[HN Gopher] Apple Introduces Apple Watch Ultra
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Apple Introduces Apple Watch Ultra
        
       Author : mikece
       Score  : 83 points
       Date   : 2022-09-07 17:49 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.apple.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.apple.com)
        
       | kosyblysk666 wrote:
        
       | alberth wrote:
       | People are getting hung up on battery life.
       | 
       | You have to realize Apple is creating the equivalent of the
       | luxury Mercedes G-Wagon for off-roading, when in reality a Jeep
       | Rubicon (Garmin) addresses all of your _real_ needs at 1 /3 the
       | price.
        
         | KennyBlanken wrote:
         | The problem with Garmin is that they obsessively
         | fragment/segment/differentiate their market/products.
         | 
         | It's infuriating that such an expensive watch will be unable to
         | do some basic feature because they want to sell a "golf"
         | version of the watch or a "sailing" version and so on.
         | 
         | They'll also release some feature that clearly is possible to
         | implement on even current products elsewhere in the lineup -
         | and isn't even really implemented on the watch _at all_ but
         | just some processing done on their cloud. But you don 't get
         | the feature, even if you bought a current model elsewhere in
         | the lineup, because only the new watches get it.
         | 
         | With increased competition, supply chain issues, and consumer
         | spending tightening it's been amusing to see Garmin suddenly
         | drop much of that; the Vivoactive 4 and Forerunner 255 are
         | absent most of their typical segmentation crap. The Forerunner
         | 255 is a running watch that supports cycling power meters, for
         | example, which had been a feature that had been limited to
         | their _absurdly_ expensive, huge, gaudy-looking  "Fenix"
         | watches.
        
       | aeharding wrote:
       | Is the Apple watch air integrated (for scuba)?
       | 
       | Edit: Nope... found on https://www.oceanicworldwide.com/faqs/
       | 
       | Q: I have a wireless transmitter, can I connect it with the
       | Oceanic+ app?
       | 
       | A: At the moment this option is not currently available.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | alphakilo wrote:
         | This would definitely be a game changer. I have a Garmin Fenix
         | and the only thing it locks is the ability to use it for diving
         | to 40m. Although Garmin has a similar watch for diving it locks
         | the features I would use for Backcountry camping. If I can
         | switch to an Apple Watch Over a sunnto or similar it would be a
         | big boon
        
           | nradov wrote:
           | Which backcountry camping features does the Garmin Descent
           | Mk2 series lack? It does basically everything a Fenix 6X can
           | do.
        
         | evgen wrote:
         | No, nor are there any generic air integrated Bluetooth units
         | available at the moment but I expect that to change quickly. A
         | smart play for Apple as the cost of a low-end rec dive computer
         | makes this almost a no-brainer for anyone already in the Apple
         | ecosystem and adding an air integrated unit makes it an easy
         | sell in that market.
        
           | maratc wrote:
           | Bluetooth doesn't work underwater as far as I know.
        
             | wizofaus wrote:
             | Apparently it does but because of the frequency used the
             | signal gets so attenuated that the range is more like 10cm
             | maximum. And both devices would need to be completely
             | submerged.
        
           | AdamJacobMuller wrote:
           | Unlikely they can use bluetooth as the communications methods
           | between the AI pod and the watch are custom and bespoke due
           | to needing to work underwater and be super reliable.
        
             | evgen wrote:
             | Too bad that this is not a good option. Maybe someone will
             | put a WiFi AP into an air integrated unit to enable
             | connectivity :)
        
               | nradov wrote:
               | WiFi doesn't work underwater, the signals don't propagate
               | far enough. Most tank pressure transmitters use a
               | different radio frequency band which does penetrate
               | water. The Garmin devices use an audio signal instead.
        
         | tsfenwick wrote:
         | I imagine if it was they would have said so with how much of
         | these product launches are buzzword heavy. I imagine their next
         | version would have air integration support.
        
         | maratc wrote:
         | If your question is about the decompression algorithm, then air
         | is a minimum requirement, although I'd imagine it having Nitrox
         | mixes too (these are just different inputs to the same
         | algorithm).
         | 
         | If it's about reading the tank pressure, then most probably the
         | answer is no.
        
         | AdamJacobMuller wrote:
         | I can't find anything saying it is and I somewhat doubt it
         | because of that. I think if it did they would mention it.
         | Oddly, I can't find anything from Huish or Suunto announcing
         | this....
         | 
         | In any event, this isn't replacing my teric but I wouldn't mind
         | diving with a backup.
        
