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[infiniteloop]

Some details from 9to5Mac sources:

- Battery Life:

Sources who have handled the Apple Watch tell us that Apple has improved the device’s battery life, noting that the final Apple Watch should be able to handle 5 hours of fairly heavy application usage, it and won’t run out of battery during a typical day of mixed active and passive use. However, the source says that the device will still need to be charged nightly, as it will definitely not last through a second full day.

Power Reserve Mode can be activated via a Battery Glance that’s accessible at any time, or via the Apple Watch’s Settings application. The Battery Glance will show the percentage of battery life remaining, the amount of time since the last full charge, and a large button to activate Power Reserve Mode. Power Reserve Mode can even be accessed when the Watch has a full 100% charge, and it is not solely activated when the Watch’s battery life is low.

- Heart rate glance:

Heart Rate Glance will allow the user to see their Beats Per Minute at any time.

- Glances:

he following Glances are installed on the Apple Watch by default, in addition to Heart Rate and Battery Life: Fitness Stats, Activity, Clock, Weather, Music, Quick Settings, Calendar and Maps. As discussed on one of our recent Happy Hour podcasts, sources also indicate that the Apple Watch will have a full Notification Center like the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.

- Storage:

Prototype Apple Watches within Apple are said to include 8GB of storage; it is yet to be seen whether the shipping versions will all include 8GB.

more at :

http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/06/sourc...s-battery-life-unannounced-features-and-more/

 

[SuperPac]

Great info there, especially on the battery life. That was gonna be a big, big hurdle if they couldn't solve that.

 

[Chittagong]

Wtf? I thought Apple Watch was going to track HR all the time? That was the entire point!

 

[giga]

Techcrunch says it takes two hours to charge.

 

[iMax]

Techcrunch says it takes two hours to charge.

That's very impressive if true.

 

[Majine]

i find the matte body the most visually pleasing anyways. The other one's are just too "loud" visually and i'd be afraid of scuffing them.

the matte version looks very ... forgiving.
black sports watch + black band would be most low-key and yet most attractive to me.

Yes, the glossy look doesn't look as good, especially outdoors with the sun glaring.

 

[LCfiner]

Wtf? I thought Apple Watch was going to track HR all the time? That was the entire point!

tracking it and viewing it via glance are different things. it could still track it all the time and send data to the health app independent of the "glance".

 

[Blackhead]

Some details from 9to5Mac sources:

- Battery Life:





- Heart rate glance:



- Glances:



- Storage:


more at :

http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/06/sourc...s-battery-life-unannounced-features-and-more/

notification led!? nah

Great info there, especially on the battery life. That was gonna be a big, big hurdle if they couldn't solve that.

...and you think they've solved it?!

 

[badcrumble]

Techcrunch says it takes two hours to charge.

Not bad, though hopefully future editions will be able to speed that up and get close to 24-hour battery life. I don't have any problem with daily charging, but it'd be really nice to be able to use the Apple Watch to monitor sleep quality overnight.

 

[Majine]

notification led!? nah

Apple thankfully don't put LEDs on their products (other than the Macbook connector, but that's technically not on the product).

 

[ito007]

Techcrunch says it takes two hours to charge.

That's very good. My 360 takes about 1 hour and 40 min to charge from 0-100. Which is about a minute per percentage, and that's a godsend. Really comes in handy if I ever forget to charge it since I know I'll only be without it for a naps worth of time. Very nice

 

[Blackhead]

That's very good. My 360 takes about 1 hour and 40 min to charge from 0-100. Which is about a minute per percentage, and that's a godsend. Really comes in handy if I ever forget to charge it since I know I'll only be without it for a naps worth of time. Very nice

Sony Smartwatch 3 is about 50 mins to 1hr. That makes Androidwear watches super impressive . Doesn't make a difference either way though if you're charging the iWatch overnight

 

[ito007]

Sony Smartwatch 3 is about 50 mins to 1hr. That makes Androidwear watches super impressive . Doesn't make a difference either way though if you're charging the iWatch overnight

Very true. This apple watch is shaping up quite nicely. Do we know if this watch will come with a charging cradle or something like that?

 

[giga]

Sony Smartwatch 3 is about 50 mins to 1hr. That makes Androidwear watches super impressive . Doesn't make a difference either way though if you're charging the iWatch overnight

That thing with the micro usb flap? yeah, trade offs.

 

[ShowDog]

It really needs to charge in 30 minutes so you could wear it for sleep tracking and charge while you take a shower and dress in the morning. Sleep tracking is a huge part of health monitoring and this has most of the tech to do it. The battery just can't hang.

