A Week On The Wrist: Apple Watch Series 4
During my tenure covering the watch industry, there is no single watch that has been talked about more than the Apple Watch. At first glance, this is very strange. The device is not made by a watchmaker, it is not distributed and sold through the traditional channels for selling watches and jewelry, it has none of the patrimonie and heritage that watch brands so love to talk about, and its primary purpose is almost certainly not telling the time. But then you remember that it is a key product for the most valuable company in the history of the human race, it is created by some of the best designers and engineers on planet Earth, and it is making the case for wearing a watch to a generation who previously roamed the streets with naked wrists. So yeah, I’m not actually all that surprised it garners the attention it does.
Last week, Apple announced a new generation of Apple Watch and I was fortunate enough to be loaned one for a review. I’ve spent the last six days wearing the Series 4, putting it through its paces. I’ve been checking out all those new, supposedly life-changing features that were exuberantly spoken about during Apple’s keynote presentation at the perfectly-appointed Steve Jobs Theater. I’ve been exploring the updated operating system, watchOS 5, to see how the Apple Watch is changing at the platform level. I’ve been thinking a lot about Apple’s long-term vision for the Apple Watch and how it’s starting to come into clearer focus. And, finally, I’ve been thinking about how the Apple Watch Series 4 stands up as a product on its own merits and whether or not I think you should open up your Macbook, launch Safari, and pre-order one right now.
Let’s get into it.
Where We’re At, And How We Got There
Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams introducing the Apple Watch Series 4.
The Apple Watch is a relatively young product, though it’s starting to reach maturity. If we’re talking in watchmaking terms, it’s still an infant, but I think measuring the Apple Watch against centuries-old products that run on 18th-century technology is a silly thing. Thinking more like a modern technology company, smartwatches have only become a serious product category in the last six or seven years, and the Apple watch is still under five years old. When …read more