       | Noumenon72 wrote:
       | "Your watch will help you find your way back to where you
       | started" (Backtrack) is a neat sounding feature. I'll never be
       | lost, because I just dropped a compass point.
        
         | KennyBlanken wrote:
         | It's a standard feature on handheld GPS units dating back to
         | the late 90's, both waypoint and breadcrumbs - and also a
         | commonly available feature on Garmin and other non-Apple
         | devices going back quite a number of years.
        
       | pcj-github wrote:
       | They used the word "extreme" 15 times, sigh. I didn't realize
       | wakeboarding was an "extreme" water sport. TIL.
        
         | isitmadeofglass wrote:
         | Sigh, Yes, wakeboarding is an extreme sport. Just because you
         | personally might feel that it's "not extreme enough" doesn't
         | change that fact. The category of extreme sports is about risks
         | of serious injury or death, not about how "Rad" people perceive
         | them to be.
         | 
         | > Contusions, abrasions, strains, sprains, low back pain and
         | rib fractures are common injuries experienced in wakeboarding.
        
           | TobyTheDog123 wrote:
           | Found the wakeboarder
        
       | 88840-8855 wrote:
       | How many people will ever use any of those features? 0.01% of the
       | watch owners?
       | 
       | Fail.
        
         | onlyrealcuzzo wrote:
         | It's not about using the futures - it's about imagining a life
         | in which you use those features.
        
           | highwaylights wrote:
           | onlyrealcuzzo gets it.
           | 
           | The pitch is basically:
           | 
           | Buy Apple products. You might not be a pro photographer, but
           | you could be an Instagram legend. You _will_ be an Instagram
           | legend. Think of the likes. THINK OF THE FAME. How could it
           | not happen with a device of this quality? Look at the photos.
           | Look how gorgeous they are!
           | 
           | Just drop $10k on an Apple load-out and don't think too much
           | about it. It's not like it matters. You'll make it back in no
           | time, superstar. You're not like the rest of these norms.
           | You're special. You're one of us. You're one of the crazy
           | ones.
           | 
           | Welcome to your new, better, diamond-cut chamfered-edged
           | life.
        
             | matthewmacleod wrote:
             | Or--much more simply--some people use a few of these
             | features occasionally to take nice pictures of things they
             | are doing, track their hikes on the weekend or whatever.
             | 
             | It amazes me to see the extents people will go to in order
             | to pretend they can't even conceive of simple scenarios.
        
             | isitmadeofglass wrote:
             | Why do people get so but hurt about Apple products? Yes
             | vilify they for putting a good camera in their phones. It's
             | obvious an evil manipulating ploy, and the customers who
             | buy it are all stupid pretentious morons who are chasing
             | after fame!! And not you know, just regular people who'd
             | appreciate a better camera in their next phone upgrade.
        
           | nradov wrote:
           | Doubt it. Consumers who buy competing smart watches from
           | Garmin / Suunto / Coros / Wahoo do actually use those
           | features. I see their activities posted on Strava and
           | Facebook all the time. Apple is finally trying to compete in
           | the same market.
        
           | endemic wrote:
           | It's about the dopamine hit you get when you buy something
           | you think is cool.
        
         | ezfe wrote:
         | Some people will use these features. If you don't want them,
         | then don't upgrade to include them.
         | 
         | How many people use 8TB of SSD storage? Fail.
        
         | amf12 wrote:
         | Doesn't matter, as long as Apple users will pay for it to have
         | the latest and the greatest.
        
         | babypuncher wrote:
         | It's almost like they anticipated most people not needing these
         | features and launched this watch alongside two much cheaper
         | models that lack them.
        
       | cmcmcm wrote:
       | Still no Apple Watch for ladies... They're all enormous!
        
         | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
         | Size is probably driven by the size of the electronics, size of
         | batteries, and size of screen. You could probably get a usable
         | system on a smaller screen, but the rest of it, I suspect, is
         | already up against the limits of what we can manufacture today.
        
           | systemvoltage wrote:
           | There is a general trend of huge watches though outside of
           | these concerns. Omega seamaster used to be available in 36mm.
           | No more. Even the larger ones went from 40mm to 41mm, and
           | last year they upped it to 42mm.
        
             | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
             | Sure, and I would very much prefer that we had more small
             | watches (and phones, while we're commiserating). I'm just
             | questioning whether a thing recognizable as an Apple Watch
             | _can_ be any smaller than it is today.
        
               | systemvoltage wrote:
               | May be we can start a new trend, but instead of Z-height
               | and making things slimmer, let's just make the phone and
               | watch thicker but smaller X,Y dimensions.
        
             | justsomehnguy wrote:
             | It is. Watches lost the timekeeping service long ago, so
             | their main purpose now is /only/ being a symbol of status.
             | 
             | (Thats why I'm happy with my wristwatch, it shows the time
             | and day of the month. Nothing more. I wouldn't mind a
             | perpetual calendar, only to avoid those three days a year
             | when they don't sync with the ideosyncrazies of the human's
             | calendar)
        
         | akelly wrote:
         | Making miniature electronics is really hard!
        
         | teolandon wrote:
         | Can ladies not wear big watches?
        
           | heavymark wrote:
           | Most ladies, and many men like myself have small wrists, so
           | the "small" apple watch is already quite large compared to
           | normal watches for most woman or men with small wrists. The
           | "large" would over hang on many of those people, so you can
           | only imagine how a 49mm would fit for most woman and people
           | with thin wrists.
        
           | khazhoux wrote:
           | Even in the Apple keynote demo videos, one of the female
           | models had a tiny wrist with a giant watch on it. Not the
           | most stylish look.
           | 
           | As a small-wristed male, I would also love a thin watch,
           | without a lot of the sensors.
        
             | heavymark wrote:
             | Yes, I'd be happy with even just the the extra side button
             | to start workouts and such, since whenever I put on the
             | homescreen it mistakenly gets started when crossing my arms
             | or such and gets pressed. I imagine that may eventually
             | come to the regular models.
        
         | chrisBob wrote:
         | No update in the mini phone form factor either. Even as a 6'
         | tall dude, I would appreciate more emphasis on the smaller
         | devices.
        
           | bornfreddy wrote:
           | +1. Especially as other manufacturers would soon follow.
        
       | grishka wrote:
       | Let me guess, still doesn't work with Android.
        
       | sylvainkalache wrote:
       | What I am the most excited about is the dive computer feature!
       | 
       | "along with recreational scuba diving to 40 meters with the new
       | Oceanic+ app."
       | 
       | I was looking at $1,000 Garmin watches and was really not excited
       | at buying one.
        
         | underbluewaters wrote:
         | Already preordered and am looking forward to using it for
         | freediving. The UX on dive watches has long been a nightmare,
         | they are expensive, and the replaceable batteries open them up
         | to waterproofing issues. Most computers also treat
         | freediving/spearfishing as an afterthought so I'll probably
         | create my own software for it. Maybe a business opportunity
         | here...
        
         | liminalsunset wrote:
         | I'm more concerned about the safety aspects of using an app
         | running on a consumer watch for this kind of purpose. We've all
         | seen the "water resistance is not a permanent
         | condition...limited warranty does not cover water damage"
         | warning before.
         | 
         | Can a user of this app easily determine whether the
         | waterproofing of the watch has been compromised, perhaps
         | invisibly? After all, most Apple products rely on double sided
         | adhesives and thin rubber membranes for waterproofing, due to
         | sensors etc, but most other watches use a O-ring seal or
         | similar. What happens if the App crashes, or the watch
         | experiences a freeze/reboot during a dive? Will the app
         | relaunch and handle its state correctly? Will the battery aging
         | impact ability to prevent unexpected restarts in cold water?
         | 
         | My past experiences with mobile apps and devices has been that
         | while in the vast majority of situations they work fine, due to
         | the large feature surface area and constraints associated with
         | being a general purpose device, there are caveats to using them
         | for a fixed purpose, where preventing failure could be
         | critical. This is usually why purpose made equipment like dive
         | computers are bulky and expensive, and I'm not sure this is the
         | answer.
        
           | dmitrygr wrote:
           | My dive computer (mares) is also a consumer device. Why would
           | Apple Watch be worse ?
        
             | liminalsunset wrote:
             | I'm thinking this isn't exactly an apples to apples
             | comparison (literally) because the Mares equipment is
             | designed specifically for the purpose of diving. The design
             | of that device can be optimized for diving, and just
             | diving, where an Apple Watch needs to include features like
             | phone calls, a speaker, a microphone, and other sensors
             | that aren't necessary for diving, along with the other
             | software and user installed apps. Furthermore, the physical
             | size and case design of the products I see on the Mares
             | website is bulkier, which likely makes it easy to build it
             | to be more robust to physical damage and waterproofing.
        
