Teardown Suggests Apple Watch Series 5 Components are Close to Identical to Series 4

[Westside guy]

The AOD is the huge new feature. Nothing else matters this year.
It makes Series 5 a no-brainer purchase for pretty much everyone.

I am liking the always-on display very much - more than I expected to, actually. It was definitely a worthwhile upgrade from my 3-year-old Series 1.

But as much as I like it... I wouldn't have spent the money if I'd had a more recent version of the Watch. Replacing these devices every year or two just seems needlessly wasteful and irresponsible.

 

[Carac]

Let's be honest, if you turn off AOD and don't look for a compass app, no one here could distinguish a Series 4 from a 5, either through use, speed, feel, appearance, etc. So if the AOD is a must have feature, then upgrading from a 4 to a 5 is a given.

It's OOOOOOKKKKKK to admit there's not much of a difference moving from a 4 to a 5, it doesn't diminish anyone in anyway. Hell, I'm temped to move from a Series 4 SBSS to a Space Black Titanium, it would be dumb since I don't care about the AOD, but at least I can admit it's dumb. The Series 4 and 5 are functionally identical besides a compass and AOD for 99.99% of people...and that's fine.

 

[IIGS User]

Yeah no, I'll hold on to my Series 4 lol

Me too.

Just not enough meat on the bone if you've got a 4.

Which you've kinda gotta expect. the 4 is really a nice product and has just about all the technology one could really want in the present production of wearables.

Making a huge leap forward from here will be quite the undertaking....

 

[MN7119]

Compass??? C'mon!!!!

This is a bad title/article. From the article itself:

• Always-on display
• New ambient light sensor
• Better display drivers
• New power management chip
• Compass
• Bigger battery
• Double storage
• Minor changes to connectors for the Taptic Engine, display, and battery

In other words, not "Close to Identical." I get it that it isn't an earth-shattering update, but people tripping over themselves to claim this is the Series 4 with a "5" slapped on it are being disingenuous.

 

[MrExitStrategy]

the screen on max brightness is much dimmer than s4

Is it dimmer than S4?? I thought it only gets dimmer when it's on the Always On/Low Power mode; otherwise the display is pretty much identical to Series 4... No? Doesn't make any sense for it to get worse...

 

[myapple2019]

The AOD is the huge new feature. Nothing else matters this year.
It makes Series 5 a no-brainer purchase for pretty much everyone.

To me it is no brainer to upgrade from series 4. Having to tap or raise your wrist and having no display like a mini box on a wrist does not make the series 4 or older a watch but more a wrist computer with a watch feature. This behavior is not normal for a watch even for a digital watch. It is very annoying and I had enough for it. So, after the series 5 was announced, a “normal” watch of Apple Watch was born, it was time to leave the wrist computer behind . I finally get a “normal” watch with computer capabilities.

 

[Baymowe335]

I actually own (will my wife does) an Apple Watch S4 and I'll agree that the Series 4 is awesome.

What I go on about is the Series 5 being announced as a revolutionary new product when it is just a minor upgrade. It should have been called the Series 4.1. The series 5 is not in any way a revolutionary new product like Apple likes to drone on about. Apple innovation has been on the downswing lately and as an Apple fan I am tired of Apple calling these releases, "revolutionary breakthroughs" when they are nothing more than marketing bling.

You expect too much on a yearly basis. Apple has innovated more than any company in their space.

Remember, features aren't innovations...neither are gimmicks like folding phones that are clunky and don't work well.

 

[fishmoose]

I ordered an S5 as my first Apple Watch just today. The AOD was a pretty big deal for me, never liked the idea of wearing a watch that didn’t always show the time. 95% of the time I glance at my watch to see the time it should be easy and natural.

 

[kplavery33]

I can honestly say that the AOD was not a selling feature for me. I had an S3 from when that came out. I wanted a slightly bigger/faster device so I went with the S5. The first 4 days on the battery were rough. I was not able to make it through the whole day. Now today when I woke up I restarted the watch and so far its been on for 8 hours and its at 86% still. Yesterday at this time it was at 15%. So hopefully that continues.