If Apple designs it to charge while you sleep they probably won't even support sleep tracking and it'll be a dead possibility until they open up 3rd party app development to a greater degree in the presumed future.

 

[badcrumble]

It really needs to charge in 30 minutes so you could wear it for sleep tracking and charge while you take a shower and dress in the morning. Sleep tracking is a huge part of health monitoring and this has most of the tech to do it. The battery just can't hang.

Yeah. I expect this to be the case a few revisions from now. Sleep tracking's great, as are fuzzy alarms that wake you when you're not sleeping too deeply, like the Sleep Cycle app.

 

[SuperPac]

...and you think they've solved it?!

5 hours is much better than the 2.5 from earlier rumors. Yes to me battery life is no longer a big problem or sticking point - because they were unlikely to ever get to days/a week.

 

[ayeorkean]

Apple thankfully don't put LEDs on their products (other than the Macbook connector, but that's technically not on the product).

Apple TV, AirPort Extreme, previous gen Macbooks and MBPs, and led for FaceTime camera.

 

[Fliesen]

Apple TV, AirPort Extreme, previous gen Macbooks and MBPs, and led for FaceTime camera.

i was about to point that out.

except for the iPhone and the iPad, pretty much every Apple device has some kind of notification LED.
macbooks even have one to signify caps-lock.

 

[badcrumble]

Not to mention every current MacBook model having a light-up Apple logo on the back.

 

[sc0la]

Any chance Apple releases previously leaked reversible USB lighting cable and the revised 2.1 amp charger with the apple watch?

Does the ape watch charger even use a lightning cable to the inductive charger or is it just the magnetic inductive charger with a USB on the other end?

 

[Fliesen]

sorry, doublepost. see below

 

[Fliesen]

Not to mention every current MacBook model having a light-up Apple logo on the back.

well, that's the screen backlight being used to illuminate a translucent cutout.
That's no "indicator LED", to be fair.

Any chance Apple releases previously leaked reversible USB lighting cable and the revised 2.1 amp charger with the apple watch?

Does the ape watch charger even use a lightning cable to the inductive charger or is it just the magnetic inductive charger with a USB on the other end?

well, the upside would be that you could bring the watch charger, unplug the "magnetic head" and just charge your phone.

the downside would be a less durable watch charger due to the connection between the two components.

from the looks of it, it'll be one cable. USB -> magsafe
(the end of the cable looks circular, a lightning connector would be a lot flatter)

 

[sc0la]

well, the upside would be that you could bring the watch charger, unplug the "magnetic head" and just charge your phone.

the downside would be a less durable watch charger due to the connection between the two components.

from the looks of it, it'll be one cable. USB -> magsafe
(the end of the cable looks circular, a lightning connector would be a lot flatter)

Good points, to be fair the less durable part of apple cables is there either way. The transition from bend point to cable, not the lighting connector itself

Thanks for the image, I forgot they showed the charger from that angle. Clearly round and not flattened like the Lightning cable.

 

[Fliesen]

Good points, to be fair the less durable part of apple cables is there either way. The transition from bend point to cable, not the lighting connector itself

Thanks for the image, I forgot they showed the charger from that angle. Clearly round and not flattened like the Lightning cable.

actually, like 19 out of 20 google image results for apple watch charger show it from the other side. This, while lacking brightness, was the only one that wasn't a low-res thumbnail

speaking of chargers: i'm really intrigued about those kickstarters that are going to be happening when the watch is released. That turn your magsafe into some decent cradle for your nightstand.

these are going to make taking off your watch when going to bed, using it as an alarmclock a lot less "fumbly" and a bit more decorative.

there's a lot of people who already take their watches off to go to bed, so if a decent charging solution makes this a hassle-free one-step no-plugging-in process, i think the battery life is going to be less of an issue for many users.

Tracking your sleep, of course, is something the 1st gen AppleWatch will fail to do, unless you actively charge it during nighttime TV and then fill it back up during breakfast, i guess.

 

[GWX]

Can you imagine being in this room at this moment... **groan** 'the fuck happened to this world?...

A big number of the people there were Apple employees. Let them enjoy themselves!

Spoiler

Bono's and Cook's finger touching was way more embarrassing, if I'm honest.

