I touched on my thoughts on a cellular Apple Watch 2 briefly when detailing WSJ’s report, but I want to expand a bit further and think out loud about the possibility. In short, I think an untethered Apple Watch with built-in cellular connectivity is inevitable, but in the short term there are other problems I suspect will be solved first. That’s not to say that Apple couldn’t introduce cellular and fix other issues, but having an embedded data connection is low on my list of requests this year.
I’ll start by saying I’m not an Apple Watch Debby Downer. I’ve worn mine every single day since it launched last year for timekeeping, fitness tracking, notifications, and occasional Siri, and I’m content enough not to stop now.
I also sync my Favorites album of Photos and my Recently Added playlist in Apple Music. Syncing primarily happens over Wi-Fi when charging, which is fine as I believe it’s the power limitation, not wireless connection, that causes this. I tend to think of my Apple Watch as a modern iPad in this sense, and the iPhone is already my hotspot when I need a data connection on my iPad away from Wi-Fi. As it stands now, Apple Watch is no different.
In the long term, it seems inevitable that Apple Watch should replace the iPhone for communication for some people. A smartwatch plus a compact Bluetooth earpiece may be better for some people than a candy bar shaped smartphone, and a cellular connection is needed to get there. I can imagine a scenario where I could wear Apple Watch, carry iPad, and not miss functionality from the iPhone. But for me, iPhone is also my go-to camera, and even if Apple Watch wasn’t under spec’d and awkward as a camera, I imagine I’d miss the large view finder; it’s noticeable enough between iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE.
Problems that I have now really don’t relate to needing cellular connectivity either; it’s more about missing apps and functionality. Apple Watch 2 will surely have a faster chip that launches Apples quicker, but I’d also like to see more Apple apps on Apple Watch. For example, dictating or referencing text in Notes, syncing and playing back shows in Podcasts, and adding and referencing items in Reminders are all needed. Other functionality like sending audio to AirPlay, not just Bluetooth, is needed. Apple Watch also needs a more robust Siri. And I’d love to see more watch faces or all of the current watch faces gain more customization and complication support.
Apple could do all of that and introduce embedded data with Apple Watch 2, though, but using it would depend on a couple of factors.
First, I don’t suspect I’d pay extra for a cellular Apple Watch if it wasn’t standard. Cellular iPads carry a $130 premium but that’s out of my range; $50 is the most I can imagine paying if the use cases were enticing.
Regardless of upfront cost, I wouldn’t want to pay an access fee for cellular connectivity on Apple Watch. AT&T charges me $10/month to access my data pool directly on iPad, or I can hotspot to my iPhone for no extra cost and access the same amount of data. I went along with the $120/year plan for a while, but for me it was too difficult to justify $130 extra upfront and $120/year thereafter. $10/month for data access on Apple Watch is even more difficult to imagine for me. Even $5/month at $60/year is out of range for what I can imagine.
Finally, if Apple Watch is destined to gain cellular connectivity this year or soon after, then Apple must have data that suggests cellular connectivity will satisfy some group of customers or prospective customers, but who? Analyst and investor types seem to be most welcoming of the idea of an Apple Watch with embedded cellular, which makes sense for long term success. But at the time of writing, a 57% majority of readers who responded to our poll (embedded again above) did so negatively to caring about cellular connectivity in Apple Watch.
While I’d like to see Apple Watch mature over time and gain cellular connectivity eventually, I’d find myself in the same camp as the majority of those who responded to our poll in not worrying about cellular just yet. Apple Watch can only improve with its own cellular connection, however, and there’s no major reason to wait years and years. So the bottom line here is that it’s the implementation that will determine cellular’s importance for me when it does happen.
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“Launches Apples quicker.” lolololol. The imagery.
Brings to mind Donkey Kong 64 when launching fruit around! 😆
It should gain Wifi connectivity, not cellular.