           | maratc wrote:
           | I have a Suunto Spyder which I bought around 2003. It was the
           | first dive computer that was small enough to be worn as a
           | daily driver.
           | 
           | The thing about Spyder is that I need to replace its battery
           | every two-three years, but otherwise it still does exactly
           | what it did in 2003.
           | 
           | The thing about AWU is that it will long be a deadweight
           | brick, while my Spyder will just keep on going. That's what
           | bothers me about Apple-made dive computers.
        
       | drewg123 wrote:
       | How can they call 36 hours of battery life "long"? The $799
       | version Garmin Fenix 7 solar (which they seem to be targeting)
       | has an 18-22 days of battery life.
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | Battery is a big reason why I mostly don't use my fairly old
         | Apple Watch. Daily charging is mostly more trouble than it's
         | worth. As some point I may just get a new Fenix. I also don't
         | find any of the available Apple Watch outdoor apps all that
         | great.
        
         | zimpenfish wrote:
         | > 18-22 days of battery life.
         | 
         | Only in "smartwatch" mode - ie. pretty much everything is
         | turned off. In GPS mode, you get 73 hours (which is more than
         | the 60 you get on the Watch Ultra in conservation mode, yes,
         | but vastly lower than "18-22 days"!)
        
         | slg wrote:
         | What is the value of having 18 days of battery on a device like
         | this? To me there are diminishing returns pretty quickly when
         | it comes to battery life. I agree, there is a lot of value if
         | you are able to hit 72-96 hours and you can go away for a
         | weekend without worrying about charging, but 18 days seems like
         | a waste. Are people really regularly away from their chargers
         | for that long? At that point, I would much rather have a
         | lighter device or one with more features.
        
           | muppetman wrote:
           | The value is you can leave it on your wrist without having to
           | take it off all the time to charge it. Like a normal watch.
           | It's one less thing to have to have go flat on you because
           | you forgot to charge it the night before. One less thing to
           | be a slave to charging.
        
             | slg wrote:
             | > It's one less thing to have to have go flat on you
             | because you forgot to charge it the night before.
             | 
             | But you don't need 18 days for that. Like I said, I
             | understand wanting a few days. Why do you need a few weeks?
             | It seems like at that point it becomes even more likely
             | that you would forget to charge because it never becomes a
             | routine.
        
               | jwagenet wrote:
               | the importance for me isn't actually the idle battery
               | life itself (even for phones or laptops that isnt the
               | case). The high battery life allows me to use GPS for
               | 8-12 hours on my Coros, which is usually >20 days of idle
               | use with infrequent HR, elevation, etc.
        
           | nabaraz wrote:
           | I wear my Fenix 24/7 and I want to not think about charging
           | it more than 2 times a month.
        
           | lamontcg wrote:
           | When your solar panel is only putting out 8W due to rain for
           | multiple days when you got off-grid for 3 weeks.
           | 
           | (which just happened to me)
        
           | h4waii wrote:
           | I recently returned from week long road trip, and while my
           | wife would plug in and charge her Apple Watch every single
           | night, I kept wearing my Pebble without a thought at all --
           | didn't even pack a charger.
           | 
           | Granted, it does have fewer features, but how good are all
           | those whiz-bangs if the battery is dead?
        
         | chrisseaton wrote:
         | 'Long' is obviously relative. The Garmin is an entirely
         | different product to an Apple Watch.
         | 
         | Recharging every 36 hours seems reasonable to me, even in very
         | austere conditions.
        
         | lukeinator42 wrote:
         | I totally agree with you as well. I currently have a Garmin
         | Fenix 6 pro and it lasts around 14 days. As someone who is into
         | trail running and backpacking, a 36 hour battery life is
         | untenable, and charging it every night seems like a pain.
         | 
         | The irony is that AirPods have a really great battery life
         | (especially the carrying case) despite the small form factor,
         | and are my go-to for long runs.
        
