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Apple Watch Series 4 Includes a Bigger Display, ECG Support, and 64-Bit S4 Chip (9to5mac.com)
Apple has unveiled its next-generation Apple Watch Series 4 smartwatch, featuring a larger display with smaller bezels, a 64-bit processor that's twice as fast as the previous generation, and electrocardiography (ECG) support. 9to5Mac reports: In terms of hardware, the Digital Crown has been completely reengineered with haptic feedback. For instance, as you flip through content in the Podcast application. The speaker is also over 50 percent louder, according to [Apple COO Jeff Williams]. As we reported earlier this week, the Apple Watch Series 4 uses a new 64-bit processor that offers performance up to two times faster performance. There's also a next-generation accelerometer gyroscope, which Williams says allows Apple Watch to detect a fall. When a fall is detected, Apple Watch will send an alert prompting you to call emergency services. If it senses you are immobile for more than 1 minute, the call will be started automatically.
As for heart features, Apple Watch is now capable of detecting a low rate. The device will also now screen your heart rhythm, allowing it to detect atrial fibrillation. As expected, Apple Watch Series 4 also now supports ECG -- which measures the electrical activity of the heart. With Apple Watch, you can take an ECG directly on the Apple Watch by putting your finger directly on the digital crown. The feature -- as well as irregular heart rate detection -- has received FDA clearance. Williams says that all health and fitness is encrypted on-device and in the cloud. Battery life on Apple Watch Series 4 is the same, 18-hours as before. Outdoor workout time is now 6 hours. In terms of pricing and colors, the Apple Watch Series 4 will start at $399 for the GPS model and $499 for the cellular model, with preorders starting September 14th. The aluminum model will feature space gray, silver, and black color configurations, while the stainless steel model will feature gold, polished black, and space black color configurations.
As for heart features, Apple Watch is now capable of detecting a low rate. The device will also now screen your heart rhythm, allowing it to detect atrial fibrillation. As expected, Apple Watch Series 4 also now supports ECG -- which measures the electrical activity of the heart. With Apple Watch, you can take an ECG directly on the Apple Watch by putting your finger directly on the digital crown. The feature -- as well as irregular heart rate detection -- has received FDA clearance. Williams says that all health and fitness is encrypted on-device and in the cloud. Battery life on Apple Watch Series 4 is the same, 18-hours as before. Outdoor workout time is now 6 hours. In terms of pricing and colors, the Apple Watch Series 4 will start at $399 for the GPS model and $499 for the cellular model, with preorders starting September 14th. The aluminum model will feature space gray, silver, and black color configurations, while the stainless steel model will feature gold, polished black, and space black color configurations.
Now instead of mere reaction videos people can include before and after ECG readings from the heart as well!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That'll be a trigger signal to emergency responders to get out the tranquilizer gun.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Watch must be on the same cellular network as your iPhone, but only limited networks support Watch. Here in the U.K. it was only EE, but now Apple has added Vodafone â" officially the most complained about network provider. Those of us who have chosen good network providers other than EE are locked out of Watch.
64 bit on a watch? Does this thing access more than 2 GiB of addressable memory?
64 bit is not just about memory, but other things also - and it puts it in line with all the phones so the 32-bit path is closed down.
And ECG. There's no way in hell this thing is remotely certified
And yet, it is. The heart rate monitor itself has proven to be as good as a dedicated heart rate monitor... if you watch the video it'd not like it's taking an ECG all the time, the user triggers an ECG and you get a 30 second reading (which you can then examine or share a PDF of with your doctor or anyone else). I think that's part of how they are able to make it reliable enough to get certified.
I don't know if Apple originally planned on all this latent health monitoring when they first cooked up the watch, but I think they have a winning strategy here. If my mom will wear one I'd get it for her, to have the fall detection and early warning of heart issues... heck I am finally upgrading my original first gen Apple Watch because I really would like warnings about my own heart rate!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It is certified by the FDA for AFib and ECG.
Watch must be on the same cellular network as your iPhone
That's true but they still make watches without cell connections that can just piggy-back on your phone. Even without your phone they can still do most things the cellular watch can, they just can't make calls or do emergency notifications - they do include GPS.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No, it's got an ARM processor, and 64-bit ARM is vastly faster than 32-bit ARM due to various optimizations available that 32-bit ARM is incapable of. (conditional instruction execution is no longer present on AArch64 because it hamstrings out of order execution when instructions depend on each other) and other such things. And by "vastly faster", we're easily talking 2x or more.
And the monitoring stuff likely came about because "apple watch saves lives" started becoming a thing. There are plenty of reports of people being alerted to heart conditions by Apple Watch and getting checked out by a doctor, only to discover than they were hours away from a massive heart attack or other heart condition.
