This kind of jives with my early thoughts that Apple eschewed conventional 19mm pins for watch bands in order to integrate "smart band" features at a later date. But function following design, as these proprietary connections do,from photographic evidence to date, also serve to "slenderize" its otherwise less than svelt profile. I hope it's so. It would present a great avenue for 3rd party's growth.
I think the port will still be there and the watch will come with a cable that slides in and allows you to connect to your iTunes software on your laptop. To support software updates, backups, etc.
Question will be will it also let you charge it like other cables do today? I would prefer to have that cable at the office or in my backpack than carry a big silver disk charging cable all the time, that I'll have to buy several of but are not cheap to buy.
I expect the port to still be there. I just hope Apple adds a sync cable (with band slide in interface) that uses it so we can connect it to our iTunes. Therefore we can do quick installs, updates and backups than just by Bluetooth.
Question will be can it also be used to charge it? I would prefer using that than buying (expect not to be cheap either) and carrying around several of the planned inductive charging cables for use in the car, office or available as needed in my backpack.
I think it is more than that, just like the lightning cable has a chip, the third party straps and accessories will have to be licensed by Apple via soon to be announced Made For Apple Watch program.
Thank you. Most people don't even think about that.
Even the AppleTV, something I've never plugged into a Mac in 4+ years of ownership, has a port for doing so.
If that's true, it's one more flaw in this design. Even the shuffle uses the charging port as double duty for the headphones and data transfer.
So now customers have to have a dedicated charger the watch is attached to, but if they want to manage their software and data, they have to first take off the wrist band and plug into a specialized data cable?
Seems very un Apple-like. If I had to guess, reset functions can be handled through the physical buttons already on the watch, just like on all the other devices, and possibly some kind of fail-safe magnetic reset switch on the charger. I don't get the sense the ?Watch has so much storage that the software can't all be uploaded wirelessly, just like when you buy a brand new iPhone, and it downloads all your iCloud backup in the store without the need to plug it into anything. If Apple bakes the basic connection firmware into the watch, there's no need for an external port. And considering the cost of this device, and unique needs of selling it, my guess is that Apple will handle the rare software catastrophe directly, unlike the ?TV which a consumer may need to on rare occasion to re-install manually. I have yet to plug my iPhone 5s into my Mac once. I don't see the watch being any different, and I doubt Apple really want people to start hacking it on release day, which such a port would make rather convenient (about the only thing I feel it would be useful for).
If that's true, it's one more flaw in this design. Even the shuffle uses the charging port as double duty for the headphones and data transfer.
So now customers have to have a dedicated charger the watch is attached to, but if they want to manage their software and data, they have to first take off the wrist band and plug into a specialized data cable?
.....
So as a sacrfice to some whim you'd give up the convenience of inductive charging and roll back to a single port that, other then the once a year OS upgrade, isn't actually necessary to access? While the charging feature will be done hundreds of times more? Take off the watch to upgrade the OS software!! The horror!
While ITRW minor things like apps and data transfer is what wireless is built for.
[I]I have this dream about the iWatch. The band could be where certain sensors are incorporated. So a diabetic would buy the iWatch body/face with the diabetic sensor band. That band might cost a pretty penny and be subsidized by insurance. A fitness junkie or athlete buys the sports band. Someone who merely wants an iWatch for its notifications capabilities and ability to run their iPhone Apps remotely would get the band with no special sensors. And some folks will get multiple bands, sports band for the daytime, dress band for evening, different colors, etc. and perhaps all the bands incorporate the battery, so when you switch bands you get a full charge (presumably your extra bands are stored atop your included inductive charger).
I see from the Mar 9th Keynote videos on the making of the cases the 6 pin diagnostic port under the lower band groove. Therefore could be in shipping versions too. I wonder if during the Demo aftre the event if someone checked.
I see from the Mar 9th Keynote videos on the making of the cases the 6 pin diagnostic port under the lower band groove. Therefore could be in shipping versions too. I wonder if during the Demo aftre the event if someone checked.
The holes for those pins are clearly shown in Apple's videos about the metal composites they developed and how the Watch bodies are then milled. So I'm thinking, yeah, no doubt about it, those connectors are there for the reasons stated in the two messages immediately preceding yours in this thread.
I think it is more than that, just like the lightning cable has a chip, the third party straps and accessories will have to be licensed by Apple via soon to be announced Made For Apple Watch program.
It would be interesting to see a third party watch strap designed to plug into this Lightning port and be used as an external battery.
