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Apple Watch battery life a focus; new Mac Pro still coming – senior exec

Apple is aware that many would like to see better Apple Watch battery life, says a senior exec, and is working on addressing the issue in various ways.

Apple’s VP of worldwide product marketing Bob Borchers made the comment in a new interview in which he also indirectly referenced the question of an Apple Silicon Mac Pro

Apple Watch battery life

Apple Watch battery life has been one of the most consistent complaints about the wearable, with many seeking the ability to make it through a weekend break, at least, without having to charge every night.

Some draw unflattering comparisons with the likes of Garmin smartwatches, which can last two weeks or more when not using GPS. Others wonder how Apple can offer such dramatic power-efficiency gains with MacBooks, but not the Watch.

However, Borchers told India Today that it’s a balancing act between features and battery life.

There are products in the company’s lineup that continue to require further efficiency gains. One of them is the Apple Watch, which is an excellent health tracker but which will also benefit greatly from more battery life […]

The company also continues to explore how it can achieve the best way to balance features – real-time health and body tracking for features like heart alerts or fall detection – and battery life.

He added that this isn’t the only way to solve the problem, and that many are benefiting from rapid top-up charges.

“With fast charging, you can get 80 per cent of your battery capacity in 45 to 45 minutes. And this is actually a trend that we’re starting to see with more and more of our customers,” he said.

Mac Pro hint – but nothing more than that

Apple still hasn’t clarified its plans for a new Apple Silicon Mac Pro, despite a lot of questions being asked.

For example, Mark Gurman reported that the company had abandoned work on an M2 Extreme chip, and that the 2023 Mac Pro wouldn’t have upgradeable memory, and maybe not upgradeable GPUs. That led to the inevitable question: What is the point of a Mac Pro, which won’t be the most powerful Mac available, and (mostly) won’t offer expansion possibilities?

iOS 16.4 code references might point to a new Mac Pro with interchangeable compute modules,” but that still leaves more questions than answers.

Borchers didn’t provide any answers, or even mention the Mac Pro. But did reiterate the company’s intention to have the “entire product line” running on its own processors, which obviously includes the Mac Pro.

“We have a clear goal to transition fully to Apple Silicone,” said Borchers. “We believe strongly that Apple silicon can power and transform experiences from the MacBook Air to all the way up to the Mac Studio. We’ve been very clear from the beginning that our goal is to take our entire product line to Apple Silicon. And that’s something we intend to do.”

It’s a little odd that, in that context, he didn’t say “all the way up to the Mac Pro,” but given that he’s talking about completing the transition, that would be included. We just don’t know what capabilities it may offer.

Photo: Alessio Zaccaria/Unsplash

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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