I understand that people are upset with the lack of innovation but the last 15 years we have seen some pretty amazing stuff. I don't know if that trend is sustainable for these tech companies. What are other companies doing that is so innovative?

 

[mr.steevo]

The iPad Mini 2 to the iPad Mini 3 was "close to identical" other than the home button including TouchID.

 

[Breaking Good]

...it’s [the Apple Watch is] the best smartwatch available by a wide margin.

I don't think this point can be emphasized enough.

The fact that there was no change to the processor makes me believe that we have already run up against the wall for what is technically feasible for smartwatches.

 

[NBAasDOGG]

The customer feels more like  watch series 4s and technically, AOD should work on series 4 as well after updating to watchOS 6.1

WatchOS 6.1 does not support AOD in series 4!

 

[Lab4Us]

Does no one consider the doubling of storage an upgrade? As one who enjoys music daily while engaging in fitness activities, I applaud the ability to store music and more apps on the watch. Haven‘t seen anything stating they increased the music storage size, but with 32g now available, I’d like to think so.

 

[ruka.snow]

The upgrade from my series 3 feels strong. If I had a 4 I would be less inclined. But this always holds true to get every odd version.

 

[Steve686]

Not really, because S models would have significant speed improvements.

It’s basically the series 4+

A few extra things but more or less the same

Really.

Because now there is literally no delay in seeing what time it is ‘speeding’ up how fast that info is relayed to you.

All how you interpret what ‘speed’ actually means.

 

[goobot]

no one in the real world will ever think wait a need a compass lol such a silly feature

It’s more to allow the device to have an understanding where it is in the physical world, no different than the iphone.

 

[44267547]

Call me when the Apple Watch has a battery life of more than 18 hours. 5 days would be nice. Thank you.

Then I’m assuming you don’t have much experience with the Apple Watch? I can achieve well over 18 hours of battery life with the appropriate tweaked settings (i.e Disable Hey Siri, brightness adjustments, haptic feedback, ect) , I can stretch it over 24 hours no problem. I generally don’t see very many complaining about the battery life with the Apple Watch, considering 18 hours is more than sufficient given daily usage For most. Now, when Apple adds native sleep tracking or other various upgrades, that might require more battery management.

 

[44267547]

Let's be honest, no one here could distinguish a Series 4 from a 5

Are you sure about that? Because I can. Not to mention the titanium and ceramic stands alone by itself has a completely different material offered away from the aluminum/stainless steel Series 4 didn’t offer.

 

[Hi Tek]

Hope no one is seriously surprised by this.. Main question is only why they didn’t call it “Apple Watch 4s”?

Because 5 is + sounds better than 4s
[automerge]1569448683[/automerge]

Call me when the Apple Watch has a battery life of more than 18 hours. 5 days would be nice. Thank you.

*Calling* I get 2.2days out of mine*

 

[Hieveryone]

So then AOD could've been on the series 4 and they just chose to turn that feature on (quite literally) to sell us a new one?

 

[NBAasDOGG]

So then AOD could've been on the series 4 and they just chose to turn that feature on (quite literally) to sell us a new one?

Not really. The S5 actually uses a low power panel that can drop to 1Hz (which will not happen in practical).

 

[m4mario]

no one in the real world will ever think wait a need a compass lol such a silly feature

Its needed for map applications to know which direction you are pointing, instead actually moving to register your direction in the Apple Watch. Without the right orientation, maps can be confusing.

Also compass and gyro was not needed in the iPhone, or so they said when these features were launched. But apps start using these sensors they get more useful. In the world of app ecosystems and developer communities, no sensor is useless.

 

[danny842003]

no one in the real world will ever think wait a need a compass lol such a silly feature

yeah NOBODY ever uses a compass.

 

[dumastudetto]

And you know that "pretty much everyone" wants an AOD how?

It's logical when you look at a watch face, you want to see information immediately. You don't want friction of worrying whether the display will flick on or not. AOD removes that friction.

 

[robjulo]

uh, no Tim, it doesn’t.

The AOD is the huge new feature. Nothing else matters this year.
It makes Series 5 a no-brainer purchase for pretty much everyone.