Comments
Oh, and the diagnostic port was already discussed 30 years ago
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt&topic=Hardware Design
SCNR.
19mm pins for watch bands in order to integrate "smart band" features at a later date. But function following design, as these proprietary connections do,from photographic evidence to date, also serve to "slenderize" its otherwise less than svelt profile. I hope it's so. It would present a great avenue for 3rd party's growth.
Well, duh.
Did we think that software would be restored via inductive uploading or something?
Question will be will it also let you charge it like other cables do today? I would prefer to have that cable at the office or in my backpack than carry a big silver disk charging cable all the time, that I'll have to buy several of but are not cheap to buy.
Well, duh.
Did we think that software would be restored via inductive uploading or something?
Thank you. Most people don't even think about that.
Even the AppleTV, something I've never plugged into a Mac in 4+ years of ownership, has a port for doing so.
Question will be can it also be used to charge it? I would prefer using that than buying (expect not to be cheap either) and carrying around several of the planned inductive charging cables for use in the car, office or available as needed in my backpack.
Thank you. Most people don't even think about that.
Even the AppleTV, something I've never plugged into a Mac in 4+ years of ownership, has a port for doing so.
If that's true, it's one more flaw in this design. Even the shuffle uses the charging port as double duty for the headphones and data transfer.
So now customers have to have a dedicated charger the watch is attached to, but if they want to manage their software and data, they have to first take off the wrist band and plug into a specialized data cable?
Seems very un Apple-like. If I had to guess, reset functions can be handled through the physical buttons already on the watch, just like on all the other devices, and possibly some kind of fail-safe magnetic reset switch on the charger. I don't get the sense the ?Watch has so much storage that the software can't all be uploaded wirelessly, just like when you buy a brand new iPhone, and it downloads all your iCloud backup in the store without the need to plug it into anything. If Apple bakes the basic connection firmware into the watch, there's no need for an external port. And considering the cost of this device, and unique needs of selling it, my guess is that Apple will handle the rare software catastrophe directly, unlike the ?TV which a consumer may need to on rare occasion to re-install manually. I have yet to plug my iPhone 5s into my Mac once. I don't see the watch being any different, and I doubt Apple really want people to start hacking it on release day, which such a port would make rather convenient (about the only thing I feel it would be useful for).
If that's true, it's one more flaw in this design. Even the shuffle uses the charging port as double duty for the headphones and data transfer.
So now customers have to have a dedicated charger the watch is attached to, but if they want to manage their software and data, they have to first take off the wrist band and plug into a specialized data cable?
.....
So as a sacrfice to some whim you'd give up the convenience of inductive charging and roll back to a single port that, other then the once a year OS upgrade, isn't actually necessary to access? While the charging feature will be done hundreds of times more? Take off the watch to upgrade the OS software!! The horror!
While ITRW minor things like apps and data transfer is what wireless is built for.
Talk about letting the tail wag the dog.
About Apple incorporating smart watch bands into the Watch design. Here's my post from April 2014 on the topic:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/178071/apple-to-sell-two-sizes-of-iwatch-with-flexible-amoled-displays-this-fall-prices-to-reach-thousands-of-dollars#post_2513582
In full:
[I]I have this dream about the iWatch. The band could be where certain sensors are incorporated. So a diabetic would buy the iWatch body/face with the diabetic sensor band. That band might cost a pretty penny and be subsidized by insurance. A fitness junkie or athlete buys the sports band. Someone who merely wants an iWatch for its notifications capabilities and ability to run their iPhone Apps remotely would get the band with no special sensors. And some folks will get multiple bands, sports band for the daytime, dress band for evening, different colors, etc. and perhaps all the bands incorporate the battery, so when you switch bands you get a full charge (presumably your extra bands are stored atop your included inductive charger).
Hey, I can dream. [/I]
These pins will reject knock-off watch bands. Apple has a chip in each band set that will enable the watch when the correct band is connected.
I see from the Mar 9th Keynote videos on the making of the cases the 6 pin diagnostic port under the lower band groove. Therefore could be in shipping versions too. I wonder if during the Demo aftre the event if someone checked.
The holes for those pins are clearly shown in Apple's videos about the metal composites they developed and how the Watch bodies are then milled. So I'm thinking, yeah, no doubt about it, those connectors are there for the reasons stated in the two messages immediately preceding yours in this thread.
It would be interesting to see a third party watch strap designed to plug into this Lightning port and be used as an external battery.