The watch does have wifi capabilities. From Apple support: “If Bluetooth isn’t available, your Apple Watch will try to use Wi-Fi. For example, if compatible Wi-Fi is available and your iPhone isn’t in Bluetooth range, your Apple Watch uses Wi-Fi.”
The catch being that it must be a Wi-Fi network that your phone has connected to before.
Agreed. This is a great point. True WiFi connectivity in the same way that it works on the iPhone would eliminate sone of the need for a cellular connection, and then you’d really have the “iPad functionality on your wrist” scenario, which I think is a good minimum.
But only 2.4 GHz and not 5 GHz… quite disappointing.
I’ve never used an Apple Watch, but I do wear a Fitbit Charge HR, and I prefer it for a few reasons.
1. It’s cheaper. $150 vs $300.
2. The battery lasts for five days. This let’s it track my sleep and have a silent vibrating alarm in the morning. Every five days, I plug it in for an hour, and it charges back up. The battery lasts longer because it doesn’t do nearly as much, but I’m fine with that.
3. The heartrate sensor measures my heartrate every 3 seconds, versus every 10 minutes for Apple Watch. Again, I know this is a battery life issue on the Apple Watch, but to me, the whole point of wearables is to do something I just can’t do with any other device, and that means taking full advantage of contact with my body.
There’s only one advantage that Apple Watch has over my Fitbit Charge HR, and that’s Apple Pay. I would love a Fitbit Charge HR with Apple Pay. Not gonna happen, but it would be awesome.
Enhancements for the Apple Watch (besides the three points above) would include:
1. Simply the user interface. I haven’t used an Apple Watch, but I’ve read a lot, including on 9to5Mac about how complicated it is. There are at least three major ways to get to data, not including the friend wheel. It seems like they need to make it easier to get get to your data. This doesn’t depend on new battery technology or processor speed. WatchOS 3 could put this on the original hardware.
2. It needs more sensors. Measure everything you can. Seriously. Replace an entire beeping ER machine with a watch. Do it.
Yeah, cell connectivity would be great, but my Apple Watch still needs to fulfill it’s 1.0 promises. Maybe the next one will be a) not slow as snot b) more intuitive UI c) fix the screen-sleep/wake gestures and timing – frustrating to get a notiifcation, look up to glance, and have the display cut out after a 1s glimpse of the notification.
All solvable with faster hardware and tighter software.
The Fitbit does the same thing with the screen wake gesture. It comes on randomly and th won’t come on when I want it to. I just figure that’s life.
I don’t really see the battery life as a con for apple watch. Charging it every night isn’t putting me out, it isn’t ridiculous. I go through the day usually with 50% or more left (sometimes I go 2 days without charging). If I do a long workout still I have 30%+ remaining by the end of the day.
The user interface is okay, I think that glances have a lot of potential but in their current state they’re slow to refresh, and take a while to get though if you have a lot of glances. I wouldn’t call it overly complicated. It’s just…new.
I would like a blood pressure sensor and speed increases. I know the minute I update this thing to the next version of watch OS this watch will slow way down.
Honestly, my favorite part about apple watch is getting email and iMessage on my wrist.
I had an fitbit charge hr and sold it, it is horrible with no functionality for any notifications except call. The battery barely last two days. The heartrate sensor stop measuring your heart for 5 hours a day and it is very inaccurate during workouts.
It is true it only does call notifications.
It sounds like you received a defective Fitbit. I’ve had my Charge HR for more than 6 months now and I’m still getting around 5 days out of it. Most of the time I charge it because I feel that it must need a charge, only to find out it’s still at or above 50%. The heart rate sensor on mine has also been very accurate, with no noticeable gaps throughout the day. I’ll admit there have been times during workouts where I’ll notice the heart rate isn’t reading accurately, but this doesn’t happen often and the quick fix is either tightening the band or moving it further up my wrist.
