{"id":184607,"date":"2025-08-29T12:56:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T12:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/184607\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T12:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T12:56:16","slug":"im-not-upgrading-my-apple-watch-until-apple-adds-these-features-or-mine-breaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/184607\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Not Upgrading My Apple Watch Until Apple Adds These Features (Or Mine Breaks)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love my Apple Watch; the only time I take it off is to charge it. I\u2019d say it\u2019s the best purchase I’ve ever made in support of a healthy lifestyle, and I use it almost every day to track workouts at the gym, runs, hikes, and even strenuous yard work.<\/p>\n

But despite being an enthusiastic Apple Watch user, I have no plans or desires to upgrade my wearable any time soon. I\u2019m stuck wondering just what it is that Apple could add to the Watch that would cause me to open my wallet.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

Significantly Better Battery Life<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Dan Helyer \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

Ask any Apple Watch owner to pick one thing they dislike the most about their wearable, and I guarantee the vast majority (if not all) will say battery life. It\u2019s not that the battery life is especially bad; it\u2019s just that it hasn\u2019t been getting any better.<\/p>\n

In fact, Apple revised the vague \u201cone day\u201d battery life of the original three models down to a more realistic \u201c18 hours\u201d with the arrival of the Series 3 and its GPS features. Since then, this has been the norm, despite the battery size swelling from 205mAh on the first-gen Watch to 308mAh on the 45mm Series 10.<\/p>\n

While some battery gains can be made with more efficient chips, Apple\u2019s improvements in this department seem to have been eaten up by thirsty cellular radios, more sensors, and brighter displays. You can always use Low Power Mode to extend your Watch\u2019s battery life at the cost of these features (up to 36 hours on the Series 10), but I\u2019d rather stick with proper workout and health data tracking.<\/p>\n

Short of some sort of battery technology breakthrough or the introduction of a much larger Apple Watch that packs in considerably more battery, we\u2019re not likely to see any big gains in the power department any time soon. Any improvements that we get will likely be gradual, though welcome all the same.<\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

Very Fast Charging<\/p>\n

\"Charging<\/p>\n

Hannah Stryker \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

I never bothered with Apple Watch sleep tracking until I forced myself to give it a shot for a How-To Geek article<\/a>. After being surprised at how comfortable the Watch is to sleep in and how convenient it is to have my Watch on me when I wake up in the middle of the night, I shifted my habits and started tracking sleep full-time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The only problem is that I\u2019m sometimes bad at remembering to charge my Watch in the mornings. I usually only realize when it\u2019s too late, right before I\u2019m set to leave for the gym or head out for the day. The rest of the day is spent \u201cstealing\u201d crumbs of charge here and there, topping up as I can and hoping I have enough battery life to get through my workout or fill my activity rings.<\/p>\n

Currently, the Series 10 can reach an 80% charge in 30 minutes, while the Ultra 2 reaches this stage in about an hour. My Series 8 can manage 80% in 45 minutes, which is slightly slower than the latest model but still not worth the price of an upgrade. Give me an 80% charge in 10 minutes, however, and I\u2019ll upgrade on day one.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already seen some big improvements to the iPhone\u2019s wireless charging speeds, so my fingers are crossed that the Apple Watch will follow suit before my next upgrade.<\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

A Blood Pressure Monitor<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Christian Zibreg \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

I\u2019m only really mentioning this because it\u2019s been rumored that Apple has been working on some sort of blood pressure monitoring sensor for years, and I\u2019m all about the health tracking features. I love how Apple Health tells me that my vitals are out of whack and being able to link these readings to changes in lifestyle, whether that\u2019s one too many beers the night before or the onset of the flu.<\/p>\n

Blood pressure monitoring checks another box for me, especially as there is a history of heart conditions in my family. Having years of data to understand what baseline looks like could be very helpful in identifying concerning trends and giving my doctor a heads up that I might need to get checked out.<\/p>\n

Would I drop everything and upgrade for a blood pressure monitor on day one? Probably not, but it\u2019d help me plan out an upgrade path based on the waning battery life and frankly unacceptable number of scratches and dents on my current model.<\/p>\n

4 <\/p>\n

A Slimmer Apple Watch Ultra<\/p>\n

\"Showing<\/p>\n

Tyler Hayes \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

I was \u201cdue\u201d for an Apple Watch upgrade when the first-generation Ultra was announced alongside the Series 8. Having watched Apple\u2019s event and being impressed by the increased battery life, rugged design, and Ultra-specific bands, I thought I\u2019d be walking away with an Ultra for sure.<\/p>\n

But then I got to an Apple Store and tried it on for the first time. Even as someone with large hands and wrists to match, the Ultra felt massive. The larger bezels were disappointing considering how svelte the Series 8 looked with its edge-to-edge display. I walked away with a matte black Series 8 GPS model and a taupe Nike+ sports band, and I still love the way it looks to this day.<\/p>\n