         | alphakilo wrote:
         | I definitely agree with you. Even my Garmin Phoenix 5x plus
         | will last multiple days with GPS usage for Backcountry camping.
         | Another factor I worry about is the durability of the screen.
         | Although you should always travel with backup Maps nobody wants
         | to lose their primary navigation tool because a touch screen is
         | nicer than Sapphire glass displays.
         | 
         | That said the Apple watch is a nicer experience than the
         | Phoenix which I don't tend to take out of the house too often
         | outside of activities now. Indeed the Apple watch is claiming
         | to be usable for recreational scuba for which the Phoenix is
         | not and you would need to use an alternative Garmin watch
         | 
         | Perhaps the next iteration of the ultra watch will have
         | features to extend battery life beyond the 60 hours in low
         | battery mode it claims and hopefully towards 100 hours (14
         | hours * 7 days) of usage on low battery
        
           | zimpenfish wrote:
           | > Even my Garmin Phoenix 5x plus will last multiple days with
           | GPS usage for Backcountry camping.
           | 
           | Sporadic GPS usage, I'm guessing, since Garmin themselves
           | only claim 13 hours of GPU usage (can't tell if it has
           | UltraTrac though - the 5x non-plus can do 50 hours in
           | UltraTrac mode.)
        
             | mackmgg wrote:
             | UltraTrac on my Fenix 5 is pretty useless though, you may
             | as well not be recording at all at that point. I'm not sure
             | if it's gotten better on the more recent watches, but the
             | reported mileage would be off by 30%+ and the resulting map
             | wouldn't even come close to resembling my actual path.
             | 
             | That said, even in normal GPS only mode (no
             | Gallileo/GLONASS), the 5 when it was new would get 30 hours
             | of recording. Enough for most ultras, 3 days of backpacking
             | if you record 8 hours/day, and also enough for a week trip
             | with an hour of running every day.
        
               | ghaff wrote:
               | I had an older Fenix and the distance accuracy was pretty
               | bad. But no one seems to have an issue with the current
               | ones.
        
         | dwighttk wrote:
         | 18 hours is all day... 36 is long
        
           | saberience wrote:
           | It really annoys me to have to charge my Apple Watch every
           | day, especially because I want/need it for both sleep
           | tracking and exercise tracking. If I use it for sleeping it
           | invariably runs out of bettery during the night, then in the
           | morning when I want to work out I have to charge it before
           | the gym, it's just frustrating. I would LOVE three days of
           | charge.
        
             | mikestew wrote:
             | This is one of the main reasons I keep a Garmin for running
             | (that, and real buttons on the Garmin, which Apple Watch
             | Ultra might fix). I wear the Apple Watch at night, and if I
             | didn't remember to throw it on the charger for a bit after
             | waking up, well, no run for you because there's not enough
             | battery. I mean, between those two activities (sleep
             | tracking and running), I was constantly managing the
             | battery charging because the damned thing won't last
             | through a day.
             | 
             | That, and I was really doubtful that the Apple product
             | would 100%-for-sure-no-excuses make it through a marathon,
             | and I'm fast enough to qualify for Boston. No way it would
             | have made it through the five hour trail marathon I ran a
             | few weeks ago.
             | 
             | So I really, really want the Apple Watch Ultra just so I
             | can pare down to one watch. But the Garmin 945 isn't even a
             | year old, so we'll see what Apple has to offer _next_ year.
        
             | tokamak-teapot wrote:
             | My tactic is to drop in on the charger before I start
             | getting ready for bed, then put it back on when I'm ready
             | to go to sleep. Because it charges quickly, that's enough
             | to give me power through the night and the next day.
             | 
             | I'd still like a month of battery life though!
        
               | dwighttk wrote:
               | I just don't track sleep... I sleep fine but the couple
               | times I've tried sleep tracking it has just made my sleep
               | restless because every time my sleep got shallow I woke
               | up thinking about "I wonder how my sleep tracking is
               | going... man I'm gonna get the best sleep score!"
        
           | drewg123 wrote:
           | The last time I had a smartwatch with "long" battery life
           | like that was 2018 with a Polar M600. I got tired of charging
           | it all the time and upgraded to a Garmin with a week of
           | battery life.
        
         | entropie wrote:
         | I guess the display and colors are way better on the apple
         | watch.
         | 
         | Retina display with 2k nits. I guess it looks awesome.
         | 
         | I prefer my garmin too. I charge it like two times a month and
         | my gps fixes _very_ fast and is very accurate
        
           | justsomehnguy wrote:
           | I prefer my Axiom. The day they need a charge.. means I was
           | in a total darkness for a couple of months.
           | 
           | /s but only so slightly
        
             | entropie wrote:
             | Never heard of that. https://www.axiomwatches.fr/en/
             | 
             | This? Very informative website. Also I thought we talk
             | about smart watches with GPS. Like 50 years ago we already
             | had high precision mechanical watches that you dont need to
             | charge ever...
        