So while the ECG and such may not be precise enough to be a replacement for a real machine at a hospital, it may prove to be sufficient for Apple Watch to say "Please see a doctor NOW for potential heart condition". It's one of those things where even if it misses a few people, it may alert a few more to heart conditions they never knew they had.
64bit makes development more unified regardless whether or not you need to address more than 4GB of RAM.
As for the ECG certification, perhaps it's functional, but not nearly with the same resolution as the kind found with a dedicated machine.
Life is not for the lazy.
64-bit ARM is vastly faster than 32-bit ARM
Not it isn't, and whatever small advantages it has come at the expense of more power-hungry transistors, at least twice as many for the ALU. An idiotic tradeoff for a watch. And I suppose, marketing has sent talking points around explaining why 64 is better than 32 that don't need to be right, they just need to sound good to an uncritical mind.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Huh I see. So I just checked, it's only certified ECG when you touch a metal bit in it with your other hand. Yeah that's technically feasible for a single channel ECG. Not really sure how useful that is. It's certainly not a continuous monitoring device that's for sure.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Up to 18 hours battery life? WTF was Apple thinking. And exactly who is going to buy the spin that 64 bits is more energy efficient than 32. Just read Apple's own claims. Other manufactures aiming at more than 24 hours runtime = Apple will lose more market share.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
64bit makes development more unified
So let me get this straight, Apple devs save some money while customers get a watch that won't make it through a day.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
That is the single least impressive feature.
Corporatism != Free Market
Why would autistic stress rocking call for kleenex and dating? Shouldn't this instead call for calming music and comfort foods?
You did specify "if Google made this".
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Um. The FDA has certified it. AliveCor has been certified for the same purpose for a while. The way you think the world is, is not how it actually is.
Huh I see. So I just checked, it's only certified ECG when you touch a metal bit in it with your other hand. Yeah that's technically feasible for a single channel ECG. Not really sure how useful that is. It's certainly not a continuous monitoring device that's for sure.
I broke some bones in an accident and ended up in hospital. When they did an ECG they found I had AFib without being aware of it. I wonder if anyone's new watch will give them a surprise like that. It's not like healthy thirty- and forty-somethings get ECGs that often.
There are tons of examples of consumerised sensors delivering real value in clinical settings. eg wireless blood pressure cuffs.
Accuracy and richness of datasets aren't the be-all and end-all. Frequency of measurement can be very important. Hell, take the example of wireless blood pressure cuffs -- they are less accurate than the cuffs used by health professionals, but readings aren't distorted by white coat hypertension
Firstly what.
64 bit on a watch? Does this thing access more than 2 GiB of addressable memory?
And ECG. There's no way in hell this thing is remotely certified (it's bloody hard to get a good reading from the wrist under ideal conditions never mind on a watch without wet silver chloride electrodes). That makes is not just useless but actively deceptive. Fitbit couldn't even manage heart rate (via pulse ox like tech which is way easier that far distal) without a class action lawsuit.
Isn't it disgusting how Apple employees get on here and mod down any comment critical of Apple's design mistakes? That doesn't turn a bad product into a good one, but it does tell you about Apple's corporate culture.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
What benchmarks? Nobody has any yet, there aren't even details about which ARM core the S4 uses. Until those details come out, Apple astroturfers will spin the "twice as fast" angle as hard as they can. My take on it: IPC differs only slightly between current 32 bit and 64 bit ARM cores, but power draw is significantly higher for 64 bit cores. Or to put it simply, the power draw penalty outweighs the IPC increase, if there actually any. To work around this, Apple will redefine the length of the day.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
ARM disagrees (slide 7), but what do they know.
Support your argument, please, because slide 7 does not.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Something about "highest efficiency" in the A35 that you do not understand?
Something about, you are imagining something in that slide that isn't there. Please try a little harder.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Yup. Sounds about right.
Life is not for the lazy.
"Cortex-A35
Highest Efficiency
64/32-bit"
It's there all right.
With subtitle "64/32 bit". See the "32 bit" part? Your argument still not supported, you are trying to parse a slide. How lame. See if you can find something better, good luck.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
You do realize that means that the processor supports both 32- and 64-bit code, not that some are 32-bit only, right? "Most efficient 64-bit Armv8-A processor with full Armv7-A compatibility" in ARM's words.
Sore because I can correctly parse one and you cannot?
You surely realize that every ARMv8 processor short of the A76 is 64/32-bit, not 64 bit only. I mean, if you're comfortable with utterly gutting your own premise that "the power draw penalty outweighs the IPC increase, if there actually any" go ahead. The fact that the A35 (64/32-bit) is a higher efficiency core than the A32 (32 bit only) pretty much kills the argument even if you go that route.