Agreed. I’d add another feature or two- waterproof for a pool and the ability to measure swimming laps the way by Polar V800 does. (A note- the V800 is great, but it is huge..not for wearing every day although it has some great features.)
That’s one I forgot. My Fitbit Charge HR is waterproof. I shower and swim with it everyday.
I take mine in the pool all the time – been doing it for almost a year now.
Craig Hockenberry, notable Apple blogger, says he swims in the ocean with it.
The only part is that the watch UI doesn’t like water (capacitance-based touchscreen), and it’s hard to tap things… but I’ve used digital crown + Siri in the pool all the time (to set timers).
Really wish they would add a swimming workout option!
The fitbit and the apple watch are aimed at two different markets.
The fitbit is first and foremost, a fitness tracking device.
The apple watch is first and foremost, a smart watch.
The fitbit is aimed fitness fanatics (or those wanting to track mostly fitness stuff) – it’s good for tracking most fitness data, especially heartbeat, steps taken, distance, and running time. — but it also has some smartwatch like functions…such as telling the time (well, thats just like any digital watch), accepting calls, syncing your device to a cell phone…
The apple watch is aimed at the tech savvy who wants to access more data quicker – it’s good for accessing emails, messages, basic searches, quality calls, music, quick picture view, personalisation of time and fashion — but it also has the ability for basic fitness tracking… apple never claimed to be a health device, it’s just a smartwatch with some health function.
Apple is aimed at a much larger market – they didnt just want a device that just targets sportspeople…
My friend wanted a simpler smartwatch that had a longer battery life – he went with the pebble time… but to me, the screen feels more suited for children, and the build quality feels cheap… it’s a decent watch, with basic apps, and some functionality for data syncing and fitness tracking – but this is all reflected in its price…
With the fitbit – considering it has a few sensors and is mostly only useful for tracking data and not much of anything else – then this too is reflected in its price.
With apple, you are paying more for the brand… but even without the brand i would expect to pay more than the other devices.
For what the watch does, the battery life is fine — to make the battery life longer, they’d need to either put in a lower quality screen, and simplify what the watch can do… personally though i have never slept in a watch, so charging at night is fine… if i was more into fitness tracking, then i’d probably look into a separate tracking device…
Adding more sensors will add too much weight to the watch…all of which would need more power and so a bigger battery.
The watch is only a year old – so over time the OS will be improved… in the next generation they may add cellular, possible onboard gps etc too…but i wouldnt want it to become focused on just fitness stuff!!!
I’d really like to see a speed/stability improvement before anything else. I’ve had mine for a year and I enjoy it for notifications, glances, and workouts, however there are many times when I ask Siri to set a timer or try to check the weather and it just hangs – at that point I play the “how long will it think about this and is it worth just pulling out my phone?” game. This seems to happen more when my phone is on a wifi network, which is odd as I would think it should be a bit faster/better range than bluetooth.
All of that said, I’m still pretty happy with it considering it’s a 1st gen product.
This sums it up for me. I’m happy with it, but it really needs to be faster in the future. There are situations where the lag seems kind of ridiculous, like with setting a timer as you mentioned. I always use Siri to set a timer. But 1. Siri only works with the phone within range and 2. more importantly, it just takes like 3 times as long for the timer to launch and start. When it’s a basic built-in feature, you’d think it would be less of a hassle.
Before seeing the watch connect to a cellular network I’d like to see the watch slim down. It’s just a little too chunky for my taste.
I thought I was the only one. Pictures don’t do AW as much justice as it is in person but I also think it should be a bit slimmer. Hopefully AW2 will be like iPad 2 was :)
The digital crown would look ridiculous on a thin Watch.
“For example, dictating or referencing text in Notes, syncing and playing back shows in Podcasts, and adding and referencing items in Reminders are all needed.”
Just an FYI but you can add reminders now via Siri on the watch, though it does suck not being able to view and complete reminders.
Yeah, it’s pretty silly that there is no way to easily view your reminders list.
