remember after the first Apple Watch people speculated whether the bands would stay compatible. It seemed like somewhat of a given, since they dedicated so much time to the mechanism for easy swapping. And every year since it was a question of whether the bands would work with next years model...then we got the Ultra, which even with the larger case, still retained compatibility.
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it's not quite perfect, they'd have to use the finder guy here and then it would be most excellent...
 

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profwafflez said:
I left the Apple Watch eco-system last year and the watches' appearance being ugly and toy-like was one of many reasons. The battery life is downright awful compared to competition and Apple's answer to the battery issue is for users to pay $400 more for a few more hours of battery life. My Apple watches have historically drained 70%~ during half marathons and I had to charge my 10 3 separate times during an overnight backpacking trip last year (which is what finally convinced me to sell it and leave the Apple Watch behind for good). My Coros Apex 4 makes it 2~ weeks on one charge and lost 5-7% during an 8 hour hike a few weeks back. The Apple Watch can do "more" than the Coros but most of what the Apple Watch "does" is unnecessary while it can barely be a reliable activity tracker for folks that go outside. IMO it's one of Apple's most disappointing products.
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The Apple Watch is a pretty horrible product. Battery life is laughable, especially in cold weather. I can't even track a few miles of a hike when it's cold out before the battery dies. It's an utterly mediocre and incredibly overpriced fitness tracker compared to other products. Software is incredibly buggy and the UI is slow and laggy, often times bordering on non-responsive. There's never been an Apple product that I've hated more than the Watch (and I've been a customer since the mid 80s). It's absolute crap and I'll never buy another one.
 
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Unpopular opinion but I’m glad it’s happening. It’s been over a decade. The watch’s design (especially thickness) and battery life is mediocre. If changing the band system helps those points, I’m all for it.
 
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Given the huge price increases, which will definitely have made their way over to the watch by the time this model is out, I think I’m going to give the Apple watch a miss going forward. I’m slowly moving back to mechanical and think this will be the final nail in the coffin for me.
 
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Seanm87 said:
Given the huge price increases, which will definitely have made their way over to the watch by the time this model is out, I think I’m going to give the Apple watch a miss going forward. I’m slowly moving back to mechanical and think this will be the final nail in the coffin for me.
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Same. But Gshock is my favorite. I have a Garmin to track running. Most of the other features just annoy.
 
After having used both a Garmin and an Apple Watch, and time and time again always preferring the Garmin (battery life, comfort, solar charging, health data, etc.) I really want the current lazy Apple Watch to fail. Part of me is happy they’re redesigning it. It’s a very capable and useful device, yes, but it gets stomped by Garmin’s devices in my own opinion.

I have been using an Instinct 2X for a few years and it does everything the Apple Watch does minus music storage, cell service, photos, and email. Let’s get real, I’m not, and never have, replied to an email on my watch. I don’t text from my watch… You can’t even pinch to zoom when viewing photos on the watch. Now they’re apparently taking away walkie-talkie…
The battery on my Instinct 2X lasted roughly 20 days on a single charge and it has solar charging to supplement. I just upgraded to an Enduro 3 and it’s even better: I charged to 100% last week on Tuesday, wore it 24/7 with sleep tracking features, went for (4) 3-4 mile runs with it, and a bunch of walks with GPS, played with the menus and settings, and it’s still at 83% after all that. Even if this thing lasted a whole week I’d be happy. Apple Watch? I’d have needed to charge it about 4-5 times already, all while using it the exact same way. Apple really needs to refresh their Apple Watch line and make it more in line with being able to last days on end. Battery anxiety sucks and I’ll never go back.

Yes, my Garmin is MIP display vs Apple’s LCD and it’s not as power hungry, but even that is superior to me: viewing it from any angle without being a battery gobbling monster is great. Theres a watch face market so I can customize or design to my heart’s content, and it has offline maps for big hikes and camping trips without cell coverage.

If I still owned an apple watch, I’d be so mad that the bands are supposedly being changed.

Ok ending my rant now…
 
terrapinjess said:
After having used both a Garmin and an Apple Watch, and time and time again always preferring the Garmin (battery life, comfort, solar charging, health data, etc.) I really want the current lazy Apple Watch to fail. Part of me is happy they’re redesigning it. It’s a very capable and useful device, yes, but it gets stomped by Garmin’s devices in my own opinion.

