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Xeyad

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 19, 2012
344
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So the Apple Watch has phone functionality, which is pretty cool. But it would've made sense to add a front facing camera for FaceTime calls too! Something to stand out from the crowd.

This is the iPad 1 all over again. :(
 
Where do you put the camera?
How much extra does it cost?
How much larger does the watch have to be as a result?
What are the privacy implications?
Are you going to stand there holding your arm up to your face for 25 minutes?
What are they going to put on version 2 to tell you that it is better than version 1?
 
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This isn't the iPad 1 all over again. There just isn't room inside the watch for a camera. Where on the iPad 1, there was room, it just wasn't added probably due to cost.
 
Putting aside considerations of a camera, the Watch almost certainly communicates with the phone via Bluetooth, which I assume doesn't have the bandwidth for video.
 
Bluetooth 4.0 has a bandwidth of 24 megabits per second. More than enough for video and audio. Even Bluetooth 2.0 would be adequate with 3 megabits per second or roughly 80 kilobytes per second.
 
I'm assuming it's a matter of size, cost, and maybe battery life. I'm sure we'll see it later down the road.
 
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