           | snemvalts wrote:
           | Garmin Epix 2 has an OLED and 6 days of battery, 4x longer,
           | bit smaller case size as well (47 vs 49mm).
        
         | matthewmacleod wrote:
         | Well, because they are different products with different
         | features and a different set of trade-offs.
         | 
         | It's totally valid to think that a different product more
         | clearly suits your needs - you don't have to fake incredulity
         | about it.
        
         | oezi wrote:
         | They are targeting enough battery to run a full Ironman or be
         | offline for a weekend (60 hours).
         | 
         | The explorer focus was just wacky.
        
           | ASalazarMX wrote:
           | The picture showing an explorer dominating a snowy mountain
           | is hilarious, I hope he brought several battery packs to
           | charge the watch.
        
         | maratc wrote:
         | "No wireless? Less space than a Nomad? Lame!"
        
       | speedgoose wrote:
       | It's strange that they don't offer good outdoor maps. In the
       | announcement video, they show how to find your way from your gps
       | track displayed on a black background. It's not very helpful.
       | 
       | I use a third party application, WorkOutDoors, to get vectorial
       | outdoor maps from OSM data on the Apple Watch Series 3. So it
       | should be possible to offer maps by default on the new watch
       | ultra that makes you an adventurer.
        
       | dependsontheq wrote:
       | It looks like Apple took a hard look at decades of classic watch
       | ads. And decided to do the same.
       | 
       | It actually looks exactly like these ads.
        
       | wellthisisgreat wrote:
       | It's 7mm larger diagonally than my 42mm watch, that's crazy
       | large, did it catch some kind of phablet virus?
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | arberx wrote:
       | Apple is missing the mark in this segment.
       | 
       | Their competitors: Garmin, coros all offer weeks of battery life
       | with tradeoffs people in this segment happily make.
       | 
       | I get 20 days of battery life on my coros pace 2. Charging a
       | apple watch every night or two would not be acceptable.
        
         | nluken wrote:
         | Agreed. I'm a competitive runner and nobody in that community
         | is showing up to interval workouts with an Apple watch. I don't
         | see this watch changing that, especially when better battery
         | life and tracking (which is all the road/track running segment
         | really cares about) can be had at a fraction of the cost with
         | Garmin or Coros. The ultra/hiking community will run into
         | problems with the 36 hour battery life, especially if they're
         | using the map features.
         | 
         | I really have a hard time seeing who this watch is for.
        
           | heavymark wrote:
           | Remember will be 60 hours in low power mode, and that seems
           | to only disable things such as always on (which I always
           | disable with hikes as drastically improves battery life and
           | theater mode), and won't auto detect workout, but one can
           | easily just set to hike or what not when starting the workout
           | manually. 60 hours for all the benefits of the watch seems
           | impressive. The 49mm size however will be the bigger issue
           | presumably for most woman and men with small wrists, since
           | the small was already large for that demographic.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | nickthegreek wrote:
         | I don't think they missed the mark by shear amount of these I
         | see on wrists everywhere i go.
        
           | nerdwaller wrote:
           | Now you see the Apple Watch Series N wherever you go, which
           | is ~$400, not the Ultra. It will be interesting to see how
           | common the ultra is over the next few years. My guess is it
           | won't be super common, as it's large, fairly unattractive
           | (IMO), and much more expensive for features that don't even
           | match the competition that much of this Garmin/Ultra/etc type
           | of demographic cares about.
        
         | ASalazarMX wrote:
         | There are third-party wireless chargers that can charge your
         | phone, airpods and watch concurrently, but I agree, it seems
         | silly having to deal with many small batteries on a daily
         | basis.
         | 
         | The only long-lasting battery is the iPhone's, but it gained
         | that capability years after it became common in comparable
         | Android phones.
        
         | krisdol wrote:
         | Agreed. They say this is for explorers and adventure, but it
         | seems like I'd be out of charge after the first segment of a
         | backpacking trip. Need a map of an area for the return or the
         | next day? Good luck.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | enraged_camel wrote:
           | It's not a huge deal. When I go on multi-day backpacking
           | trips, I carry battery packs and/or solar chargers with me
           | anyway, because I need to be able to charge my phone.
        
