Apple gives users an excuse to upgrade to a new Apple Watch relating to Heartrate monitoring

[AlTech]

The original Apple Watch may be on its last legs despite being released in 2015.  Apple in the past indicated that it expects Apple Watch users to keep their watch for 3 years and frankly it hasn't been 3 years yet.

 

So it makes you wonder why Apple would try to force people to upgrade to the new Apple Watch Series 3.

 

Anyhow, the original Apple Watch released in April 2015 does not support viewing your resting heart rate.

 

This was discovered by users of the OG Apple Watch.

 

It is speculated that this is due to the original S1 chip not being fast enough. The Series 1 (2nd Generation) and Series 2 (2nd Generation) watches use the S2 Chip and I believe the Series 3 uses the S3 chip.

 

Quote

Apple’s new Apple Watch software, WatchOS 4, includes several updates to the health and fitness tracking features of the Watch, the most interesting of which are new heart rate monitoring features. With the new software, the Watch will show resting heart rate, walking heart rate, and recovery rate, and flag abnormal spikes even when wearers aren’t working out.

But it turns out that not all Apple Watch users will experience those. As pointed out both in 9to5Mac’s WatchOS 4 writeup and by users on Twitter earlier today, the new heart rate monitoring features are limited to Series 1, Series 2, and brand-new Series 3 smartwatches. The original Apple Watch, the very first one that launched in 2015, won’t support some of the new heart rate features in WatchOS 4.

 

So yeah, if Apple knew users would have to ditch the original cos of this then they should have provided the original watch with more horsepower.

 

My dad has an OG Apple Watch and I suspect he won't be willing to upgrade to the new Series 3 (3rd Generation) or the Series 1 (2nd Generation) which is still being sold

 

Source:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/21/16347244/apple-watch-os-4-heart-rate-series-original

[Ryujin2003]

The Apple watches are terrible watches... Great smart devices I guess.

 

I don't think the majority of Apple customers need an excuse for anything. They release phones at the cyclic rate, so I'm not surprised about the watches. Though I don't really think there is much need to upgrade to the new watch since it isn't a blow away with new features. A bunch of the same old, but new.

 

I suspect in order to marshall users to the new watches, they (Apple, not developers) will probably orient newer apps to the new device, claim incompatibility with the older watches, and phase the older watches put within the year.

[GatioH]

19 minutes ago, Ryujin2003 said:

The Apple watches are terrible watches... Great smart devices I guess.

 

I don't think the majority of Apple customers need an excuse for anything. They release phones at the cyclic rate, so I'm not surprised about the watches. Though I don't really think there is much need to upgrade to the new watch since it isn't a blow away with new features. A bunch of the same old, but new.

 

I suspect in order to marshall users to the new watches, they (Apple, not developers) will probably orient newer apps to the new device, claim incompatibility with the older watches, and phase the older watches put within the year.

Why do you think it’s terrible? I have the OG one and find it a more convenient than any watch I’ve ever owned

 

 

[themctipers]

3 minutes ago, GatioH said:

Why do you think it’s terrible? I have the OG one and find it a more convenient than any watch I’ve ever owned

 

 

If I need to do anything I'll just take out my phone.. 

[NumLock21]

All companies gives excuses to upgrade. It's up to the person to see if that excuse, justifies their need for a upgrade. 

[RedRound2]

Or it could also be true. The original Apple watch as i recall had alot of performance issues that were solved by the succeeding generations of watches. Apple has always been amazing at their chip designs, if you notice without a coloured mind and im pretty sure they intentially upgraded Series 1 chip because they thought it would be a good idea rather than normally keeping the exact same old model.

 

Apple Watch is pretty much the best wearable there is at this point and Apple has the entire market like how it does with the iPad, with only Gear S3 being very slightly comparable. And it has saved alot of lives, so thats even a bigger plus point

[PlayStation 2]

4 minutes ago, RedRound2 said:

Or it could also be true. The original Apple watch as i recall had alot of performance issues that were solved by the succeeding generations of watches. Apple has always been amazing at their chip designs, if you notice without a coloured mind and im pretty sure they intentially upgraded Series 1 chip because they thought it would be a good idea rather than normally keeping the exact same old model.

