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Apple Announces Apple Watch Series 2 With GPS, Water-Resistance and Faster Performance (theverge.com)
In addition to two shiny new iPhones, Apple has announced its second generation Apple Watch today, calling it the Apple Watch Series 2. The appearance is nearly identical to the original Apple Watch, with the exception of the new (optional) ceramic build material. The biggest changes can be found under the hood. The Verge reports: "The built-in GPS allows the device to perform mapping on its own, no phone required. The company also upgraded the processor in the device, now called the S2, and the display. The Series 2 has a dual-core processor Apple says is 50 percent faster than its predecessor, with double the graphics performance thanks to a new GPU. The display is now 50 percent brighter as well. The company also renewed its longstanding partnership with Nike with a special Nike+ version of the Apple Watch. It resembles a fusion of an Apple product with Nike's discontinued FuelBand fitness tracker, and it's designed for runners and workout junkies. The aluminum sport version of the Apple Watch Series 2 will start at $369, as will the Nike+ edition. The original Apple Watch is being rebranded as Series 1 and will start at $269, though it will come with the upgraded S2 dual-core processor. Preorders start on September 9th, while the watchOS 3 update will go live on September 13th."
Can it last a weekend without charging?
It's bad enough I have to charge my watch once a week.
I tend to like Apple products, but the Watch - all smart watches, really - just isn't where it needs to be for me to want one. They're too big, too clunky, way too expensive and way too limited. Plus having just one-day battery life (or worse... they haven't really said what "Series 2" owners can expect, which is a bad sign) for something you only look at sporadically is ridiculous.
This isn't an Apple problem, though - it's because the underlying technology is just not there yet.
I think I'll be sticking to a fitness tracker for the next few years - I currently have a Garmin Vivosmart, but I might get the new FitBit Charge 2. I get 90% of the utility (notifications, alarms, reminders, texts), week-long battery life, and pay less than half what a smart watch costs. Additionally, having a gentle vibration on my wrist to wake me up in the AM is superior to something blaring on my night stand - and is something current smart watches basically can't do, since they'll be charging and not on my wrist.
#DeleteChrome
Apple's first attempt at the smart watch failed because it was grossly over-priced compared to the competition. I love my Pebble time, but would never have bought it for >$150
I don't know-- if I wanted that sort of function, a few hundred dollars doesn't seem to be too much to pay-- spending some money on something I'd be wearing pretty much 24/7 seems a good use of funds.
My problem is that I don't see why I'd want one in the first place.
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Most people have their phone within GPS resolution 24/7 anyways.
I'll be sticking with my existing AppleWatch for a while I think, the GPS is a nice addition but I prefer to run with my phone anyway so I don't really need that. Apple really understands who the watch is most useful for though, between the waterproofing and the GPS they have really improved things for fitness uses (which is also my primary use).
I think it was also a nice touch to include the faster processor in the older model non-GPS watch they continue to sell.
The more important announcement is really WatchOS 3.0 which also works on the older watches - it really improves usability, ditching the old "circle of friends" use of the side button in favor of your five top watch apps, and keeping them constantly refreshed with data so there's no launch delay. That will make a number of watch apps much more useful, along with the ease of switching watch faces and sets of complications for different tasks. So you'll see a large increase this year in really useful Watch applications, which will ramp up sales even further...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So Apple will actually get people to actually wear a GPS now.
All Hail The True Masters
I really don't get this. People always bag on Apple for stuff like this but they have never shown any interest in spying on their customers. They are not in the ad business like some other mobile OS makers, and they have shown that they are not exactly friendly to governments either. Yes, it has a GPS because, surprise, users, particularly runners, asked for it. Begged for it. Yelled and screamed for it. Not because Apple wants to track your every movement. Untighten the tinfoil a bit.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
... but anytime I was at a desk typing I'd have to take it off because it simply wasn't comfortable hitting the desk, or worse me when using a laptop.
I always had this problem with any watch, but the Apple Milanese band (or the $21 knock off I got on Amazon) is the best watch band I've ever owned. Light, thin, breaths so no sweaty wrist ring, and completely flat across the bottom of the wrist so it doesn't bother me while typing. It's the first band in decades I can wear all day.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Smart watches will become as popular as Smart phones only when they become functional enough to completely replace Smart phones. Until then, most people aren't going to bother carrying around (and recharge) two devices when carrying around one will do.
I already put my smartphone on the charger and take off my "dumbwatch" every night, plugging in my watch would only take a few seconds. It's the intersection between things that are more complicated than checking the time and things that'd take less time than whipping out my smartphone I'm struggling to find. Then again I have a small iPhone SE, maybe if have one of those plus size phones you feel the need for a smaller device but then I think you got the wrong phone not the right watch.
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They are not in the ad business like some other mobile OS makers
In all fairness, that only became true 2 months ago.
Yes, it has a GPS because, surprise, users, particularly runners, asked for it. Begged for it. Yelled and screamed for it. Not because Apple wants to track your every movement.
You're probably correct, given the above-quoted point you made, however, iAd was a full-time user of Location Services.
Untighten the tinfoil a bit.
Definitely agree there.
They have/had an ad network, but the are not an ad company the way Google is. They are also very strict about collecting user information when compared to other ad providers.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
its a 'show off' item for rich motherfuckers.
Is a ~$300 high-tech item really a show off item? I mean, we're at the point now where pretty much anywhere in the country (and excepting fast food), a dinner for a family of 4 costs a minimum of $50, and probably a good bit higher. I'm not calling $300 pocket change, but I'm not sure it gets you into "rich asshole" territory either! (Hypocrisy alert, if I knew someone dropped $300 on a namebrand purse or some shit like that, I would call it a show off item!)
for them, they can afford to throw it out each year or two. they could care less how much it costs; its a hipster show-off item and apple full well knows it.
Most of the people I have met with Apple watches actually were road warriors---people who travel constantly for work. One guy liked it because he always stays at Starwoods and he can unlock his room via the watch. Another liked hers because she got so many text messages for work that she filtered the Watch to only get family messages, so she didn't have to constantly be pulling her phone out of her purse whenever it dinged. etc. Most of the other users I've met just seem to use it like a glorified FitBit. I actually have not seen or met a single hipster-type wearing one!
Full disclosure, I don't have one and don't particularly want on, but I don't think your characterizations are remotely accurate--they seem more driven by your own imagination of what a gross characterization of an Apple user is!
A watch without a headphone jack is a non-starter for me!
I use a Microsoft Band 2, and it has GPS built in. It REALLY drains the battery though. It is not something you want to use for anything more than a 1-2 hour cardio session.
....and NO headphone jack.
No serial port either. Where would I connect my Antikythera Mechanism?