“The Apple Watch starts at $349 for the sports watch and rises to a cool $17,000 for top-of-the-luxury-line 18-karat gold Edition,” Natasha Lomas reports for TechCrunch. “But who wants to shell out thousands for an add-on electronic device that’s likely going to be obsolete in two years?”
“Well, when it comes to the battery at least, owners of Apple Watch will be able to extend its lifespan,” Lomas reports. “An Apple spokesman confirmed to TechCrunch the ‘battery is replaceable.'”
Lomas reports, “We understand the lifecycle of the battery is around three years.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That much battery longevity and its ability to be replaced is good news on both fronts for Apple Watch owners.
As for possible cost, for the sake of comparison, iPhone battery replacement costs $79 + $6.95 shipping, iPad costs $79 + $6.95 shipping, and it’s $49 for iPod shuffle, $59 for iPod nano and iPod classic, and $79 for iPod touch + $6.95 shipping for each.
So, if it’s $79 for Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch battery replacement, Apple Watch Edition owners can get their battery replaced for right around $3,000. 😉
In 3 years, I’ll be upgrading.
It lasts about 18 hours of a 24 hour day.
By the time it is 3 years old Apple will have dropped support for it.
My 1st Gen iPad, iOS 5, is still useful. It can still use the apps installed on it. It can even run some of the new apps. My iPhone 4, iOS 7, is still useful also (even with no cell service, can still be used on wifi) and can use many of the new apps. 😀
Eat the rich.
Tell me, where is sanity?
If you mean ‘normal’ check you washer, it has a ‘normal’ cycle. 😀
My washer is a Samsung. It doesn’t have a “Normal” cycle…only a “Copy” cycle.
Why do you have a ShameScam washer? And what does your washer copy? 😀
I’ve read in a obscure post that the watch internal parts are replaceable. No one spends 17K for a product that’s obsolete in 3 years. From the images I’ve seen as well, the components are removable. Wouldn’t that be cool if you could just swap out the insides as a very low cost upgrade while keeping the body.
No… who would want to keep the chubby + strap version of the Apple Watch when Tim unveils the thinner, larger curved glass screen, with cooler bracelets plus built-in camera version in 2016? Nobody… that’s who.
True and anyway the very rich regularly buy new cars every few years without flinching so to them maybe this will simply be a similar process.
I have said it before on this forum. There is no way you can expect a $10K watch to last 3 years. Apple is competing with Rolex here. I know people who still wear their Rolex from the 1950’s. These are not just timepieces. These are heirlooms. There will be an upgrade path from Apple for a while, and then third parties will step in to preserve your investment. Any likeminded people on this forum want to start up a company that does that?
Surely it’s axiomatic that the battery would be replaceable.
I would also consider that, although the heavy lifting is done on the iPhone, the S1 SOC will be fully replaceable when the technological demands require it. Indeed, it strikes me as illogical if Apple had not already considered this.
=:~)