It would be compelling for me if they offered cellular as an option. A lot of the time I find the only reason I have my phone with me is for emergency contact reasons only.
Giving the Watch cellular connectivity doesn’t sound like the right solution for this. Apple should instead be looking for faster LTE and Wi-Fi antennas for the iPhone and faster bluetooth connection for the Watch. A quicker S2 processor would be welcome, too.
I have an Apple Watch and one thing that ercks me to no end is the inability to dismiss all my notifications and especially text messages with a simple force touch. Instead, I have to swipe to delete each text message off my watch, which is a real pain. I really wish iMessage would just sync the state of a text message from device to device. If I delete on my iPhone, then delete on my Mac, and also on my watch. It seems so simple and could even be user configurable for those that like things the way they are now.
Also, more sensors would be nice along with better battery life and true water resistance so I can swim laps with my watch being used as an interval timer, HR monitor, lap counter, etc..
I don’t think any of the above is asking too much in the next generation. Oh and please offer a buy-back to upgrade program, otherwise buying a second Apple watch is a no go. I just don’t view a watch, much less my phone as a throwaway consumable. I keep them till they break or are otherwise unusable.
You can force touch on the notification screen to clear all. And reading or dismissing a text message from one device clears it from the others for me.
Swipe down to show your Notifications. ForceTouch and Clear All of your Notifications. This will clear all of the Notifications that you have. However, it doesn’t allow you clear notifications by type (i.e.: you can’t clear just texts or emails).
Yup, I do this multiple times a day.
He’s asking for notification sync. Should be a given in the Apple ecosystem in 2016. Even email read count badges are yet to sync via iCloud for apps like Mail, but then do for iMessage.
Does this work inside the actual messages app? Every time I force touch, it asks if I want to compose a new message. And to irelandjnr below, correct. Having true synchronization of my iMessages across all my devices would be awesome. I hate that I delete an iMessage on my phone and then I have to go and do the exact same steps on my Mac and watch. I realize this isn’t so much an Apple Watch feature but it really should be something Apple could easily implement.
You can’t force touch to delete all messages within the Messages app, no. Which sucks. I agree that the lack of sync is one of the most annoying Apple ecosystem problems. I hate having to delete a text message 3 different times. This is a broader Apple problem, and one that they need to fix.
All this connectivity is nice, but what about power? you would have to strap the battery to your belt and run a power cord to the Watch?
You write:
“it seems inevitable that Apple Watch should replace the iPhone for communication for some people”
I don’t think this is inevitable for very many people and it’s certainly not going to be the mainstream.
The real advantage to having a ‘cellular’ radio is that the device can grow into something more than an iPhone accessory. Ultimately, no more “iPhone required” – A device that people can buy and use even if they don’t own an iPhone, a device that can introduce people to Apple’s ecosystem in the same way that other Apple products do.
Ho said it’s gonna need another cellular data plan?
I think Apple has the tools to make the watch clone cell information on the phone and use it when phone connectivity is not available.
Here’s the problem with cellular Apple Watch: what protocol are you putting in?
There’s no watch optimized LTE existed yet (seriously, you don’t need 150 Mbps on a watch with MCU level instruction set. You can get one that communicate at 10 Mbps but the power consumption doesn’t reduce much)
3G is power hunger for just push notification (for a 2KB push packet? ), and 2G is basically disappearing to make more bandwidth for LTE.
What Apple need to do, is very simple: make all your Apple devices become an Internet beacon.
You’re sitting in front of an iMac? Make the iMac handle the wifi, and do Bluetooth transmission when needed
You’re watch TV? You have Apple TV. Toilet? iPad.
The only outliner is running without a phone, but at that moment your battery is already drained by the heart rate monitor and the Bluetooth headset.
All we need is communication, which can be done by some old technology in new OS (it’s called distributed computing, which all those cloud companies pretend their web servers are. )
Slapping a cellular chip in the watch is just lazy and lack of imagination.