I told myself I\u2019d wait for a significant Apple Watch Ultra overhaul, and that day has yet to come. It might never come, given the Ultra\u2019s position in the market as a big chunky timepiece for Arctic explorers and Red Bull-swigging freedivers. But if the company manages to round the edges and shed some heft, I\u2019ll certainly give it another look.<\/p>\n

5 <\/p>\n

Effective Short-Range Comms<\/p>\n

\"Walkie<\/p>\n

Tim Brookes \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

So now I\u2019m having to get a little creative. I\u2019m a big fan of the Walkie Talkie feature on my watch, though I mostly use it as a novelty way of communicating with my partner in the supermarket or when we\u2019re on opposite sides of the house. The only problem is that it\u2019s both inconsistent and dependent on the internet to work.<\/p>\n

Walkie Talkie essentially opens a two-way FaceTime call with the recipient, which is why there\u2019s a short delay whenever you initiate a conversation. Sometimes this delay isn\u2019t so short, and other times the feature never works<\/a>. In fact, Walk Talking literally stopped working for years for my partner and I (and not even upgrading from the Series 4 to the Series 8 fixed it).<\/p>\n

But wouldn\u2019t it be cool if the Apple Watch really could function as a Walkie Talkie? A device that offered near-instantaneous communication over short distances? Being able to communicate with nothing more than two wearables over a peer-to-peer connection, much like what Apple does with the AirDrop file transfer protocol, would be more than just a novelty for me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d use it all the time when out hiking, around the house, or any time I\u2019m just outside of earshot. I\u2019m not sure what protocol Apple would have to use or how much audio compression would be required to get this working, but I\u2019m here to make unreasonable demands, not practical suggestions.<\/p>\n

6 <\/p>\n

An Infrared Blaster<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sydney Louw Butler \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m showing my age a bit, but I always wanted one of those digital watches that incorporated an infrared blaster. The Casio CMD40 and CMD50 were able to turn TVs on or off, change the channel, and adjust the volume, and they seemed pretty cool at the time.<\/p>\n

Though Samsung has incorporated this feature into some of its wearables (the Samsung Gear 2 springs to mind), Apple has never touched it. The company hasn\u2019t even included infrared capabilities on the iPhone, which should be enough to dissuade me from even dreaming about this.<\/p>\n

Alas, I still think this would be a fun (if silly) feature to have. My Apple TV remote can basically pair with any TV, and thanks to the wonders of HDMI-CEC<\/a>, I can even control other devices like my Xbox with a standard infrared remote. It\u2019s not too late to add this, Apple! The sensor could even be hidden easily along the top edge of the Watch face.<\/p>\n

7 <\/p>\n

A Better Siri<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Tim Brookes \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

Siri is a problem that Apple needs to fix<\/a> across the board, and there\u2019s nothing unique to the Apple Watch in this regard. While the long-awaited Apple Intelligence Siri update is hopefully coming sooner rather than later, for the update to be genuinely useful, the Siri experience needs to be transformed on every (modern) device.<\/p>\n

That includes the Apple Watch, which was my primary method of interacting with Siri before I gave up doing so and went back to building my shopping list and scheduling events by hand instead. I don\u2019t expect Apple to retrofit the enhanced version of Siri into chips that clearly weren\u2019t built with the technology in mind, but building such capabilities into future S-series chips that power Apple\u2019s wearables would make me feel a lot better about a potential upgrade.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Apple<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBrand<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHeart Rate Monitor<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYes<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Discover the Apple Watch Series 10, the thinnest and most advanced Apple wearable yet. Featuring a vibrant wide-angle OLED display, sleep apnea detection, and enhanced fitness tracking, it supports new water sports apps like Depth and Tides. Powered by the S10 chip, it delivers seamless performance and fast charging.<\/p>\n

watchOS is pretty good, on the whole. I find it reliable and easy to use. I\u2019m a big fan of how Apple has continued to evolve the way the software works over the years. Moving the Control Center to the Side Button was a big win, since it allows me to do things like enable Water Lock from any screen.<\/p>\n

That said, I hope to see watchOS grow in the coming years. Perhaps top of the list is even more Watch faces, ideally with even more spaces for Complications, because I can never seem to get enough.<\/p>\n

The Apple Watch Series 11 and possibly the next Apple Watch Ultra model are expected to be announced during the company\u2019s September 9 event. Also expected are the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, and a new slim iPhone 17 \u201cAir\u201d model<\/a> (among others).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I love my Apple Watch; the only time I take it off is to charge it. I\u2019d say…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":184608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[705,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-184607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115112167907515095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}