Upgrade Incentive For Early Adopters: A Boy Can Dream......

[danielheren]

I've tried to ignore the rumors of an Apple Watch 2 in '16. A watch doesn't seem like something that you'd want to upgrade too often. I would personally be happy with 2 years or so. I believe that competition, technological advances and the economy, just to name a few, will influence the model life-cycle.

If a 2016 model change occurs, it would be great if Apple would give some kind of incentive to those who helped advertise and grow this product. I'm not holding my breath though. I was able to sell the first iphone and upgrade for much less than full price, but i'm concerned that I might take it in the shorts on the first watch.

Thanks for letting me whine, plead & moan.

 

[thekayman]

Dream on... I hope you didn't think the 1st gen AW was gonna be the first and last ever made when you bought it. So what difference does it make if AW2 comes next year or in two or three? Remember ipads 3 and 4 that came within months of each other? Your AW1 will not stop working when 2 comes out. (I still have an original iPad that works.)

 

[advan031]

Apple doesn't owe us anything...lol

 

[FrisbeeK9]

Wait, what I spent $10k and its upgrading next year?

 

[Buckeyestar]

Wait, what I spent $10k and its upgrading next year?

Anybody that can afford 10k for a watch isn't hurting, and won't bat an eye to spend it again the next year.

 

[Polaroid]

Anybody that can afford 10k for a watch isn't hurting, and won't bat an eye to spend it again the next year.

That isn't true in the slightest lol....

 

[Twyntub]

That isn't true in the slightest lol....

Perhaps more accurately, the target market for the edition won't bat an eye to spend it again next year.

 

[Michael CM1]

I don't think a lot of us will bite on the second generation. So far the main benefits are the Find My Watch feature, a little less independence from an iPhone and maybe a camera that doesn't suck badly.

I'm pretty good about not losing my watch -- amazingly -- since I'm almost always either wearing it or charging it. I almost always have my iPhone nearby, and I rarely use FaceTime video.

Here's what I'm thinking it would take for me to upgrade: all the internal guts of an iPhone (GPS, cellular, etc.), Touch ID built into the face, a good 16 or 32GB of storage and some way for computers to recognize it like a flash drive (this would've been handy for me a couple of days ago), a sensor that reads blood pressure (may be impossible but the heart rate monitor's method blows my mind), other sensors I can't even think of (body temperature?), the obvious better processor and more battery life.

So yeah, I'm happy with this right now. I think what's more important for the second generation is dropping the price of the first generation by $100 or so to get more people to buy them. More watch owners = more customers for app developers.

 

[andrewstirling]

OP......I think it's a given there will be a new watch every year. It won't stop your current watch from working though so I fail to see the big deal. If you think the upgrade is worth the expense then go get a new watch. If you don't, stick with the one you have because it will still do everything it currently does if not more when the new model is launched next year. I upgrade my phone every 2 years but that's based on contract. I bought my iMac in 2011 and, to date, I have failed to cry a river of tears every time a new model has been announced.
I don't think apple will announce a trade in deal. Nor do I think they should.

 

[yegon]

Why on earth give up revenue to early adopters, a high % of which are precisely the people that are nailed on to buy the Apple Watch 2?

 

[sumsingwong]

I know for a fact people will max out credit cards and can barely afford to pay the minimum payments to attempt to look rich so I wouldn't say people who purchased the Edition can easily purchase another one when they are using someone else's money to make the purchases.

 

[NavySEAL6]

I'm having a hard time believing they're going to do a serious tech upgrade gen 2 but they have before. I was expecting a refresh with new colors and bands, then apple watch 3 the killer

 

[firewood]

Wait, what I spent $10k and its upgrading next year?

You can spend 2X to 20X that on a car, and there will be a new model next year.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Anybody that can afford 10k for a watch isn't hurting, and won't bat an eye to spend it again the next year.

Well with a car, house, plane, boat... etc there is a resale / trade-in value, it'll be intreating to see where the edition stacks up.

 

[FrisbeeK9]

I was joking. I'd never spend that on a watch.

 

[usarioclave]

Back in the day iPhone 1 users got special upgrade pricing to the 3g; there were no issues with contracts, etc. That was the first and only time Apple's done that. That was because we all paid full price for the damn thing.

Anyway, the watch's value will drop, but not as much as people think. iPod Hi-Fis are still going for 100+, which is really crazy. The watch still is going to look great when the gen2s come out.

A camera would be the only mostly useful think I could think of in the gen2 watch, and adding that would be pretty difficult. The main problems on mobile are always space, power, and heat, and that's magnified on the watch. Cameras get warm - where is that heat going to go in the watch? How much power will it use? And will it fit?