I love the look of Apple Watch, but I want them to shake off the 1st gen tech issues / bugs before I’d get one.
I would love cellular so I can track runs/bike rides with gps and have the added benefit of being able to make calls without my phone. I don’t need this though and I’ll upgrade to a Watch 2 even if it’s not included.
I think the biggest, most welcome upgrade would be CPU speeds, which Apple is already addressing by making devs create only native apps and would undoubtedly be improved by an S2 chip.
Physical size and battery life are perfectly fine for me as well. Two days of battery runtime is not disappointing at all.
I don’t want cell service I want gps and wifi for my next watch. I have the first gen and I think these two features is what really bottle neck the watch from being something special and standalone. I love fitness but if I have to drag alone my phone to use my watch I’ll just take the phone.
I want to be able to go for a run with my music on my watch, stop at a juice bar pull up my watch app that has my mobile card that’s I can get live updates on my account (reload my card) through their free wifi and then run home. Having the gps chip be able to have tracked my whole trip which uploads to my phone or computer when I get home.
That’s my ideal watch. It doesn’t replace my phone but it has its own place that is true to its self
“… drag alone (sic) my phone.” Wow, what a burden.
It’s a huge additional weight, but that extra hundred pounds from the phone should burn more calories on that run.
It not the weigh it’s where to keep the phone well your running. You put it in a pocket and its swing around and gets in the way of your motion. Especially those like me with the plus version. You can get arm band but then you have sweaty band and phone. You could say that you could just go running with your phone but I want the heart rate track to help me with my accurate calorie count. So I want to Take one device. If apple want to sell the watch to more people they need to prove it can be used independently (wifi and gps) No one want LTE because it’s just another charge on the phone plan really going to be a headache for most to have to deal with not going over on another device.
Did you run with the phone before picking up the Watch? HOW DID YOU COPE??? :rolls eyes:
It is incorrect to say no one wants LTE. Just read the comments on this post. Or do a Google search. Or read the article.
I also run everyday with Runkeeper. I keep my phone it in a durable gripper with five independent gripping appendages, each with three joints to surround the phone and keep it from slipping out. The gripper is attached to an auto stabilizing, shock absorbing mount. This high tech rig is then attached to my shoulder throughout the run.
Apple Watch should not have two physical buttons: pressing the crown twice should bring up Apple Pay and pressing it once should bring the user to their current watch face. Both very useful features, the latter most useful for a watch. The dedicated ‘friends’ button needs to die. The Home screen needs to be rethought. Perhaps pressing the home button once from the watch face would show ‘a’ home screen, but not the current one. Beyond that it’s Apple’s job to expand upon ideas I just thought off the top of my head that are better than the current UX on Apple Watch.
I know that this has been said to death, but the major thing keeping me away from purchasing an Apple watch (aside from the $500AUD) is the reminders non-functionality. My wife and I live our lives by the reminders app on our iPhones, so not being able to use them fully is the one thing that stops me (asking her if I can) get(ting) one.
I’m a wait and see watch user. I don’t own one, but I know some day I will, I’m just sitting on the sideline waiting until they hit at least Watch 2 or 3. I don’t want to feel like I have to replace it every year or two. Since it’s Apple foray into the wearable, I figure it will take them a little while to really grasp the product and technology has to be available to do the things they will need to do. I’m actually surprised they haven’t released a cheaper polycarb unit, they’d sell the snot out of those if they did because some us don’t care about the esthetics and some do, so a model that’s for the “I don’t care about aluminum/stainless steel/gold crowd” would definitely sell quite well to those of us that simply want one, but don’t want to pay extra for the fancy esthetics. :-)
Cellular watches are nothing new and have been around in the asian market, especially china, for over a decade now. In fact, I have several friends who use them over in China. They have TV on them, camera for video chat, a camera for normal photos, some have a mini stylus, many now have dual sims and micro sd… and to make this all possible they have changeable batteries.