This is probably the most accurate answer here. Remember the first generation iPad? Apple dropped it fast when they realized what was wrong with it. When the iPad 2 dropped, people realized it was a far superior device to the first one. It's why it went on to be supported for five years via updates.

[bcredeur97]

typical first gen product problems. 

[bcredeur97]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

This is probably the most accurate answer here. Remember the first generation iPad? Apple dropped it fast when they realized what was wrong with it. When the iPad 2 dropped, people realized it was a far superior device to the first one. It's why it went on to be supported for five years via updates.

I still have my iPad 2! (though it kinda just sits in a corner now lol) 

Feel like I got my money's worth from it. Can't say that about everything else apple i've owned... except maybe my 2015 MBP but that's not really *old* yet lol

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, bcredeur97 said:

I still have my iPad 2! (though it kinda just sits in a corner now lol) 

Feel like I got my money's worth from it. Can't say that about everything else apple i've owned... except maybe my 2015 MBP but that's not really *old* yet lol

Yeah, I remember seeing the iPad Mini launching basically with the same iPad 2 hardware and it still ran pretty alright all things considered.

It still amazes me as to how long Apple supported both the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2 (and its derivatives) and how poorly the iPhone 4 and iPad aged in comparison.

[Dash Lambda]

Wait, what? How are they forcing users to upgrade? How does "The original one won't get the slightly more useful HR monitoring" turn into "The original is useless now?"

Either way, though, uh... *Ahem*...

Spoiler

[Big Head Tech]

2 hours ago, Ryujin2003 said:

The Apple watches are terrible watches... Great smart devices I guess.

 

I don't think the majority of Apple customers need an excuse for anything. They release phones at the cyclic rate, so I'm not surprised about the watches. Though I don't really think there is much need to upgrade to the new watch since it isn't a blow away with new features. A bunch of the same old, but new.

 

I suspect in order to marshall users to the new watches, they (Apple, not developers) will probably orient newer apps to the new device, claim incompatibility with the older watches, and phase the older watches put within the year.

Having it connect via the wireless carrier is huge. They have a number share ability where you can receive calls, texts and emails via the 4g LTE away from your phone.

2 hours ago, themctipers said:

If I need to do anything I'll just take out my phone.. 

That's the point of a watch you don't have to. I know it's easier to glance at my watch when I'm with a customer. Than pull out my phone.

[themctipers]

31 minutes ago, Snaeb said:

Having it connect via the wireless carrier is huge. They have a number share ability where you can receive calls, texts and emails via the 4g LTE away from your phone.

That's the point of a watch you don't have to. I know it's easier to glance at my watch when I'm with a customer. Than pull out my phone.

I use my phone to send messages via discord or to go on LTT. 

 

Hey siri, open discord and send a message in 'the fuck man' saying 'fuck off bitch'

 

 

 

Bad example but my head can't make an exmaple. 

[PlayStation 2]

1 hour ago, Dash Lambda said:

Wait, what? How are they forcing users to upgrade? How does "The original one won't get the slightly more useful HR monitoring" turn into "The original is useless now?"

Either way, though, uh... *Ahem*...

  Reveal hidden contents

Because the forum tends to focus on elitism and not cold, hard facts.

Don't believe me, I can shovel up at least 100 pages of bullshit within three days.

[dtaflorida]

2 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

typical first gen product problems

Yep.

 

That said, some 1st gen products are better than other 1st gen products. I have an origijnal cellular iPad and an original Galaxy S phone, these were both released in the same year. The iPad is holding up far better than the Galaxy S phone as clocks. The phone has screen burn in, the iPad not so much.

[Sauron]

Not surprising. A product that was garbage at launch remains garbage 2 years later. They try to present them as rolex class products, but try telling a rolex customer their watch is obsolete after 2 years.

