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Apple Watch Series 9 'Basically Unchanged' Other Than Performance Boost From S9 Chip
(www.macrumors.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Apple
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People may complain about not having big changes in each year for the watch, but I think it’s important that Apple release certain products every year even if the changes are minor. Just look at the MacBook/iMac/Mac Pro lines and how much people want an upgrade (available at least) every year. It shows apples dedication to the line and it’s very important in my opinion.
Most of us really don’t get a new one every year. However releasing a new model every year, even with fewer changes, means people who update less frequently always get a huge improvement.
I replaced my series 3 only when it started having memory problems and would no longer update. My series 6 is fantastic and I have no plans to replace it yet, but …… I’m hanging on the edge of my seat every year for the new model, wondering whether they’ll add a health sensor or other feature that I “must have”
Anyone that has done software/hardware development knows that more new features usually means more bugs/broken stuff. I'm always glad to see stability/minor updates
I’m thinking of switching to an Apple Watch from a Garmin Vivoactive 4. But I’m not sure if that’s a good move.
If you have an iPhone, it's a good move.
There are a few small things Garmin watches are better at, but there's a massive list of things Apple Watches do better than Garmin ones. It's not even close.
I'm pretty sure the Series 9 is mostly unchanged because there's basically nothing left Apple can do to improve the hardware... it's just a waiting game for batteries that hold more power - which will allow more features.
On battery life... Garmin advertises "8 days" for the Vivoactive 4 but that's only if you don't use certain features. It's exactly the same with an Apple Watch... real world battery life depends what is active, how many notifications you receive, how often you check the time, how often you are out of bluetooth range of your phone or a wifi network, etc etc.
Generally because Apple watches can do more than Garmin watches, you're likely to get less real world battery life. But it's easy enough to charge them once a day (20 minutes or so on the charger is enough. Doesn't have to be overnight).
The lowest power mode an Apple Watch can run in (it will only tell you the time) will last a full month on a charge.
I would say the battery life on Apple Watch vs Garmin is totally different. The difference between charging every 5+ days vs every day is a huge qol difference. In my experience even if I turn off most of the Apple Watch features I still don’t get even close to 48 hours and that’s after losing most of what made the Watch feel smart. What it boils down to is if you want a smart watch or a fitness watch. If you want a smart watch then the Apple Watch is the obvious choice, but if you’re more interested in fitness tracking and stats then I think Garmin is probably the better choice.
Good thing to know I won’t be missing much with just my current Apple Watch
I have the s4 and miss a little of the extra features like temperature
Gonna hold on to my S3 for another few years then
Have you had the battery replaced yet, how old is it?
No I didn’t, and 4 years old
Still holding on to my S4 until it dies or they make a decent upgrade to battery life.
If you don’t need the new features, they have made massive improvements to battery life—they’re just hidden behind the new features a s5 owner might not care about or need.
When I got my S6, I disabled:
- Pulse OX
- Always on display
- wake on lift
- noise monitoring
I also set the vibration to the lightest/most subtle mode.
When new, I was getting 56 hours.
I’m down to about 48 hours after just over two years.
Caveat: I use a Bluetooth HRM when working out. When I workout with the watch as the always-on HRM battery life is shortened accordingly.
I did not know you could disable noise monitoring, or as I like to call it ‘hand is outside the window while driving’ alert.
Still seeing no reason to upgrade from my S4, although my battery is overdue for replacement.