However… they don’t make good phones!!!… sending quick messages are great, health tracking is great, basic information is great… have an apple cellular model will be great too IF they can improve the battery!!! — having siri built in (without having to use the iphone or wifi) will enable better dictation of messages, quick searches for basic info, etc.
Adding a facetime camera would be great – and of course using bluetooth headphones would make it better for calling.
But for the love of god – don’t bring back those one ear bluetooth sets — they belong in the 90’s for business people wanting to look uber ‘cool’… but now they look outdated and laughable (sorry if you are a person who uses them)…
But we also don’t want to see people putting a watch to their ear.
What would be interesting is if eventually apple could invest in technology that uses your bones to send sound – so all you’d need to do is put a finger to your ear (the hand with the watch on) and you could hear to the sound — already they have headphones that do something similar.
The only feature that would compel me to buy an Apple Watch2 would be that irbid waterproof. I mean swimming laps & snorkeling waterproof…not accidental splash waterproof. Absent that, will stick with the first model.
I bought my Apple Watch when it first came out. I wore it everyday but admit I was disappointed in performance issues, SIRI stutters, and a difference in burning calorie count verses my old Polar watch. I sold my watch in October and I have missed it ever since. I miss the notifications and easy access to time. That didn’t sound like much to miss but I do miss it. If there were performance improvements in application performance, SIRI, reminders plus potential added features like true Wifi connectivity (without the need of your phone on the same network), podcast and music playback independently of the phone, I may just consider coming back.
I’m not paying a cellular company $5-10 a month just so my watch can have an LTE connection. This is one of those cases where the inability to just connect devices you own to a cellular network and pool from a bucket of data truly slows innovation. Otherwise I believe many consumer products would already piggy back besides a tablet.
A bigger one! 48-52 mm case size and a battery band.
“I’ve worn mine every single day since it launched last year for timekeeping, fitness tracking, notifications, and occasional Siri, and I’m content enough not to stop now.” That pretty much describes how I felt about the Apple Watch when I did my 1 year review (http://goo.gl/NVs4xz). I’m very much looking forward to a better CPU (to make more apps usable) and a GPS for fitness tracking.
I’d argue that the watch needs less stuff and more focus. It’s a mess of stuff, most of which I never use but have to wade through to get what I want. For example, every time I try to use Apple Pay, it shows my friend’s list unless I double tap at just the correct speed. Or when I go to the one app I actually use, I have to pinpoint touch it through all Apple’s junk apps.
I’ve worn the watch every day because I like the 25% of features it has enough to deal with the 75% of features that just get in the way. Notifications are great and useful, Apple’s complications are awesome, and Apple Pay is nice (but see above). I would love Siri, but I can’t get past the fact that it only sometimes works.
I’d be most happy if they got rid of apps (or at least made it harder to accidentally open them with the side button) and got rid of that stupid friends circle. After that, an increase in speed and reliability is next. Finally, I’d improve what’s left: Make Siri work, add a ton of watch faces and complications, improve fitness tracking, make glances live update, etc. I would LOVE that watch.
Basically, I think the Apple watch right now is what smart phones were like before the iPhone: sort of nice, but basically hard to use and frustrating for a lot of their functionality.
My wife has had her Apple Watch since it was released, and she’s happy with it, but she’s not a power user. 90% of her usage is seeing the time, reading texts, and using it to ping her iPhone. I’m eager to get one, but after waiting so long for an update, I may as well continue to hold off until Gen2. I want the fitness tracking abilities in a watch (I currently have a cheap Misfit Shine; it never needs charging and seems halfway decent at fitness tracking and sleep tracking). I don’t think I can pull the trigger on the Apple Watch until they sell customized watch faces. Even if there’s a battery hit, it’s time to give users more options (and a default face that actually displays seconds).