Will Series Zero by safe to use without updates?

[dfine1966]

I have the original Apple Watch Series 0 stainless with the leather loop and never had a problem with it. Every update I always restart the watch or reload it, which usually makes it run as new. Only had a slow down once and that was fixed by restarting the watch. Battery has been consistent with about 14 hours straight use every day before I have to charge it. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I use the watch for messages, walking and calls once and while. But the most important thing I use it for is shopping with Apple Pay. I'm worried that since it will not be receiving anymore updates, the watch might not be safe to use. I use Apple Pay for almost all my shopping. I really wanted to hold onto the watch for another year or two and don't mind not getting the updates, as long as know that Apple Pay will still be secure through my watch. Remember, my watch still looks almost new and still runs great. So why would I want to update now. I hope I'm not forced to buy a new Apple watch because Apple won't guarantee safe use of Apple Pay on my series 0. Mind you, I love the Apple Watch and will get another one, but I didn't want to buy another one now.

So my question is, "Will Series 0 by safe to use without any further updates (IE, for Apple Pay)?

 

[zakarhino]

I'm not Apple but I would say it's safe. There is nothing to indicate Apple Pay is currently unsafe and the security hardware/software has not fundamentally changed (as far as we know) since the original Apple Watch. With that being said, if there was ever a situation wherein the Series 0 had a security bug that the later models did not have, I'm confident Apple would address it with a watchOS 4.X.X update specifically for the Series 0. The Series 0 is not marked as 'obsolete' or 'vintage' by Apple (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624) which means they're going to continue supporting very critical updates in case of serious security breaches (such as Apply Pay no longer being secure). I would only start worrying about not getting critical security updates once the Series 0 is marked as obsolete.

Hope that helps.

 

[Neodym]

No reputable malware would run on the limited S0 hardware anyway, so ... yes, should be safe

 

[macduke]

My S0 is basically a dumb notification device at this point so I'm not even sure I would care, lol.

 

[texasstar1981]

My S0 is basically a dumb notification device at this point so I'm not even sure I would care, lol.

plus work outs , plus time .... many of use use the AW exactly for 3 things... time, work outs and notifications... not everybody wants to talk to their watch or listen to music with the watch etc

 

[0007776]

I would watch a bit more closely for any news about security breaches on it, but the number of people still using them will be so small that there isn't much motivation to develop a hack for it. As a result I think you would be safe.

 

[macduke]

plus work outs , plus time .... many of use use the AW exactly for 3 things... time, work outs and notifications... not everybody wants to talk to their watch or listen to music with the watch etc

Yeah basically those three things are all I use it for these days. Sometimes I use it to control music I'm listening to when walking or running. But it's still streaming off my iPhone. I used to use it for more things but it's just unbearably slow. I haven't looked forward to updating an Apple device this much since I had a really buggy, laggy iPhone 6 Plus that I upgraded to a standard 6s. It's going to be so nice to go from being constantly frustrated to this superior experience. I probably should have upgraded last year, but I wasn't a fan of the stupid red dot and figured I could squeeze out another year of life. Then it just got worse. At this point I would just put a black sticker over the red dot but now we're only three months away so I'll just suck it up.

 

[thadoggfather]

They should make watchOS4 compatible with ios12 and just limited by what it can do...

Lots of angry owners that will surprised, who are not following macrumors, in the fall

That’s a silly bottleneck for people who bought a watch merely three days ago

And they still support 5s for iOS 12?

 

[44267547]

They should make watchOS4 compatible with ios12 and just limited by what it can do

But I don’t think your factoring all the limitations the first generation Apple Watch has it is, especially given that it is under powered and it’s not optimized likely for certain functionality compatible with iOS 12. I’m not sure what experience you have with the Apple Watch, but is severely has its own concerns even with watchOS 4 with lag and battery drain, which is of course variable for everybody.

Lots of angry owners that will surprised, who are not following macrumors, in the fall

What should Others be expecting for longevity for support? I mean if you think about it, it has 3 1/2 years of support currently. I think that’s a decent term considering it launched in April 2015. We also don’t know the future of watchOS support for future models, being this was the first one.

And they still support 5s for iOS 12?

It’s way too early to compare watchOS to iOS by any means. They’re two separate versions and we don’t know what support the future models will see based off the first generation been discontinued with watchOS 5. I don’t think this is a relevant comparison here.

