A lot of Apple Watch fans wanted an always-on display and got their wish last year with the Series 5. Others want sleep tracking. Some want a slimmer design without losing any battery life. While I am good with all of the above, what I really want to see next is independence for the Apple Watch. In my opinion, de-coupling the Watch from the iPhone for setup and basic operation is the last major step in the platform’s evolution.
I’ll admit that I am extremely late to the wireless charging bandwagon. For various reasons, it just hasn’t seemed essential or at least worth the cost to invest in one. However, when I was offered the opportunity to take a look at the GoPower Watch Stand with Wireless Charging Base for review, I was intrigued to learn about what I’ve been missing.
If you follow Apple, then you likely know how popular the Apple Watch and the AirPods are today. My how things have changed. Both of these devices started their lives as targets of criticism and the butts of numerous jokes. Do you remember when the Watch was slow and didn’t do anything useful and the AirPods were the ugliest things ever? Fast-forward to today and the Apple Watch is the smartwatch market and AirPods set the standard for convenience and portability for wireless earbuds. Again, my how times have changed.
There was a story in People magazine two days ago referencing the Apple Watch’s heath features that really caught my eye. These kinds of stories are nothing new, as the Watch is now capable of monitoring and tracking all sorts of different variables and has been credited with saving many lives. However, this particular story is different.
This time the Apple Watch didn’t save a life, but it definitely enhanced it. It didn’t assist in detecting a life-threatening disease, but it did help a young man deal with struggles that he lives with every day. This story is about Sam Bennett, who has autism, and his father Scott.
In my last installment, I talked about un-pairing my Apple Watch Series 5 and setting it up as new to see if it would have a positive impact on battery life. It improved a small, but noticeable amount after I installed the watchOS 6.1 Beta, but that was just enough to get me comfortably to the end of the day with a bit to spare. I was hoping to squeeze a bit more by following this common tip.
It’s been several days and I have been very happy with my new Apple Watch so far. The performance is great. The always on screen is useful. I absolutely love the look and feel of the stainless steel model and don’t have any buyer’s remorse there. Everything else is just as you would expect. However, battery life is still just ok.
I spent most of last week keeping track of my Apple Watch Series 5’s battery life. While the results in my case were remarkably consistent, they weren’t what many Watch users are looking for.
I noticed several complaints and issue reports from Apple Watch Series 5 users and reviewers over the weekend, so I figured I should start paying attention, as well. I didn’t do a lot last weekend besides go out with my family for my daughter’s birthday Saturday night, so my usage didn’t really push any limits. As such, I didn’t notice any battery shortfalls in the first three days I had the new Watch. However, I was back at work today on a long-running project in an NBA basketball arena, and even on a light day I cover a lot of territory here.
While I unboxed two Series 5 Apple Watches yesterday, I didn’t get to do anything with them for reasons I wrote about earlier. However, I am off and running today and so far, I really like what I see.
Sleep tracking has been considered by many to be the Apple Watch’s white whale since the original Series 0 released. While other competing health and fitness products have offered this capability for a few years, battery life has prevented Apple from including it as a built-in feature on the Watch. One of the recent pre-release rumors has Apple finally adding this in their 5th generation product, but I can’t help but wonder if this is really a difference maker for the Watch.
Photo Source: Patently Apple
According to Patently Apple, Apple has been awarded some interesting patents related to new technologies that may potentially find their way to Watch bands.