Replacing the Apple Watch’s battery is easy, replacing the S1 is hard

[Victorious Secret]

 

 

The Apple Watch is actually easier to work on than some recent MacBooks.

 

In news that actually surprises me a little, the Apple Watch is actually quite repairable for the things you'd probably need to replace the most - strap, battery and display. Heck, the way the display is removed makes me think that sapphire versions might actually show up (or you can use the parts from the Edition and normal Watch if you so desired).

 

Pretty neat, and in contrast to how Apple tech has been going so far. 

 

Of course, since the S1 sits in resin and is sealed up, thats harder to replace. No doubt that a Apple repair program of sorts could do it no problem, maybe even follow through with that rumoured "upgrade" plan, but don't expect it to be easy on your own. 

 

 

 

 

For as much as we've heard about the Apple Watch in the last month, we've heard almost nothing about the stuff that makes it (figuratively) tick. Apple mentioned the S1 "System in Package" back in September when it unveiled the watch, but the company has said almost nothing about it since, and we didn't know anything about battery capacity or the other components. Today, the teardown mages at iFixit have answered at least a few questions in their teardown of a 38 mm Apple Watch Sport, though concrete information about the S1's inner workings continues to elude us.

 

Some components were actually fairly easy to remove and replace. Though it's difficult to disconnect the display cable, the watch's screen comes off easily once you've heated the glue that holds it in place. The 205 mAh battery (around two-thirds to one-half the size of the batteries in Android Wear watches, which tend to run between 300 and 400 mAh) is easily lifted out and disconnected, since it's only held in place with light adhesive. The 42 mm model will have a slightly larger battery, but we don't know its exact capacity just yet.

 

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/04/ifixit-replacing-the-apple-watchs-battery-is-easy-replacing-the-s1-is-hard/

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Watch+Teardown/40655?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Apple+Watch+Teardown&utm_content=Apple+Watch+Teardown+CID_e16d099d5d25d6145061643c0c824775&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Apple%20Watch

[Sauron]

Interesting.

[GlassBomb]

Now the question is. What will last the longest before you have to change.

 

The battery, or the watch as a whole?

[Victorious Secret]

Now the question is. What will last the longest before you have to change.

 

The battery, or the watch as a whole?

 

Given the 1000 charge cycle rating, you'll probably upgrade the Watch before the battery gets anywhere near "needs replacement" levels

 

1000 cycles is just under 3 years of use as well, so under most scenarios you'll be fine. 

[LAwLz]

On topic: I wouldn't really call this easy. Easy would be "open a flap and press a button so the battery falls out". This involves prying parts that are glued together apart with a knife.

I am surprised by the tiny battery. It would be interesting to see some analysis of how much power the screen and SoC uses. They have to be pretty efficient if it wants to stand a chance against the Apple Watch's competitors in terms of battery life. Anyone have battery tests yet?

Edited April 29, 2015 by colonel_mortis
Removed off topic content

[theloveablemoose]

 

 

On topic: I wouldn't really call this easy. Easy would be "open a flap and press a button so the battery falls out". This involves prying parts that are glued together apart with a knife.

I am surprised by the tiny battery. It would be interesting to see some analysis of how much power the screen and SoC uses. They have to be pretty efficient if it wants to stand a chance against the Apple Watch's competitors in terms of battery life. Anyone have battery tests yet?

Just gonna gloss over what was posted prior cause meh.

 

But replacing a battery can be extremely difficult on some phones see the HTC one for example so in comparison this is quite easy.

[mr moose]

Bah!, it's all too hard for me,  It wasn't so much an issue 30 years ago when I have nimble fingers, but now they are fat arthritic nightmares on the ends of my limbs. I have trouble changing the battery in my car, let alone a phone, forget the watch!!!

[Victorious Secret]

Bah!, it's all too hard for me,  It wasn't so much an issue 30 years ago when I have nimble fingers, but now they are fat arthritic nightmares on the ends of my limbs. I have trouble changing the battery in my car, let alone a phone, forget the watch!!!

