Profiling and Critiquing the First Generation Apple Watch
Profile
The Apple Watch was introduced by Tim Cook in September 2014, during a press event where the iPhone 6 was also introduced. Apple promoted the device as a fashion accessory when comparing other Apple products and competing smartwatches. Apple would later focus on its health and fitness-oriented features (3). The watchOS system in the watch would add fitness tracking for people who use wheelchairs, social sharing in the Activity app, and a Breathe app to facilitate mindfulness. Unlike their other products, the Apple Watch would not be called the “iWatch.” This was because the inventor decided “Apple Watch” made more visionary sense than the name “iWatch.” (1)
On April 10, 2015, pre-orders for the very first Apple Watch, also known as the “Series 0,” began. The official release was on April 24; just two weeks after pre-orders. By the second quarter of that year, it quickly became the best-selling wearable device with 4.2 million units sold (1). A huge success during its time, the product landed on Time’s “The 25 Best Inventions of 2014.” And in a Mashable article, who called the Apple Watch a breakout star of wearables. This same watch would later be discontinued on September 7, 2016 with the — at the time — upcoming Series 1 and Series 2 being released almost 10 days later (1). However, the overall success will continue on to the present time with the Apple Watch currently producing and supporting the Series 3 and 5. Since 2015, Apple has sold 33 million watches, which makes it the #1 best-selling wearable tech on the planet (6).
The goal at first of the Apple Watch was to complement the iPhone (probably in terms of fashion), add new functions, and to “free people from their phones.” Kevin Lynch, who was responsible for developing the software for the Apple Watch, said,
“People are carrying their phones with them and looking at the screen so much. People want that level of engagement. But how do we provide it in a way that’s a little more human, a little more at the moment when you’re with somebody?” (1)
With a mindset of making the Apple Watch a “fashion accessory,” Apple decided to release a couple of different types, or editions, of the watch. The “Apple Watch Sport” with bands and an aluminum build was made to appeal to athletes. And the “Apple Watch Edition” was made from 18-karat gold, which was priced at $17,000 (8). The Edition did not sell well at that time and was dropped the very next year. The Apple Watch Edition would later make its comeback when the Series 5 came out (1).
Critique
Everyone knows that Apple has been dominating the technology world for quite some time now. As an Apple fan, I currently have the iPhone 11 and an iPad that I use almost every day. We can all agree that Apple has expensive products. Why would people spend a lot of money on a watch? I can only see two good reasons to have a watch; the main one is to obviously tell time and the other is for the looks.
Regarding the looks of the Apple Watch, I would admit that it is pretty nice. Even the Series 0 looks better than most of the watches I have seen before. All of the watches within the series all look relatively the same. But, it’s what’s inside that makes the difference between all of the generations.
The Series 0 used the Apple S1 system-on-chip, which is described as a “System in Package” (SiP) by Apple themselves. Unlike the current models, the Series 0 watch did not have a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) chip but instead was relying on the paired iPhone for that feature. It uses an actuator called “Taptic Engine” to provide haptic feedback for users. The watch has a built-in heart rate sensor, which uses both infrared, LEDs, and photodiodes. All versions of the watch would have 8 GB of storage. The operating system allows users to store up to 2 GB of music and 75 MB of photos. When paired with an iPhone, all music on that phone is also available to be controlled by the Apple Watch (2).
Since there are many generations/series within the Apple Watch line, it would be safe to say that the past, current, and future generations of all Apple Watches were influenced by the very first generation. As technology improves over time, the features and hardware within the Apple Watches will also improve.
Each generation has upgraded its system-on-chip. The Series 2 has the Apple S2, Series 3 has the Apple S3, and so on. Apple says that the Apple S2 delivers a 50% higher performance and the GPU delivers twice as much as the Apple S1. The Apple S3’s cores are 70% faster than the Apple S2. It is said that the Apple S3 is able to launch apps faster and allow a smoother user interface than the Apple S2. For the S4, the core is stated to be much more powerful than the previous SiP cores due to its use of Tempest cores. As you can tell, many improvements have been made as each generation comes out (1).
As mentioned before, the Series 0 did not have GPS. Satellite Navigation was first added to the product when the Series 2 was available. The Series 2 also has the “GLObal NAvigation Satellite System” (GLONASS) as a new feature. Apple then proceeded to add even more satellite navigations to the later models with the addition of the Galileo and the “Quasi-Zenith Satellite System” (QZSS) (1).
Apple did not market the Series 0 watch as being waterproof. It is stated to be splash resistant that is willing to withstand up to 1 meter of water. Later generations — starting with the Series 2 — would be water-resistant up to 50 meters; a huge difference between the Series 0 and later generations (1).
No surprise that the display has also evolved throughout the years. The Series 0 had an OLED Retina display with the Force Touch of 450 nits. The rest of the series would have a Force Touch of 1000 nits and a better Retina display (1).
Other than looks, some features were kept the same for all of the Apple Watches. One of them being Apple Pay. The Series 0 comes with a Near-field Communication (NFC) chip, allowing users to use credit/debit cards, tickets, passes, etc. (1). What I personally found interesting was that the watch was capable of making and receiving calls. Another interesting feature to me was the ability to customize the watch to your own liking (7). One can change the band to match their outfit of the day. I always thought the band would be non-detachable for some reason.