             | bornfreddy wrote:
             | I thought this was a thing of a past? Mine easily lasts 4-5
             | days if I turn off wifi and bt (which I assume you don't
             | need much when backpacking).
        
           | chrisseaton wrote:
           | Carry a small battery pack.
        
             | nradov wrote:
             | The latest Garmin devices have much longer battery life
             | with equivalent functionality, and can extend battery life
             | with solar charging.
             | 
             | https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/854515
        
             | tenacious_tuna wrote:
             | that's a lot of weight to add for backpacking. every bit
             | counts when you're going 20 miles up and down hills.
        
               | chrisseaton wrote:
               | If I'm doing some kind of outdoor activity, then I'm
               | likely already carrying batteries for other things. I
               | don't think it's the huge barrier most people here think
               | it is. I guess if you're into ultra-light then yeah maybe
               | it isn't the target market for you - but then why would
               | you be carrying a huge watch in the first place rather
               | than something light?
        
               | riversflow wrote:
               | I mean, I tend to agree. FWIW, most people who do UL
               | Backpacking use a smartphone for maps and a UL battery.
               | I've taken my Apple Watch backpacking with me before, and
               | keeping it charged wasn't a thing. Just one extra (short)
               | cable to bring, I'd put it on the battery during dinner
               | and camp setup.
               | 
               | The thing is though, I've only found it really useful if
               | I'm doing stiff ascents and am not comfortable with my
               | training. Mostly just to keep an eye on my heartrate, if
               | my training/preparations are adequate for my trip, I
               | don't use it at all.
        
       | TobyTheDog123 wrote:
       | Why would you make the "action button" a fixed bright orange
       | color? I want to be able to wear it whether I'm on a run or
       | whether I'm going out.
       | 
       | EDIT: Yeah, international orange, cool - keep it as an option,
       | but the vast majority of people buying this will never be in a
       | situation where "international orange" is needed.
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | Oh, it's needed alright. It signals to the others in that
         | sprint planning meeting that you are an _extreme_ athlete who
         | cares not for such things as aesthetics. And in case they can
         | 't quite make it out at the other end of the conference table,
         | we'll make it bright orange.
        
       | idoh wrote:
       | Apple is amazing at solving problems customers wished they had.
        
         | jpalomaki wrote:
         | I think they have learned a lot from car manufacturers and
         | their marketing.
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | We all want to be the kind of person that needs that kind of a
         | watch. But we'll buy it anyway.
        
         | mrwnmonm wrote:
         | I run in the desert everyday man.
        
         | cutierust wrote:
        
       | chrisBob wrote:
       | As a casual runner that does some track workouts, the extra
       | button is my favorite feature of this new watch. The built in
       | stopwatch app with screen buttons is miserable for timing
       | workouts.
       | 
       | Now I just need to wait a few years for the extra button to
       | trickle down to something that my family agrees is in budget.
        
         | drewg123 wrote:
         | Try a Garmin. Even the low end ones have way, way more battery
         | life and lots of buttons.
        
           | justsomehnguy wrote:
           | I would advice a $18 Casio and $20 mp3 player, both with a
           | physical buttons... but they xan't stream your favourite
           | Spotify tracks, I suppose?
           | 
           | /s
        
           | pharmakom wrote:
           | Garmin UI sucks, although I still picked one over Apple Watch
           | due to the price point.
        
       | case0x00 wrote:
       | 36/60 hours still seems pretty low to me honestly in an
       | adventuring context. Apple had a great opportunity to innovate
       | the watch massively but this is kinda disappointing. Software is
       | cool, as always, but hardware is the let down. The bands seem
       | pretty cool though.
        
       | o_____________o wrote:
       | Really hoping they solve the rumored glucose monitoring at some
       | point. I've never owned an apple watch, but I would dump all my
       | traditional watches, oura ring and CGM.
        
         | oezi wrote:
         | And blood pressure monitoring would be a a huge feature.
        
       | nhance wrote:
       | As an avid ultrarunner, this is the first apple watch I'd ever
       | consider. We aren't part of the apple ecosystem and I'm a bit
       | resistant to join, so I am really excited to see the garmin or
       | samsung equivalent to this
        
         | peppertree wrote:
         | It cracks me up when people say Apple is evil go with Samsung.
         | Samsung heir literally went to jail for bribing the Korean
         | president, and that was just tip of the iceberg.
        