 

I still don't change my own watch batteries. Pay someone the tiny fee to do it every couple of years, my Citizen is ancient but its self charging so I doubt I'm ever going to need to touch it barring some serious issues. 

[bob345]

I have to say, the engineering that goes into apples products is pretty outstanding. I wonder how many people worked on that flat flex cable layout.

[mr moose]

I still don't change my own watch batteries. Pay someone the tiny fee to do it every couple of years, my Citizen is ancient but its self charging so I doubt I'm ever going to need to touch it barring some serious issues. 

 

Oh, yeh, I can do normal watches, All you need is a pry, tweezers and sometimes a jewelers screwdriver, nothing too fiddly for me there, but it is the smart watches that I couldn't. Taking one look at the photo and I just know I'd tear a ribbon cable or something before I'd even got the back off.

[Mew]

The watch has an amoled screen? Shows how much I followed this watch despite the many topics. I still don't know if the screen is always on on the apple watch because of Linus' flaming and lack of research whenever he talks about it on the WAN show. I wonder if Apple will start using amoled screens on future phones because, as proved by the S6, amoled has finally caught up to LCDs.

[Victorious Secret]

The watch has an amoled screen? Shows how much I followed this watch despite the many topics. I still don't know if the screen is always on on the apple watch because of Linus' flaming and lack of research whenever he talks about it on the WAN show. I wonder if Apple will start using amoled screens on future phones because, as proved by the S6, amoled has finally caught up to LCDs.

 

IMHO Linus has an almost irrational dislike of the Watch. 

 

I figured it was a 100% waste before I tried them on, now I'm thinking it actually isn't. I still cancelled my orders, since I need something that does sleep tracking (I still use my Surge for that) but as a overall package? I get why people like the Watch, 100%. I think its neat, its well built and its very straight forward in its use. 

[LAwLz]

 

But replacing a battery can be extremely difficult on some phones see the HTC one for example so in comparison this is quite easy.

Yeah, but that's only easy in comparison to something very hard. It's a pretty subjective thing but I don't think a lot of people would call it "easy" if you have to remove glue and pry it open with a knife or special tool. Dark Souls isn't an easy game because IWBTG is harder.

 

 

The watch has an amoled screen? Shows how much I followed this watch despite the many topics. I still don't know if the screen is always on on the apple watch because of Linus' flaming and lack of research whenever he talks about it on the WAN show. I wonder if Apple will start using amoled screens on future phones because, as proved by the S6, amoled has finally caught up to LCDs.

It doesn't have an always on display. My guess is that Apple prioritize battery life over features for now. You could have a simple watch face and always-on display with AMOLED, but it would still have a pretty significant impact on battery life.

I think Apple will stick to LCD for a few more generations on the iPhone and iPad. Their displays are already very good so the benefits are still pretty small, and they are typically not the ones to adopt "new" technology first. But then again, they have done surprising things in the past (64bit phones).

The Apple Watch's GUI has far more black than iOS has, so they probably did that and chose SAMOLED for battery consumption reasons. iOS has a lot of white and other bright colors so it would probably end up using more power than their current LCDs.

Edited April 29, 2015 by colonel_mortis
Removed off topic content

[atrash]

IMHO Linus has an almost irrational dislike of the Watch. 

 

I figured it was a 100% waste before I tried them on, now I'm thinking it actually isn't. I still cancelled my orders, since I need something that does sleep tracking (I still use my Surge for that) but as a overall package? I get why people like the Watch, 100%. I think its neat, its well built and its very straight forward in its use. 

 

Wait..It does not have sleep tracking? Wow. And iirc no gps too for the map functionality. Probably a compromise because if the limited battery life. My Band can last a solid 2+ days even with the bluetooth on and using the sleep tracking for about 6 hours a day and at least 30+ incoming notifications. But then again I doubt many would wear something big like the Watch to sleep anyway.

