Will first-gen straps work with second-gen Apple Watches?

[parseckadet]

TL;DR

I can almost guarantee that gen 2 is compatible. From the way they are marketing these and the number of options they have, it would seem counter-intuitive to do change it. The real reasoning however is that with the current form factor, which is great, meaningful changes can and should be made to the interior as opposed to the exterior. The exterior form factor is fantastic from a technical and fashion perspective. As internal components shrink and improve, more interior room can be made for changes like increased battery life, more memory, faster processors, better and possibly newer wireless chipsets, as well as additional health related sensors. Changes to the outside may come as a detriment to improving internals and while the outside is pretty great from a watch perspective, the areas of opportunity are inside.

This is also a verrrrrry different product category from something like iPhone and iPad. Don't expect them to adopt the same philosophies from those product lines.

What this amounts to, hopefully, is that while the exterior form factor may change slightly in gen 2 (I doubt it), the biggest improvements will certainly be internal and as a result, make it incredibly unlikely that exterior form factor changes so much that it is no longer compatible with previous gen bands.

Cliffs:
-Yes

Because Apple has NEVER sacrificed functionality for the sake of shaving off a mm or two. Just ignore that single port MacBook in the corner over there.

The Jony Ive Rules of Design:

1. Make it thinner
2. See #1.
3. See #1.
4. No, it's still not thin enough. See #1.
5. Seriously, if you can't fold the thing in half it's not thin enough. Stop asking and see #1.

This.

Given the fact that we're already hearing rumblings that Apple is going to drop the Lightning connector, just a couple years after it was introduced, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they didn't maintain compatibility. The only reason I'm ok buying one extra band is because I'm expecting to keep the current model for AT LEAST two years, but I'm going to try to go longer than that.

 

[co.ag.2005]

 

[GrindedDown]

Because Apple has NEVER sacrificed functionality for the sake of shaving off a mm or two. Just ignore that single port MacBook in the corner over there.



This.

Your comparison to an entirely different style of a new product, of which isn't actually replacing anything like a macbook pro, makes very little sense.

It seems you may have missed the point of the thread. It wasnt to argue whether or not they will make the device thinner or not. Looking at the apple watch for a few seconds, its easy to see that even if they keep screen size, button size, band adapter size and placement, that they could easily shave off noticeable size. The question in the thread was whether or not doing so would come at the sacrifice of band adapter compatibility. Again, looking at the device, they would have to shave farrrrr too much off before changing adapters became an issue. This is a fashion product rooted in watch heritage. Its entirely different from what they have done in the past. For example, Apple has never sold a $450 case or fashion accessory for iphone...

 

[mcdj]

Gen2 won't have a strap. It will stay on your arm via surgically implanted magnet.

 

[parseckadet]

Your comparison to an entirely different style of a new product, of which isn't actually replacing anything like a macbook pro, makes very little sense.

It seems you may have missed the point of the thread. It wasnt to argue whether or not they will make the device thinner or not. Looking at the apple watch for a few seconds, its easy to see that even if they keep screen size, button size, band adapter size and placement, that they could easily shave off noticeable size. The question in the thread was whether or not doing so would come at the sacrifice of band adapter compatibility. Again, looking at the device, they would have to shave farrrrr too much off before changing adapters became an issue. This is a fashion product rooted in watch heritage. Its entirely different from what they have done in the past. For example, Apple has never sold a $450 case or fashion accessory for iphone...

Sorry, but I didn't miss the point of the post. The point I was making was that Apple has shown that they will sacrifice anything and everything in the name of making their devices thinner. They have demonstrated this time and again regardless of device category, the MacBook just being the most recent example. I think if Apple can find a way to keep all the functionality of the Apple Watch and cut the thickness by 25, 30, even 50% they'll do it in a heartbeat, band compatibility be damned. And I think they would charge down the path of thinness over adding some new feature if they were forced to choose. Can they do that next year? I don't know, but I am willing to bet cold hard cash that they'll at least try.

 

[iamasmith]

A thinner watch will mean a smaller digital crown and that won't work. Extrapolate from that the watch won't work any thinner and to make it smaller? No, I think the screen size is about as small as they would want on a computing platform. Given what they said about the geometry of the AW being the best then my conclusion is that the next gen will have the same dimensions.. it could be neon pink of course but I think the form factor is set.

 

[Armen]

I predict no. It's Apple after all.

It's more like Apple sells a watch, not parts of a watch after all.

 

[teknikal90]

It would be a long long time before I can even think about spending any more money on another apple watch. I got this for free and I still am finding it hard to justify.
It's totally and 100% unnecessary and almost always redundant. Cool, but redundant.

 

[Rok73]

It's more like Apple sells a watch, not parts of a watch after all.

That's not what I meant. That's what YOU mean.

 

[AFDoc]

I just got back from the future and no, it won't.

 

[Armen]

That's not what I meant. That's what YOU mean.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Your comment pretty much implies you think they are greedy. I'm just implying Apple wouldn't sell "half" a product by itself.

 

[5105973]

Those huge smart watches aren't going to appeal to very many women. I can't even wear the 42 mm Apple Watch very well. I'd have to wear the Samsung Gear on my ankle! I look at those Android and Tizen watches and think "Designed by men exclusively for men" and it rankles. I don't know if they try to accommodate lefties either and a lot of tech geeks I know are lefties. I'm thinking Samsung and the rest don't want my money, so fine, Apple can have it since they made a watch that accommodates me in pretty good style, too.