I have been using an Instinct 2X for a few years and it does everything the Apple Watch does minus music storage, cell service, photos, and email. Let’s get real, I’m not, and never have, replied to an email on my watch. I don’t text from my watch… You can’t even pinch to zoom when viewing photos on the watch. Now they’re apparently taking away walkie-talkie…
The battery on my Instinct 2X lasted roughly 20 days on a single charge and it has solar charging to supplement. I just upgraded to an Enduro 3 and it’s even better: I charged to 100% last week on Tuesday, wore it 24/7 with sleep tracking features, went for (4) 3-4 mile runs with it, and a bunch of walks with GPS, played with the menus and settings, and it’s still at 83% after all that. Even if this thing lasted a whole week I’d be happy. Apple Watch? I’d have needed to charge it about 4-5 times already, all while using it the exact same way. Apple really needs to refresh their Apple Watch line and make it more in line with being able to last days on end. Battery anxiety sucks and I’ll never go back.

Yes, my Garmin is MIP display vs Apple’s LCD and it’s not as power hungry, but even that is superior to me: viewing it from any angle without being a battery gobbling monster is great. Theres a watch face market so I can customize or design to my heart’s content, and it has offline maps for big hikes and camping trips without cell coverage.

If I still owned an apple watch, I’d be so mad that the bands are supposedly being changed.

Ok ending my rant now…
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Thank you for taking the time to write down your thoughts.

I'm big on battery life, one reason why I got the Ultra. With my setup I use 20-30% of my battery per day depending on how much I exercise. My wife couldn't live without getting email on her wrist (and being able to reply to it).

Garmin is an excellent alternative to Apple Watch - I have a relative who used to run the Boston Marathon - they wear and have a collection of Garmin watches.

Big requirements for me for a watch: Wear 24/7 - haptic alarm to wake me up, ability for those on my favorites list to call me while I'm deep asleep with ear plugs, ability to open and drive my car, ability to receive/make calls away from the phone, ability to open my front door (Door/Latch) and apartment complex gates without having to lug around my phone, and to be as accurate as possible without any action on my part. Ability to pay for things is nice, but not a must.

Now the Apple Watch is incredibly accurate - I step off a plane in another country, bam it's updated and atomic clock accurate. The Ultra is TCXO (temperature compensated crystal oscillator) quartz accurate - can update with GPS, Cellular, Bluetooth, wifi, etc. I really like that.

I've dialed 911 several times while out on a run (one saved a life). My wife getting 2 flat tires on the 405 (hit a metal object) - her ability to call me while I was out on a run is important (to me).

The ability to throw my Watch on the charger and it be fully charged before I'm done with a quick shower makes charging pretty much thoughtless - it's so fast these days. (My wife does the same with her AW11).

I love my Japanese Casio G-Shock 5000u and wear it when I can't wear my AWU. But I can't live without the above.

I think I could make a Garmin work if I had to, the Instinct 3 Solar Tactical is very attractive. 🙂
 
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At first read, I would hate to adopt a new band system. However, if implemented well and thoughtful, and if it truly provided additional functionality I don't think i would mind. I think they should be very mindful of how this goes. The watch is worn every day and is a bit personal to people.

Honestly, it's been 11 years. By next year 12. It couldn't have been stagnant forever. It's about time for a change. Again, if done for the right reasons.
 
Apple needs to be careful with this design choice as I think the Apple Watch could be at a turning point. Alternative, screen-free trackers such as the various smart rings (Oura etc), and bands (Fitbit, Whoop) are starting to gain momentum. There haven't exactly been a lot of new features added to new watches for the last 2-3 years, Apple has lost a lot of goodwill by dropping support for a whole load of models with OS 27 and it's likely that there will be 20% price rises on the new model due to the component crisis. I think dropping support for the existing bands could be the final straw for a lot of people that are wavering on continuing with the Apple Watch.
 
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IIGS User said:
Dusted off my old Citizen EcoDrive that sat in my safe for a while. It's 16 years old. I let it charge in the sun, sync with WWVB and it keeps exact time. I won't be buying another Ultra. Not after the 1-snubbing. Not after I paid all that money for a product I expected to get 5-6 years of software upgrade out of.

I'll admit I use my watch for a lot of things. Apple pay being the most frequent. I don't use the fitness tracking and I check text messages on it from time to time, but I can live without these. The Citizen doesn't need any charging, keeps perfect time, and is a nice looking watch.

I lost the original band for it though, and they are hard to come by. It's somewhere in the house but it vexes me. 🙁
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Bro! Do you even lift bro??

Whole point of the watch is fitness fitness fitness! Cmon time to get your Richard Simmons on!!!

That’s it! One! TWO!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!
 
I think a new design after 10 years of modest changes, except for the Ultra, would be nice.
Id like a watch thinner than the 11, but as waterproof as the Ultra.
I still think a square is better for any non analogue watch but some bold colours would be nice.
I’m not adverse to plastic and it would make it super light, like some Casios.

However, I know the market wants so called “premium” metal, as if titanium costs much more than plastic to use in a Chinese made watch. TI costs about $11kg.
 
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