[Canadian pig]

Ifixit did a teardown of the new Apple watch and the reviled something surprising about its longevity. 

 

ifixit article: http://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/apple-watch-is-not-built-to-last/

 

 

Victorious Secret article: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/354408-replacing-the-apple-watch’s-battery-is-easy-replacing-the-s1-is-hard/ 

[C0LL0SS0S]

Kinda funny week ago I heared that iFixit gave it 7 points or something, I think even on the WAN Show, well who cares you can't repair your own watch can you 

[TheSLSAMG]

Kinda funny week ago I heared that iFixit gave it 7 points or something, I think even on the WAN Show, well who cares you can't repair your own watch can you 

They gave it a 5, which is neither horribly difficult nor very easy.

[Sauron]

Not surprised. That's part of the reason why I think the Edition is complete bullshit. But, a lot of people have no idea and will buy everything that has an apple logo on it without asking. Enough people for Apple to just get away with a full success.

[TheSLSAMG]

And here you can see the difference between Steve's Apple and Tim's Apple

And here you see literally nothing.

 

You know what the funny thing is? The title doesn't tell any of the story, and the reality is that Apple's devices are getting easier to repair. The last iPhone made under Jobs, the iPhone 4/4S, was horribly difficult to replace a cracked screen since you had to go in from the back. With the new iPhone 6/6 Plus, it's just a suction cup, a pentalobe screwdriver and three connectors to replace a display.

[Sakkura]

Kinda funny week ago I heared that iFixit gave it 7 points or something, I think even on the WAN Show, well who cares you can't repair your own watch can you 

 

They mentioned the 5-point score on the WAN show, and said it was better than expected for such a small device. Which I don't really disagree with. Replacing the battery is apparently easy, and that's more or less the only replacement I'd expect to be able to make when it comes to smartwatch internals.

[C0LL0SS0S]

They gave it a 5, which is neither horribly difficult nor very easy.

 

 

They mentioned the 5-point score on the WAN show, and said it was better than expected for such a small device. Which I don't really disagree with. Replacing the battery is apparently easy, and that's more or less the only replacement I'd expect to be able to make when it comes to smartwatch internals.

Oh 5 then, but like you guys said its actually pretty good for that size so I am happy with it because apple didn't make it extra harder

[TheSLSAMG]

They mentioned the 5-point score on the WAN show, and said it was better than expected for such a small device. Which I don't really disagree with. Replacing the battery is apparently easy, and that's more or less the only replacement I'd expect to be able to make when it comes to smartwatch internals.

And to be fair, that and the display (which is insanely easy to replace) are the only things you will probably ever have to replace.

[Misanthrope]

Well as long as it lasts 2 years the morons users buying these will get a new one anyway

[Ertman]

Any idea if the edition will be upgrade able to future iterations? If it can be, it kinda renders a lot of this moot. How much do you expect to replace parts on a device like this? Also, we don't know the lifespan of a apple watch yet, it seems presumptuous that it will be obsolete after a couple of years.

I do think that the second or third gen might be significantly better.

[dalekphalm]

And here you see literally nothing.

 

You know what the funny thing is? The title doesn't tell any of the story, and the reality is that Apple's devices are getting easier to repair. The last iPhone made under Jobs, the iPhone 4/4S, was horribly difficult to replace a cracked screen since you had to go in from the back. With the new iPhone 6/6 Plus, it's just a suction cup, a pentalobe screwdriver and three connectors to replace a display.

I can confirm this. I replaced the screen on my friends 4s recently. It was a needless pain in my ass.

 

I don't get what people expect you to be able to replace in the smartwatch?

 

Can you replace the screen? Yes.

Can you replace the battery? Yes.

 

Okay then. We're good here.

 

It's a smartwatch. People think they are bulky enough as it is. They want them to be even smaller and more actual watch-like. And they expect user replacable SiP's? What? That's insane. That's an entirely unrealistic expectation.