{"id":13967,"date":"2022-09-07T15:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T15:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/09\/07\/its-time-for-the-apple-watch-to-become-apples-next-big-thing\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:10:48","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T15:10:48","slug":"its-time-for-the-apple-watch-to-become-apples-next-big-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/09\/07\/its-time-for-the-apple-watch-to-become-apples-next-big-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for the Apple Watch to become Apple\u2019s next big thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23339891\/apple-iphone-14-event-watch-pro-wrist-computer<\/a>
\n
<\/br><\/code><\/p>\n

\n

The iPhone is still Apple\u2019s most important product, and it\u2019s not remotely close. Don\u2019t get distracted by all the people pining for a car, wondering what Apple\u2019s AR headset might look like, claiming the iPad is the computer of the future, or wishing Apple would go ahead and build a TV already. The iPhone still accounts for most of Apple\u2019s revenue, and iPhone users \u2014 who also pay for iCloud and Apple TV Plus and buy cases and cables and headphones and smartwatches \u2014 account for even more. Apple has been The iPhone Company for more than a decade, and that\u2019s not changing anytime soon.<\/p>\n

But the iPhone might not be the star of the show on Wednesday, when Apple holds its annual fall product showcase. We\u2019re expecting new iPhones, yes<\/a> \u2014 an iPhone 14, an iPhone 14 Pro, and an iPhone 14 Pro Max \u2014 but they look likely to be the latest in a long line of slightly better iPhones. The iPhone is a terrific but thoroughly mature product, and its most whiz-bang innovations may have already happened. <\/p>\n

Keep an eye on Apple\u2019s smaller screen instead because the most important device category Apple will talk about this week is the Apple Watch. Apple appears to be preparing to announce as many as three new smartwatch models, including an Apple Watch Pro that is bigger (apparently much bigger<\/a>), more powerful, and more useful than any previous watch versions. And in the process, it could also finally start to make the case for the watch as the next great Apple device.<\/p>\n

Seven years after its original debut, Apple has turned the watch into a super successful iPhone accessory. But the watch could be more, and Apple needs to finally make it happen \u2014 because we\u2019re not all getting Apple headsets anytime soon, and good luck waiting for that car to finally ship. As the smartphone market continues to settle and people keep their phones longer and stay entrenched in their ecosystems, the watch gives Apple a chance to have the next big thing that\u2019s already here. The smartwatch is old hat, but the wrist-computer era might be just beginning.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\"Apple<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/picture>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

When Apple first launched the watch, it talked about fitness but also communication and productivity.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Apple\u2019s original ambitions for the Apple Watch were big \u2014 probably too big at the time<\/a>. The company imagined it as, in essence, a more human version of your iPhone. Since it\u2019s on your wrist, you don\u2019t have to fish it out of your pocket a hundred times a day. It has biometric sensors that help the device \u2014 and you \u2014 understand how you\u2019re physically doing at any given moment. It uses Siri to accomplish most simple tasks. Put those things together, and you\u2019d have a device that could be a digital partner that could help make your life better, not a big blinking screen that tries to suck the life out of you.<\/p>\n

Since then, the watch has turned into primarily a fitness and health device. Almost every other smartwatch has turned into that, too. And Apple\u2019s is an excellent one: the stories you hear about life-saving fall detection<\/a> or heart rate notifications<\/a> are real, and the Fitness Plus ecosystem has turned into one of the best beginner workout tools<\/a> on the market. <\/p>\n

Apple continues to lean into what it does best, too. The new smartwatches will reportedly have body temperature sensors, and Apple\u2019s rumored to be working on glucose monitoring as well. The Watch Pro is, by all accounts, going to be a powerful multisport fitness device, taking on the likes of Garmin and Polar with a more rugged body and a more sophisticated build. And from what we know of watchOS 9<\/a>, the new software that will power these new smartwatches, health and fitness continue to be the driving forces behind the devices. Apple\u2019s adding more sleep tracking, improved medication and heart rate tracking, and more fine-grained controls and analytics for athletes. The watch remains a fitness device.<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/picture>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In watchOS 9, most of the key features are still fitness-related.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Apple<\/cite><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

But hang on: there\u2019s now going to be an Apple Watch with a bigger screen, reportedly more buttons<\/a>, likely better battery life, and maybe even satellite connectivity<\/a>? Not only could that make the watch a better fitness device, but it could also open up some of the things Apple hasn\u2019t been able to do before. The watch\u2019s small battery always meant you couldn\u2019t ask it to do intense things, and the small screen made it tough to type or tap around too much. But even a small expansion of both battery and display could make some of those problems go away. (The Watch Pro is also rumored to have one more button on the case<\/a>, and one button can make a big difference in what a device can do.)<\/p>\n

The Apple Watch will never be a good TikTok device or a satisfactory way to watch House of the Dragon.<\/em> But it doesn\u2019t have to be. To live up to its promise, the Apple Watch just has to be a better tool for managing the quick, constant interactions we all have with technology every day. In that world, your phone becomes a thing you use when you want to \u2014 to watch something, play a game, take some pictures, read the news \u2014 rather than the jack-of-all-trades device that it currently is. There\u2019s just no way that the best way to turn on your lights is to fish your phone out of your pocket, turn it on, unlock it, open an app, and toggle a button. There are a million things like that in every iPhone user\u2019s life, and the watch should be the answer for most of them.<\/p>\n

These are tricky problems to solve, of course, especially on a small screen, and Apple\u2019s been plugging along at it for some time. Checking notifications is the most significant one, and Apple says watchOS 9 redesigns them to be \u201cless interruptive while still being impactful.\u201d Apple also redesigned the Reminders and Calendar apps, both things you need to check often but rarely need a full screen of information from. watchOS 9 gives more access to voice call apps, which would make watch and AirPods a potent communication combo. <\/p>\n

The watch is already serving some of that purpose \u2014 some parents are buying their kids cellular-connected watches<\/a> instead of smartphones, for instance, so they can track and connect with their kids without worrying about screen time and internet addiction. Apple has leaned into this trend, adding more parental controls and Family Sharing features to the watch<\/a>. But a saner, more functional relationship with technology is the thing Apple hoped the watch would provide for everyone.<\/p>\n

\n