If A35 really is more power efficient than A7, other things being equal (cache, frequency, process) then why did Qualcomm go with A7 and not A35 for their new power efficient smartphone SoC?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Nope. Time for you to prove the A7 is more power efficient, not for me to explain Qualcomm decisionmaking. "We slapped a limited function coprocessor onto an A7 in an attempt to cheaply extend battery life" is not a rebuttal to ARM's own documents.
More like "we didn't go with A35 because A7 is more efficient". A35 has been out since 2015, Qualcomm had plenty of time to evaluate it. A7 obviously won. I guess I'm not trusting ARM on their marketing claim.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
So where's the false marketing lawsuit? After all, there's been three years for people to claim fraud versus claims like:
"At the same frequency and process, the A35 architecture (codenamed Mercury), promises to be 10% lower power than the A7 while giving an 6-40% performance uplift depending on use-case. In integer workloads (SPECint2006) the A35 gives about 6% higher throughput than the A7, while floating point (SPECfp2000) is supposed to give a more substantial 36% increase."
You're wrong. It's obvious to all. Stop embarrassing yourself, please.
I currently live in Hong Kong and notice that the ECG feature is not mentioned on the local Apple site. Probably it needs to pass local certification and regulation to be activated wherever it is being sold. I do assume that the feature can be turned on remotely whenever it is certified for local use.
A pity really.
So absence of lawsuit is your new fallback argument.
See "promises to be" in your own quote. Promises promises. See, ARM engineering told ARM marketing that "A35 is more power efficient than A53" and marketing twisted it. Omigosh, marketing did that. Qualcomm obviously untwisted it based on actual engineering, not marketing claims. But you want to ignore that with bluster.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Lol, I'm waiting for 6+ months per charge. It's useless if it can't be used as an actual watch.
In response to your fallback argument of "I don't believe ARM?" Yes.
Your link doesn't support that. There's is no indication that the A7 was selected for power efficiency rather than, oh, cost.
Based upon one and only one very ambiguous link, you think that you can dismiss links to years of ARM materials as "bluster." Don't make me laugh.
Provide power efficiency numbers. I'll even take relative numbers like "10% less." Seems only fair.
There's is no indication that the A7 was selected for power efficiency rather than, oh, cost.
Cost is a theory you pulled out of your ass, with zero support. Snapdragon Wear 3100 is based on a new ultra-low power hierarchical system architecture approach. More than sufficient evidence that the primary goal of Qualcomm's new SoC is power efficiency. And they passed up the A35 for that. Blow smoke all you want, it happened.
Other than the Qualcomm 3100 data point, there is not a whole lot of evidence as this point in time about which system architecture is ultimately the most power efficient for a watch. Samsung with go with a v8 part in their next smartwatch, then everybody will be able to get head-to-head real life power efficiency data. Until then you're sounding, well, a bit strident. Just a bit. Maybe go for a walk or something.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Efficiency is a theory that you pulled out of your ass, and even your own article contradicts it.
"This new SoC uses the same 28nm process and quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU as Wear 2100 "
"The headline feature is the introduction of Qualcommâ(TM)s new ultra-low power, always-on co-processor, the QCC1110, positioned alongside the main SoC. This co-processor can switch off the main processing package, greatly increasing your smartwatchâ(TM)s battery life."
"This new co-processor operates at a 20x lower power point than the main processor. It can only perform a few basic functions and itâ(TM)s only designed to update the watch face and read a very small amount of sensor data."
The goal of the SOC may be power efficiency, but they aren't using the A7 to achieve that. It's the same old 2100 A7 that is being shut off as the main feature of the "new ultra-low power hierarchical system architecture."
Does nothing to prove that the A7 is more efficient than the A35. Does everything to prove that your reading comprehension skills need loads of work.
The absence of the A35 in Qualcomm's design proves that A36 did not get the design win, A7 did. Now go ahead and bluster about that.
It's also interesting that 28nm got the design win, not 14nm. Instead of blowing an artery like you seem to be on the verge of, just sit back and see which product gets the win in the market. I'm predicting: not Apple.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Afaik, it only works with an iphone.
Huh I see. So I just checked, it's only certified ECG when you touch a metal bit in it with your other hand. Yeah that's technically feasible for a single channel ECG. Not really sure how useful that is. It's certainly not a continuous monitoring device that's for sure.
They still have the optical heart rate sensor on the back. That IS continuous, and has already been credited with saving several lives.
Moving the goalposts:
"My take on it: IPC differs only slightly between current 32 bit and 64 bit ARM cores, but power draw is significantly higher for 64 bit cores. Or to put it simply, the power draw penalty outweighs the IPC increase, if there actually any."
Not proven.