 

This is especially egregious for those who bought the 15k$ version (not that they made a particularly smart decision to begin with, but this takes it to a new level).

On 9/22/2017 at 3:30 PM, Dash Lambda said:

Wait, what? How are they forcing users to upgrade? How does "The original one won't get the slightly more useful HR monitoring" turn into "The original is useless now?"

Either way, though, uh... *Ahem*...

  Reveal hidden contents

Of course, you're not being "forced" to upgrade. But apple has been presenting it as something it simply isn't. They ask for luxury watch/jewelry price when it clearly is neither, and things like this clearly show it. It's just a rushed product that does nothing particularly well (especially being a watch) and is now officially outdated.

On 9/22/2017 at 3:39 PM, Snaeb said:

Having it connect via the wireless carrier is huge. They have a number share ability where you can receive calls, texts and emails via the 4g LTE away from your phone.

That's the point of a watch you don't have to. I know it's easier to glance at my watch when I'm with a customer. Than pull out my phone.

And it would take you what, 5 seconds to pull out the phone and unlock it? Of course it's marginally easier to look at the watch, I just find it hard to justify the price to save 5 seconds.

On 9/22/2017 at 2:16 PM, Dan Castellaneta said:

This is probably the most accurate answer here. Remember the first generation iPad? Apple dropped it fast when they realized what was wrong with it. When the iPad 2 dropped, people realized it was a far superior device to the first one. It's why it went on to be supported for five years via updates.

And do you remember that the iPad had a camera slot which was deliberately left empty to allow for incremental upgrades? Apple deliberately half-asses their first gen product to test the waters. They spend as little as possible to get the first iteration out the door and still price it as if it was solid gold on the inside. Then, when they have assessed the degree of public interest, they actually try with the second gen, making it still overpriced but at least a decent product. The apple watch followed the same pattern, but charged 15k and postured as a luxury item, which is ridiculous.

[abazigal]

 

Been using my series 2 Apple Watch since last December and loving it very much. The first pebble watch got me hooked on wrist notifications and I don't think I can go back to wearing a normal watch again. 

 

Apple Pay from the wrist is faster than Apple Pay from your phone. I can view passwords from the 1password app on my watch, which is faster than unlocking my phone. Same for 2FA codes and my bank account balance. Sometimes, my hands are full and it's easier to just bark "Hey Siri, message person X so and so" than fiddle for my phone. 

 

Still trying to get used to the new music player app from watchOS 4 (which made the watch app its own standalone music app, rather than a remote for your phone's music player). Apple made some really questionable design choices there (like the music controls dominating your watch face when media is playing), but by and large, I like my Apple Watch. It doesn't really bring anything indispensable to the party, but is nice for the utility it affords. Kinda like how the TV remote doesn't really let you do anything you couldn't do by getting up and walking over to the TV, but the added convenience is nice. 

[Commodus]

Apple is not 'forcing' people to upgrade to a newer Watch.  You can still run watchOS 4; virtually every feature of the new OS is available if you have an original (I should know, I have one on my wrist right now).  The only things that are really off-limits are a little bit of the heart rate stuff and, of course, hardware-dependent features like swim tracking and cellular.  I'd say performance on the original watch is fine -- there are occasional moments where it'll be clear this is the oldest model, but it's far from useless.

 

The company didn't intentionally sabotage the original Apple Watch, and it wasn't a rushed product (development started at the end of 2011).  The simple reality is that this was a first-generation device, subject to the limitations of the technology available when it was released and without the benefit of having a previous shipping product to show how it worked in the real world.  Apple did decide to upgrade the CPU with Series 1, but that's probably because the CPU cost was negligible and Apple wanted to improve the baseline experience as soon as possible.
 

I look at it the way you might the first few iPhones.  The very first one was clearly the "we've been working on this for years, let's get it out there" product; the next two were big steps up that took advantage of both extra development time, technological progress and lessons learned.  Acting as if any company could just skip an entire step or two and basically make a future product today?  That's more than a little naive, frankly.