 

[thadoggfather]

But I don’t think your factoring all the limitations the first generation Apple Watch has it is, especially given that it is under powered and it’s not optimized likely for certain functionality compatible with iOS 12. I’m not sure what experience you have with the Apple Watch, but is severely has its own concerns even with watchOS 4 with lag and battery drain, which is of course variable for everybody.



What should Others be expecting for longevity for support? I mean if you think about it, it has 3 1/2 years of support currently. I think that’s a decent term considering it launched in April 2015. We also don’t know the future of watchOS support for future models, being this was the first one.



It’s way too early to compare watchOS to iOS by any means. They’re two separate versions and we don’t know what support the future models will see based off the first generation been discontinued with watchOS 5. I don’t think this is a relevant comparison here.

I don’t think 3.5 years is good for people who spent a premo on the stainless steel models. And people who got theirs not at launch but like 2 years ago or so or recent ish second hand (gave my bro my
Series 0 when I got a 1 in the fall, he spent nothing but now he can’t update his x unless he wants to spend on a new watch )

Throwing 5s in there not to compare iOS with watchOS but more people that don’t upgrade their phones very often like those still with 5s I’m sure don’t upgrade their watches very often at all for a push notification device that’s an accessory more than a necessity (ymmv) and it’ll leave a bad taste in their mouth

I could be wrong but ...

Sports owners I could see being less upset especially if there’s a redesign watch series 4 but people who hunkered down, technical limitations or not I think it’s a bit of a bummer

Especially considering iOS 12 has same
Compatibility as 11

It’s leaving people on oldest end of that spectrum in a quandary

Will apple notify users on series0 if they upgrade their phones in the fall their watch is a wrist weight?i hope they do

 

[risenphoenixkai]

Will apple notify users on series0 if they upgrade their phones in the fall their watch is a wrist weight?i hope they do

Who says watchOS 4 won't work at all with iOS 12? It should still work fine. No, the Series 0 won't get all the new features that are coming in watchOS 5, but that doesn't mean these devices will stop working altogether in September.

 

[thadoggfather]

Who says watchOS 4 won't work at all with iOS 12? It should still work fine. No, the Series 0 won't get all the new features that are coming in watchOS 5, but that doesn't mean these devices will stop working altogether in September.

I’m pretty sure major os updates have required major watchOS updates too have they not?

Does watchOS4 work with b1 iOS 12?

 

[gigaguy]

Be glad you didn't buy a Series 0 gold Edition. $10k-17k for a watch that 3.5 years later is no longer supported with new features or updates. Jonny Ive's gold folly - he wanted the Karflashians of the world to love it.

 

[44267547]

Be glad you didn't buy a Series 0 gold Edition. $10k-17k for a watch that 3.5 years later is no longer supported with new features or updates. Jonny Ive's gold folly - he wanted the Karflashians of the world to love it.

Anyone that Purchased the first generation 18 karat gold Edition doesn’t care that it won’t be supported up to watchOS 5. They likely don’t even use the Edition watch as of right now anyways, being that likely they moved on or upgraded to a different model Apple Watch.

 

[risenphoenixkai]

I’m pretty sure major os updates have required major watchOS updates too have they not?

Nope.

 

[thadoggfather]

Nope.

Oh interesting!

As long as its supported in that regard, I guess I don’t take isssue with this then

 

[rdy0329]

Oh interesting!

As long as its supported in that regard, I guess I don’t take isssue with this then

For iOS 12, they might have included support for WatchOS 4 watches to smoothen the transition. Previously, you'd need to upgrade WatchOS to have some new features of BOTH iOS and WatchOS work well together.

For now, new features seems to be more and more confined to watch only and have less reliance on the iPhone with WatchOS 5.

Example: Challenges won't show up on iOS 12 when you're running WatchOS 4 on your watch.

I'm glad to report my S0 still works with iOS 12

 

[bodonnell202]

Oh interesting!

As long as its supported in that regard, I guess I don’t take isssue with this then

Pretty sure Apple won't paperweight original (S0) AWs and the last version of WatchOS 4 (4.3.2 or whatever it ends up being) will continue to work with the latest version of iOS on the S0 for years to come. Apple would be facing a major class action lawsuit if people's S0 AWs all stopped working as soon they updated to iOS 12, especially considering the S0 could still be purchased new from the Apple Store as recently as September 2016.

I sort of see it as similar to how old iPods will continue to sync with Macs running the latest version of MacOS and running the latest version of iTunes.