 

[Blackhead]

That thing with the micro usb flap? yeah, trade offs.

hmm trade-offs... It's easy to toss off a snarky comment if you've never used a sony smartwatch 3 or any android wear watch. Rant incoming (not aimed at you giga):

I'm a big supported of wirless charging; I've been trumpeting and requesting it for the iPhones since I saw the Palm pre over 5 years ago. Indeed before trying out SSW3 I was leaning towards a Moto360 because it offered wireless charging. But after using the SSW3... well when using most modern smartphones, you charge them multiple times a day, practically every chance you get. If I'm working at my desk for 15 minutes, the phone come out of my pocket and is plugged in. A wireless charger provides a couple seconds convenience over a cable charger that accumulates multiple times over the day. If you have multiple phones or tablets that all use the same wireless charging tray then the convenience is even greater.

However a smartwatch is different. As says Tim Cook

"I want to make sure I measure all myactivity", he explains, which means that wants his wrist to be full during all his waking hours

you'll don't take a smartwatch off your wrist during the day just to top up the battery. Which reminds me about another thing I hated about that so-called 'review' by theverge on the SSW3

I often found myself leaving it charging on my desk with that convenient-yet-somehow-inconvenient microUSB plug.

WTF?! if you have to charge a smartwatch multiple times at your desk then it's probably broken and doesn't meet the requirements for basic use. If that's really happening then how can you let that slide as an aside in a 'review' and.... but I digress...

So... with smartwatches you charge them once a day (iWatch?), every other day (Androidwear watches) or once a week (Pebbles). The iWatch wireless charging doesn't matter that much especially if you still need to plug in a cable to an iPhone anyway. The iWatch wireless charging is certainly more elegant and aesthetically pleasing but so what? While the Sony smartwatch 1 & 2 had the usb port on the side, the SSW3 instead has the port on the back so nobody can see it while you wear the watch. Out of sight, out of mind. The only time anyone will care about usb port versus wireless charging is when you're not at home to charge it. iWatch chargers will not be ubiquitous for months, if not years, and you might be out of luck if you wake up with a dead iWatch and you're in a stranger's house because you got lucky the night before. If the trade-off is between wireless charging and an iWatch with a lightening charger cable that fully charges in 1hr (or much less considering the quick charge time of the new devices) I'd probably go with the cable.
/rant

 

[sc0la]

speaking of chargers: i'm really intrigued about those kickstarters that are going to be happening when the watch is released. That turn your magsafe into some decent cradle for your nightstand.

these are going to make taking off your watch when going to bed, using it as an alarmclock a lot less "fumbly" and a bit more decorative.

there's a lot of people who already take their watches off to go to bed, so if a decent charging solution makes this a hassle-free one-step no-plugging-in process, i think the battery life is going to be less of an issue for many users.

Notifications don't work when it's not on wrist correct?
Wonder if there is an option to leave the watch face on while charging? Or at least touch to activate it would be an okay trade off, if you want to use it as an end table clock when charging. Wonder if alarms still work when it is not worn.

 

[giga]

hmm trade-offs... It's easy to toss off a snarky comment if you've never used a sony smartwatch 3 or any android wear watch. Rant incoming (not aimed at you giga):

I'm a big supported of wirless charging; I've been trumpeting and requesting it for the iPhones since I saw the Palm pre over 5 years ago. Indeed before trying out SSW3 I was leaning towards a Moto360 because it offered wireless charging. But after using the SSW3... well when using most modern smartphones, you charge them multiple times a day, practically every chance you get. If I'm working at my desk for 15 minutes, the phone come out of my pocket and is plugged in. A wireless charger provides a couple seconds convenience over a cable charger that accumulates multiple times over the day. If you have multiple phones or tablets that all use the same wireless charging tray then the convenience is even greater.

However a smartwatch is different. As says Tim Cook

you'll don't take a smartwatch off your wrist during the day just to top up the battery. Which reminds me about another thing I hated about that so-called 'review' by theverge on the SSW3
WTF?! if you have to charge a smartwatch multiple times at your desk then it's probably broken and doesn't meet the requirements for basic use. If that's really happening then how can you let that slide as an aside in a 'review' and.... but I digress...

So... with smartwatches you charge them once a day (iWatch?), every other day (Androidwear watches) or once a week (Pebbles). The iWatch wireless charging doesn't matter that much especially if you still need to plug in a cable to an iPhone anyway. The iWatch wireless charging is certainly more elegant and aesthetically pleasing but so what? While the Sony smartwatch 1 & 2 had the usb port on the side, the SSW3 instead has the port on the back so nobody can see it while you wear the watch. Out of sight, out of mind. The only time anyone will care about usb port versus wireless charging is when you're not at home to charge it. iWatch chargers will not be ubiquitous for months, if not years, and you might be out of luck if you wake up with a dead iWatch and you're in a stranger's house because you got lucky the night before. If the trade-off is between wireless charging and an iWatch with a lightening charger cable that fully charges in 1hr (or much less considering the quick charge time of the new devices) I'd probably go with the cable.
/rant

Apple said they went with inductive charging so it would be easier to charge in the dark and because there would be no exposed contacts (and in effect, no flap). I think both factors are reasonable enough to make the speed tradeoff, especially because most will charge it once a day at night.