"If A35 really is more power efficient than A7, other things being equal (cache, frequency, process) then why did Qualcomm go with A7 and not A35 for their new power efficient smartphone SoC."
Not falsified.
"A3[5] did not get the design win, A7 did."
A7 shut off by the QCC1110 95% of the time did. Watch-mode only functionality for a week, whoopee. Also, not the point.
Power efficiency of A7 versus A35. Prove that's it better. Or continue to fail.
Not proven
Strongly suggested by the fact that the A7 got the win. Better than your frantic arm waving.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Fail. Do better.
You got nothing.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
To paraphrase an apparent hypocrite: Your argument still not supported, you are trying to parse a product announcement. How lame. See if you can find something better, good luck.
Bye.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I win.
"At the same frequency and process, the A35 architecture (codenamed Mercury), promises to be 10% lower power than the A7 while giving an 6-40% performance uplift depending on use-case. In integer workloads (SPECint2006) the A35 gives about 6% higher throughput than the A7, while floating point (SPECfp2000) is supposed to give a more substantial 36% increase"
Still not proven false, and you quit.
Yes, you won the internet blowhard award today. You must be fun at parties.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
What benchmarks? Nobody has any yet, there aren't even details about which ARM core the S4 uses. Until those details come out, Apple astroturfers will spin the "twice as fast" angle as hard as they can. My take on it: IPC differs only slightly between current 32 bit and 64 bit ARM cores, but power draw is significantly higher for 64 bit cores. Or to put it simply, the power draw penalty outweighs the IPC increase, if there actually any. To work around this, Apple will redefine the length of the day.
You're an illiterate retard.
There are two facts that point to the S4 being 64 bit:
1. Apple said so.
2. Apple is 64-bit "clean" across ALL of their OSes, except macOS. And the next version of macOS, Mojave, is supposed to be RELEASED in about a week from now is going to be the last macOS that will support 32-bit AT ALL. iOS kicked 32 bit to the curb a year ago with iOS 11.0.
TL;dr 32 bit is D-E-A-D at Apple; so it wouldn't make any sense for them to regress with the S4 and WatchOS 5.
Linking to actual tech articles and manufacturer info = blowhard, but saying that a product announcement "strongly suggests" something that it in no way does = proof.
The fun part is that you were compelled to rebut anyone who dared to reply to your "What things? That actually matter to a watch?" with an almost fact-free and snarky reply. Which is the epitome of being a blowhard.
Don't wet your jammies.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Didn't you say "bye" several posts ago?
About as truthful as the rest of your drivel, I guess.
Caffeine sensitivity is a big one. Abnormal rhythms can last two days in some people after drinking two cups of coffee.
It's not like healthy thirty- and forty-somethings get ECGs that often.
Is that another sign of the American medical system? I mean an ECG and stress ECG is something recommend and provided free in many coutries around the world and is highly recommeneded to do as part of a medical checkup every 10 years after you become an adult.
Did mine 3 days ago.
So sorry, you did wet your jammies.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Hello! More fact free drivel, I see. You just canâ(TM)t bring yourself to actually end the conversation. So why did you write âoeBye.â?
I suppose you don't see any irony. Interesting specimen of something.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I'm not the one who wrote "bye." I'll haunt you so long as it amuses me, and I'm not going to pretend any different.
Do you also sneak around at night and peer into windows?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
You're projecting again.
I'm not the one who said they stalk people on the internet for fun.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Neither am I. I said "I'll haunt you so long as it amuses me." I can't stalk someone who's continually engaging with me in this particular set of article comments, and correcting your particular bullshit is a riot. You're free to piss off to a different topic and engage in interference-free idiocy if you'd like. I'm not the one that announced "bye" and then stuck around to engage even more.
Bye. (In case you still don't understand, that means please do the internet a favor and crawl back into your burrow.)
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Bye is not a command. And you're incapable of staying away.
I invite you to crawl back into your hole. Bye, in advance.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
You really don't get it, do you?
You say bye, you go.
I don't say bye, I stay. And I keep replying to you. FOREVER.
I know, you're nuts. As if nobody has ever pointed that out to you before.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
And yet you keep replying. With wrong information.
So I was not the first to point out to you that you are nuts.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
No that observation is unique to you. But both TheFakeTimCook and I agree that you`re Looney Toons, so I suppose that you`re simply projecting yet again.
Yeah I know. The OP I replied to did not
Fortunately, the signal-of-Interest is VERY low frequency, allowing for some pretty healthy low-pass filtering. That, plus they no doubt can subtract all the 50/60 Hz hum off your finger, from, well everywhere.
It's quite nice; but I'm personally waiting for a non-Invasive Glucometer that actually works...
Then they'll get my $500...