 

[texasstar1981]

9hrs into the day my SS AW S0 still has 63% battery.... more than 3yrs of daily use later... intend on keeping that watch until the battery doesnt make it during a work day anymore and then upgrade to AW 5 or 6

 

[dumastudetto]

To be absolutely safe and secure, and to ensure the very best experience, you should seriously think about buying a new Apple Watch. It is the right time for series 0ers to make a new investment.

 

[texasstar1981]

To be absolutely safe and secure, and to ensure the very best experience, you should seriously think about buying a new Apple Watch. It is the right time for series 0ers to make a new investment.

$600 every 36 months (...) for a new AW might be the dream of Mr Cook but it’s not how I decide to spend my $.

I keep iPhones 2-3 yrs , iPads 4-5 yrs and certainly want to get more than just 3 yrs of use out of a SS AW.

 

[Baldrake]

$600 every 36 months (...) for a new AW might be the dream of Mr Cook but it’s not how I decide to spend my $.

I keep iPhones 2-3 yrs , iPads 4-5 yrs and certainly want to get more than just 3 yrs of use out of a SS AW.

I basically agree with you, but I think the S0 is a special case. The year to year improvement in the hardware has been intense to the point that there's a huge difference between the S0 and the S3. The difference between the S3 and S6 will be much smaller, so it will be easier to wait longer.

At least I hope I'm right on that.

 

[texasstar1981]

I basically agree with you, but I think the S0 is a special case. The year to year improvement in the hardware has been intense to the point that there's a huge difference between the S0 and the S3. The difference between the S3 and S6 will be much smaller, so it will be easier to wait longer.

At least I hope I'm right on that.

When the S0 launched it was a huge discussion here why they chose such an old (but proven) processor design for the watch. They basically launched the AW S0 already 2 yrs behind existing technology ... anyway - as long as Apple doesn’t artificially kill my AW by making it incompatible with next iOS - I have not many complaints and likely will get another 2yrs out of it. Time, notifications and work outs is all I use it for ...

 

[44267547]

$600 every 36 months (...) for a new AW might be the dream of Mr Cook but it’s not how I decide to spend my $.

I keep iPhones 2-3 yrs , iPads 4-5 yrs and certainly want to get more than just 3 yrs of use out of a SS AW.

I just commented on something similar in another thread. I think when the first generation Apple Watch first started, it’s the first of its kind for Apple, which it was under powered, which required the processor to work harder, naturally resulting in draining the battery. Now if you look at the Series 3 in perspective, the faster dual core processor is so much more efficient, the battery has greatly improved, for some, they can go literally two/maybe three days without charging. That’s the evolution of technology and how it progresses. And I think Apple has figured that out as well, especially given that the health aspect of the Apple Watch is a major battery drain.

Just as another comparison, the Series 3 Apple Watch is 70% faster over the Series 2. Some have said Series 3 is what the first generation Apple Watch should have been, but technology has to start somewhere when it’s a new product.

Also, I wouldn’t also complain about how long an Apple Watch should last in terms of hardware, I would be more focused on how long it should be supported in terms of watchOS updates.

 

[sean000]

$600 every 36 months (...) for a new AW might be the dream of Mr Cook but it’s not how I decide to spend my $.

I keep iPhones 2-3 yrs , iPads 4-5 yrs and certainly want to get more than just 3 yrs of use out of a SS AW.

It will eventually be possible to get more years out of future generations of the watch, but smartwatches are still new tech that will go through a lot of changes quite a few more years. I bought the aluminum Sport for $350 in July 2015 (I also bought AppleCare, so I guess that's a total of $400...then there is tax). That works out to 35 cents a day for a 3 year old Sport (before tax), and not much more than 50 cents a day for the SS. Not unreasonable for something I get a lot of use out of every day. Personally I think I got my money's worth out of it by the 2-year mark, but that's subjective depending on how much value someone gets out of their watch and how much of their budget the watch consumes.

I think the Series 0 hit peak performance with watchOS 3, and slowed down under watchOS 4. Since it won't run watchOS 5, I will upgrade to the S3 or upcoming S4. Yes it will probably be safe and fine to keep running the Series 0 on the older OS, but I've got a relatively new iPhone X and I want to keep both iPhone and watch on the latest OS to take advantage of new features... and to have the best experience in terms of performance. As far as security goes with the old watchOS, Apple will disable features like Apple Pay once it gets to a point where the old OS doesn't support the latest standards and security updates.