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Apple cagey about Watch battery life, working on improvements
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NewsPoster
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Sep 10, 2014, 01:12 PM
 
Apple has been avoiding talk about the battery life of its first-generation Watch, and with good reason, sources claim. The people say that the company isn't happy with performance, which is currently "about a day" on a single charge. An Apple spokeswoman, Nat Kerris, admits in fact that the company expects people to charge the Watch at night.

Since the product isn't due to ship until 2015, however, the sources indicate that Apple is working on unspecified changes to improve the situation. It's not clear if that means more efficient circuitry, firmware changes, and/or an entirely different battery.

Excluding the Pebble, power consumption has been one of the primary obstacles with smartwatches. Whereas a regular watch can last months or even years on a disposable battery, smartwatches like the Moto 360 or the Samsung Gear Live can't run for more than a day. This is a serious issue for products meant to be worn constantly, especially if a person expects to travel.
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Sep 11, 2014 at 06:25 AM. )
     
osiris
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Sep 10, 2014, 01:24 PM
 
Maybe Apple needs a solar cell band to slightly augment the battery.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
Jeronimo2000
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Sep 10, 2014, 01:55 PM
 
"Whereas a regular watch can last months or even years on a disposable battery, products like the Moto 360 or the Samsung Gear Live can't run for more than a day."

Oh what a surprise. Here, a collection of gears. There, a frickin' tiny computer.
     
RobOnTheCape
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Sep 10, 2014, 02:29 PM
 
As a long time Mac user plus /IPod/IPhone/AppleTV, except for the health tracking benefit I don't see this catching on. It's certainly not for me, but Apple is Apple, and has certainly surprised us before.

One thing at least, we won't have to watch each September as Cook tries to wow us as it gets incredibly smaller and smaller.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Sep 10, 2014, 02:38 PM
 
I think people are looking at the Apple Watch with vision that's too narrow, focusing solely on the watch itself, and calling it a non-success.

With a slightly wider field of vision, and now in the periphery, you can see things like seamlessly handing off voice calls to your phone and your computer, or using your watch in conjunction with your phone to navigate you around sections of downtown you're unfamiliar with, or slapping the watch on your wrist and going for a jog and having the day's workout information seamlessly transferred and synced when you return home.

Yes, if you look at the watch all by itself, it doesn't do much on its own. But in conjunction with a phone (perhaps why it requires an iPhone to fully function) and a computer, the entire ecosystem becomes more transparent and might cause people to say, "Yeah, it's a watch. Big deal. But look at what it does with all my other devices."

Apple has rarely been about single, standalone products, and has usually been all about their products working in conjunction with each other (and it seems Yosemite is a huge push in that direction). Looking at any individual product doesn't give you the overall experience that portions of the entire ecosystem working together can.

The wearable computing market, if it were a human baby, could probably be summed up as "having been born 3 seconds ago." There's a long road ahead where more and more devices will do more and more things, especially in harmony with each other... whereas any one individual device residing and participating in that ecosystem is nothing mind-blowing, but the near-seamless and intangible ecosystem itself being the real blow-your-socks-off, how-did-I-live-without-this thing that should be the center of focus.
     
testudo
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Sep 10, 2014, 03:06 PM
 
Diablo, how can anyone call the apple watch a 'non-success'? Only one thing will define success. Sales. That's it. And it won't be on sale for 6 months, which means we have 6 months of "What's new with the Apple watch" and "who's passing the apple watch" stories.
     
James Katt
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Sep 11, 2014, 03:33 AM
 
The Apple Watch is NOT a watch. It is a computer. This is why battery life is low. Be that as it may, Apple will find a way to improve battery life. I suggest adding a solar charger behind the screen like Citizen uses for their watches. And certainly the best batteries that money can buy.
     
burger
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Sep 11, 2014, 02:05 PM
 
I think the concern is that it won't last a day. It has to at least be able to work for 20 hours with moderate use. Plugging it in at night wouldn't be an issue. Not being able to use it after 8pm would be complete failure.
     
Marook
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Sep 11, 2014, 02:51 PM
 
As a frequent traveler, sorry, 29 hours is far from enough! I can find places to juice-up my phone and Mac, but if I need to worry about my watch as well?? Forget it!
Besides.. 10 years without a need for anything on my wrist.. it's a hard sell, with only a pulse-reader.. Sorry!
Marook
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Marook
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Sep 11, 2014, 02:52 PM
 
That should be _20_ hours..
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FastiBook
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Sep 13, 2014, 07:52 PM
 
Pretty good battery life for something that powerful. 5 days would be amazing, but i think we'll end up seeing 2-3 days.
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