Apple Watch Edition and original Apple Watches won’t handle the tech giant’s latest software update
IT was launched with great fanfare just three years ago. But the deluxe Apple Watch Edition will officially become obsolete later this year.
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ONE of the most expensive products Apple has ever released will officially become obsolete later this year, the company confirmed, just three years after its launch.
The wallet-breaking $24,000 Apple Watch Edition, which featured an 18ct gold body and cost more than all of Apple’s products combined at launch, will not be fast enough to handle the company’s latest software update that is due to arrive in spring.
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The news will mean some of Apple’s most dedicated — and richest — fans will not be able to access new Watch features such as automatic workout detection, modes for yoga and hiking, podcasts, and its forthcoming Walkie Talkie chat feature.
It’s understood that its single-core processor is to blame for the Apple Watch Edition’s lack of compatibility as it wouldn’t be able to run the new software fast enough.
The compatibility issue will also rule out software updates to the rest of Apple’s original Watches, though all three series of smartwatches released from 2016 onwards will qualify for the updates.
The original Apple Watches will still function as they do now — they simply won’t get any better, or any more features.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook introduced the company’s planned smartwatch software upgrades at its Worldwide Developers’ Conference in San Jose this week, revealing that the wearable device had spread to many more wrists over the past 12 months.
“Growth has been off the charts,” Mr Cook told the audience. “Apple Watch grew 60 per cent last year.”
New features coming to eligible Apple Watches in Watch OS5 will include automatic workout detection that will prompt users to record their exercise if the Watch’s sensors find they’ve forgotten to do so, a new mode called Walkie Talkie that will allow Apple Watch-using friends to send each other short voice messages, and the ability to ask voice assistant Siri questions by holding the Watch to their face rather than saying the wake phrase, ‘Hey Siri’.
The new software will also let competitive friends battle each other in week-long exercise competitions, and listen to podcasts without their phones.
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to San Jose as a guest of Apple.
Originally published as Apple Watch Edition and original Apple Watches won’t handle the tech giant’s latest software update
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