 

[Fliesen]

.why do i keep doubleposting, i'm sorry. ... i should probably go to bed

 

[Fliesen]

Notifications don't work when it's not on wrist correct?
Wonder if there is an option to leave the watch face on while charging? Or at least touch to activate it would be an okay trade off, if you want to use it as an end table clock when charging. Wonder if alarms still work when it is not worn.

please, no notifications when it's off-wrist!

but i am almost 100% sure there'll be some sort of alarm clock functionality even without it being paired to a phone during that time, when it's charging. It should at least display the watchface when you click do some easy-to-do-in-the-dark action, like clicking the crown or touching the screen.

there simply has to be - it's what people do with their regular digital watches, too. Leave it on the nightstand and use it to check the time when they wake up in the middle of the night.

*snippedysnapp*

iWatch chargers will not be ubiquitous for months, if not years, and you might be out of luck if you wake up with a dead iWatch and you're in a stranger's house because you got lucky the night before. If the trade-off is between wireless charging and an iWatch with a lightening charger cable that fully charges in 1hr (or much less considering the quick charge time of the new devices) I'd probably go with the cable.

this is a great point.

I'm sure third parties will offer something to fill these holes during the early years. like powerbanks that have inductive charging plates for the AppleWatch. Still, you'll pretty much always have to actively remember bringing something with you to charge the watch over night, should you not sleep in your own bed that night.

 

[badcrumble]

Apple said they went with inductive charging so it would be easier to charge in the dark and because there would be no exposed contacts (and in effect, no flap). I think both factors are reasonable enough to make the speed tradeoff, especially because most will charge it once a day at night.

From my read Greyface isn't complaining about charging speed so much as about charger ubiquity, which IMO is a totally legit thing to complain about.

The Lightning cable is way better than the old dock connector, for sure, but when it first came out it was really annoying because one of the best unspoken features of the iPhone was that (thanks to the iPod era) you were practically guaranteed that everyone had a charger for it if you were over at their house or whatever.

We're definitely getting back to that with the Lightning cable but it's taken a few years to reach that point (being an early iPhone 5 adopter was actually pretty annoying in this respect). It'd be really nice for the Apple Watch to be able to take advantage of that ubiquity too.

That said, yeah, not having exposed contacts is really important if they want this thing to be waterproof now or in the future.

 

[betterhalf]

I just want an excellent fitness tracker. I'm tired of this fitbit BS.

 

[Blackhead]

Apple said they went with inductive charging so it would be easier to charge in the dark and because there would be no exposed contacts (and in effect, no flap). I think both factors are reasonable enough to make the speed tradeoff, especially because most will charge it once a day at night.

Like I already said, you're still going to be fiddling with your iPhone cable charger "in the dark" anyway since that doesn't use inductive charging. Not what sure what the 'exposed contacts' is so supposed to signify beyond aesthetics...

NB: In the grand scheme of things this choice/trade-off isn't that important at all; both wireless charging and usb charging are acceptable imo

 

[giga]

Like I already said, you're still going to be fiddling with your iPhone cable charger "in the dark" anyway since that doesn't use inductive charging. Not what sure what the 'exposed contacts' is so supposed to signify beyond aesthetics...

NB: In the grand scheme of things this choice/trade-off isn't that important at all; both wireless charging and usb charging are acceptable imo

Sure, and that's why it'd be nice to have inductive charging on the iPhone too. Not having exposed contacts prevents corrosion doesn't it?

 

[Blackhead]

That said, yeah, not having exposed contacts is really important if they want this thing to be waterproof now or in the future.

Sure, and that's why it'd be nice to have inductive charging on the iPhone too. Not having exposed contacts prevents corrosion doesn't it?

*shrug* Pebble has exposed contacts and is more waterproof than the iWatch. Sony Smartwatch 3 has a flap-covered usb and is also more waterproof. If exposed contacts are corroding (as some Watch R did before LG released a fix) thats a specific OEM flaw not a generic issue i think.

 

[badcrumble]

Sure, and that's why it'd be nice to have inductive charging on the iPhone too. Not having exposed contacts prevents corrosion doesn't it?

Kinda yeah. I think the reason Lightning's still used/needed is for data transfer and accessories (and probably faster charging speed). Uploading your whole music library via WiFi is slower.

