10 reasons to buy the new Apple Watch
HERE are 10 reasons why you should dig deep in your pocket for an Apple Watch — and one reason why you should save your money for a rainy day.
THE Apple Watch will launch in Australia on April 24. It will cost between $499 and $14,000 depending on the model you want (our tip, you probably can’t afford the $14,000 model).
Here are 10 reasons why you should dig deep in your pocket for an Apple Watch — and one reason why you should save your money for a rainy day.
1. How often do you look at your smartphone?
One recent study suggested the average smartphone user looks at their smartphone 220 times a day.
One of the key selling points of the Apple Watch is that you can leave your phone in your pocket, or bag, and check your notifications by a glance of your wrist. The Watch connects to your phone by Bluetooth and by Wi-Fi. So, if you’re phone is somewhere in the house you can answer a call by using your watch. Just like Dick Tracy — trench coat optional.
2. Activity trackers are so yesterday.
The rise of devices from companies like Fitbit and Jawbone have motivated a lot of people who like to count their steps. For some, counting steps means knowing their fitness goals are on track. For others, counting their steps from the pie shop to the doughnut shop means they don’t have to feel bad — or, at least, as bad. Along with counting steps, the Watch will prompt you to move, or even stand, when you’ve been too sedentary. There is no need for a watch, and a fitness tracker.
3. Vanity, thy name is ... well, anyone really.
Apple are marketing the Apple Watch at fashion journalists just as much as they are marketing at tech journalists. This does cool stuff — but also looks cool. Aside from the smarts, a lot of people will buy the Apple Watch because of how it looks and the image it portrays. From a tech point of view, that might seem shallow. But if we didn’t buy things for the way we looked, we would all be running around wearing brown sacks and certainly not wishing we had $14,000 for the top of the range gold Apple Watch Edition.
4. Communication.
Whenever a company launches a new smartphone, one of the things that is often overlooked in the discussion of the features is its ability to be used as a communication device. It’s all camera resolution this and app system that. Similarly, the Apple Watch is a communication system — albeit one that you pair with a phone. Five years ago, nobody would have predicted that sending your loved one a smiley pile of poo emoji was a fond way of expression. Similarly, sending hand-drawn smileys on an Apple Watch is a neat way to keep in touch.
5. Serious runners are obsessed with data.
At the start of any fun run, the first half of the field is typically filled with people looking for a signal for their GPS watch. Apple Watch has some interesting features built-in for runners. Firstly, you need to pair it with an iPhone if you want to use GPS — there is no GPS built in. So, if you want GPS but don’t carry your iPhone on a run, then you’ve got a problem. But the interface for heading out on a run is certainly appealing. You can set a target such as calorie amount, time or distance and the Watch provides the data. Not every runner is going to want to replace their Garmin with an Apple Watch — but the Apple Watch for many runners will be their first real running watch.
6. One word: apps.
Not just Apple apps, but apps by everyone. The success of the iPhone and the iPad owes a lot to the richness of the app store. Apple is not the first to market with a smartphone — Samsung has released six so far. But the apps demonstrated at the event today already demonstrate uses of a smartwatch that were previously not thought of. As an off-the-shelf product, the Apple Watch has a lot to offer. But because of the app store, it offers a big deal more.
7. In news just in ... the Apple Watch tells the time.
One of the almost surprising things about the Apple Watch event today was the news that the Apple Watch tells the time with amazing accuracy. The surprising thing was not that it does that — but that Apple CEO Tim Cook bothered to mention it. When you buy a watch now, whether it be an up-market Swedish model or a $25 digital watch from a variety store, one thing we probably don’t think in great detail is accuracy. The Apple Watch will be accurate, all the time. It’s something now to think about.
8. The interface is surprisingly easy to use — even for an Apple product.
The first time I saw the Apple Watch interface, with it’s circular display of tiny icons, I thought I might spend frustrating hours trying to get my meaty fingers to touch just the right icon. Forget about it.
With the combination of touch screen, Digital Crown and button it is very easy to select what you want to watch. Very easy.
9. Here is a reason for the future.
Apple Pay is just a tap away on your wrist. You get to the check-out, you don’t want to reach into a bag or pocket to find a payment device (aka your wallet). You simply hit your watch, the Apply Pay logo comes up and you wave the watch in the general direction (reciting quotes about Monty Python and farts is entirely optional). It is simple and compelling — and unfortunately not for us yet because Apple Pay isn’t available in Australia. So, here’s a reason for the future — assuming that particular future comes to a check-out near you.
10. Charge life
Jump back in time to the eighties and if your mobile phone didn’t last a week without charging, then you were very cranky. Possibly you also had very bad, big hair but that was not the reason for the crankiness.
Now, back to present day and the idea of only charging a smartphone once a week is funny (like eighties haircuts). Apple says a typical user can get up to 18 hours of use out of a watch. We’ve worn an Apple Watch but no one outside of Apple can yet say what battery life is like. But assuming 18 hours is right, then that’s a good effort. You wear the watch all day, then take it off and charge it with the magnetic charger that sticks to the back of the watch. Sure, I would like my smartwatch to have a battery life like my old Nokia — but none of us can go back to the eighties. Not even those still wearing mullets.
11. There is always one dissenter.
This is the first generation Watch. It’s good but history has taught us things get better. There are lots of reasons to buy an Apple Watch — one reason not to buy one is that you might want to wait.
Rod Chester travelled to San Francisco as a guest of Apple.
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