           | digdugdirk wrote:
           | I don't see this as an "Apple is evil" comment. There are
           | plenty of people who use Windows/Linux + Android for their
           | computing environment, and for those people, jumping into the
           | Apple ecosystem is an infeasible time/money/productivity
           | commitment.
        
           | babypuncher wrote:
           | I don't think nhance was trying to say that Apple is evil,
           | they are expressing a desire not to get sucked into Apple's
           | ecosystem. Samsung's ecosystem lacks the breadth of Apple's
           | and isn't nearly as good at creating vendor lock-in.
        
             | nhance wrote:
             | Correct. Apple products work well together, but also make
             | it a huge pain in the ass if you don't buy everything from
             | them. The kids have apple products and we can't manage them
             | effectively because we don't have apple devices. This
             | provides a strong disincentive to want to give them any
             | more money.
             | 
             | Samsung was only mentioned because are there any other real
             | competitors to a full smart watch?
             | 
             | Garmin will likely keep me because running gps for 10+
             | hours at a shot is important. A full smart watch is far
             | less of a priority.
             | 
             | (On Sunday I ran for roughly 10.5 hours, GPS active the
             | entire time. When I finished, I had 33% of my battery
             | left.)
        
               | mikestew wrote:
               | _Garmin will likely keep me because running gps for 10+
               | hours at a shot is important. A full smart watch is far
               | less of a priority._
               | 
               | If you don't want to dive headlong into Apple's stuff,
               | then a Garmin might very well be all the smart watch you
               | need. It's been quite a few years since I used a Garmin
               | as a full-time smart watch, but you can have
               | notifications and messages (read-only if using an Apple
               | phone) and even contactless payment on a Garmin. If we
               | weren't a knees-deep Apple house, I'd just use my Garmin
               | 945 as my smart watch.
        
         | poisonborz wrote:
         | Would you really switch to an iPhone just to use this watch?
         | This is the thing with Apple products, especially accessories -
         | only usable with a deeper dive in the lock-in.
        
       | Lukas_Skywalker wrote:
       | One thing confusing me is that there doesn't seem to be a real
       | map view. There is a view displaying waypoints and a line tracing
       | your route, but no map background. Some context around your
       | current position can be very helpful when navigating. Strange
       | that they didn't include it. The watch already has such a bright
       | high resolution display, they could provide a much better
       | experience than the competitors.
        
         | ezfe wrote:
         | In the wilderness, they'd want to be using Satellite (data
         | heavy) because most areas don't have useful Vector mapping
         | unless they pull in a huge new trail database.
        
       | jfbaro wrote:
       | Interesting. I am personally more interested in precise and
       | diverse health sensors, that can measure my health in real time.
        
       | Sakos wrote:
       | I'm most annoyed that they've locked competent GPS tracking
       | behind a $799 price tag. It's the one reason why I didn't get an
       | Apple Watch originally. It was consistently less reliable and
       | inaccurate in weird ways than similarly priced Garmin and others.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | imchillyb wrote:
         | Apple Watch is significantly more accurate than a Garmin or
         | other handheld 'portable' GPS unit.
         | 
         | Significantly so, especially when paired with a phone (which
         | users already own).
        
           | brianwawok wrote:
           | Well, most runners do not run with a phone - so that isn't
           | helpful.
           | 
           | (Some do, but many of us specifically leave the phone at
           | home, and run with our apple watches to save having a big
           | clonkly phone)
        
           | entropie wrote:
           | > Apple Watch is significantly more accurate than a Garmin or
           | other handheld 'portable' GPS unit.
           | 
           | Any source on that - because I really doubt it.
        
           | nradov wrote:
           | Independent tests have shown that the latest high-end Garmin
           | devices are more accurate than previous Apple watches due to
           | support for dual-frequency GPS. This makes a significant
           | difference when signals are obstructed by buildings or trees.
           | The new Apple Watch Ultra will now have feature parity so it
           | should be just as accurate.
        
         | brianwawok wrote:
         | I have used both Garmin and Apple watch (currently rocking an
         | Apple Watch 6), many distances from casual walks to full
         | marathons. I have found the apple watches did fine? What didn't
         | work for you?
         | 
         | This is a review of an Apple 5, and it's within a few % points
         | of a Garmin
         | 
         | https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/apple-watch-series-5-spo...
        
       | [deleted]
        
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