 

[giga]

*shrug* Pebble has exposed contacts and is more waterproof than the iWatch. Sony Smartwatch 3 has a flap-covered usb and is also more waterproof. If exposed contacts are corroding (as some Watch R did before LG released a fix) thats a specific OEM flaw not a generic issue i think.

Well I'm not talking about waterproofing. You can have exposed contacts and be waterproof. The seals just need to have gaskets. I just remember from physics class that copper exposed to water/oxygen can corrode. Isn't that why Sony put the flap on it?

 

[Blackhead]

Well I'm not talking about waterproofing. You can have exposed contacts and be waterproof. The seals just need to have gaskets. I just remember from physics class that copper exposed to water/oxygen can corrode. Isn't that why Sony put the flap on it?

Maybe... Probably... ok you're technically right.

Back to the 9to5 article

Apple’s Sport Band, the default on the $349 aluminum Apple Watch, is said to “take time” to get used to as it is somewhat difficult to put on at first due to the pin-based closure system.

This is why I want the magnetic milanese loop. It looks so much easier to use

 

[jts]

Maybe... Probably... ok you're technically right.

Back to the 9to5 article

This is why I want the magnetic milanese loop. It looks so much easier to use

The leather loop seems just as easy and looks much more comfortable. But a notch less posh (and a lot less durable).

I love it.

 

[DOWN]

Seriously can't believe the number of SKUs some of the posters in here are blowing this into.

I'm gonna go with I'm what I'm feeling from Apple's website:

10 Watch Sport SKUs

18 Watch SKUs

6 Edition SKUs

Total of 34 SKUs, which seems a lot, but there are 12 body types alone. 3 materials x 2 sizes x 2 colours.

And not all SKUs will be shipped to all stores. The Edition will never see the insides of most retailers.

And I think that even an Edition has to be able to, say, be a nice gift. It has to be ready to but put on your wrist. I don't think Apple will cheap out on that. The strap will be paid over and over again to hell and back with the markup on those babies anyway, and the whole experience thing can't be compromised.

There's 6 material SKUs, potentially each in two sizes. Silver & grey aluminum, silver and grey steel, and rose and yellow gold. So that's six in two sizes each, 12 SKUs if each only had one band.

He's not the one reaching here... You talking about being "more efficient" as if this watch relieves people of some great burden. It saves, what, 4 seconds? 7? And does that increase in efficiency make up for having to wear something that looks significantly worse than a "real" watch? Of course that's subjective.

I hope it does well and satisfies a real need for some folks. Seems to me a gimmick mostly at this point.

What exactly do you think this watch is for? I'm reaching by pointing out exactly what it's appeal is? Pointing out exactly what is supposed to interest people about it and what's got Apple spending billions on it, is not reaching. What do you think the watch is even for that renders my description as a reach, and not the downplay of his prior post?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

The leather loop seems just as easy and looks much more comfortable. But a notch less posh (and a lot less durable).

I love it.

yea that's winning

 

[Technosteve]

I am buying one for no apparent reason plz let the gold watch be less then 1k

 

[infiniteloop]

I am buying one for no apparent reason plz let the gold watch be less then 1k

be lucky if the steel with a decent band is under a grand.

 

[DOWN]

be lucky if the steel with a decent band is under a grand.

u must be outta ur mind

 

[infiniteloop]

u must be outta ur mind

steel with any leather/steel band could easily be ~$900, milanese loop over $1k

 

[DOWN]

steel with any leather/steel band could easily be ~$900

Steel with leather bands can also be much cheaper. No reason to guess it will be several hundred more than aluminum at this point.

 

[sfedai0]

Time to spend my entire tax refund on this.

 

[sc0la]

Well I'm not talking about waterproofing. You can have exposed contacts and be waterproof. The seals just need to have gaskets. I just remember from physics class that copper exposed to water/oxygen can corrode. Isn't that why Sony put the flap on it?

So use gold contact points. I'm fine with the all inductive for the watch, though as greyface pointed out not using lightning negates on of the hidden kiler apps of the iPhone. You are nearly always by someone with a charger.

 

[dallow_bg]

steel with any leather/steel band could easily be ~$900, milanese loop over $1k

Nah. If I can venture a guess... steel with the steel link band will be $550.
With the mesh, $650.

EDIT: Actually, there's nothing about the mesh that would make it more expensive. They're not more costly to produce or anything, if anything it's cheaper than the link bracelet.
The stainless band with the innovative "tool-less" link sizing is actually a lot more interesting.