Apple’s First Version of the Watch Was Surprisingly Low Tech
Apple’s First Version of the Watch Was Surprisingly Low Tech
2 minute read
Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the Apple Watch during an Apple special event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California.Stephen Lam—Getty Images
Apple’s earliest Apple Watch prototype was basically just an iPhone strapped to somebody’s wrist with velcro, a new story detailing the Watch’s origins reveals.
In the early days of the the Apple Watch, software for the device was being developed at a quicker pace than the hardware, according to Wired. That meant the Apple Watch team had to rely on a decidedly bootleg method of developing the user interface: Essentially emulating the Apple Watch software on a modified iPhone.
Via Wired:
The goal was to free people from their phones, so it is perhaps ironic that the first working Watch prototype was an iPhone rigged with a Velcro strap. “A very nicely designed Velcro strap,” Lynch is careful to add.
The team built a simulator that displayed a life-size image of an Apple Watch on the screen. Software was moving much more quickly than hardware, and the team needed a way to test how it worked on your wrist. There was even an onscreen digital crown—a facsimile of a watch’s classic knob—that you could swipe to spin, but it hardly replicated the feeling of twisting a real crown. Swiping, after all, is what the knob was supposed to replace. So they made a custom dongle, an actual watch crown that plugged into the bottom of the phone through the cord jack. In a sense the first true Apple Watch prototype was, like 10,000 Kickstarter projects, just a weird iPhone case with a strange accessory sticking out of it.
The Apple Watch is due out April 24, with preorders beginning April 10.
11 Amazing Features of the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is the company's' first entirely new product category since the original iPad. It's a huge gamble for Apple and a test of the still-nascent wearable market.Stephen Lam—Reuters/CorbisThe Watch is the most customizable and varied product Apple has likely ever launched. It'll come in three editions made of different metals and be available with multiple snap-in wrist bands. Prices start at $349.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesThe Watch has a touch interface that can sense the difference between a light touch and hard press. But it also has a "digital crown" that allows users to quickly scroll through lists without obscuring the screen.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesThe Watch must be paired with an iPhone for many of its functions. The device piggybacks on the phone's data and GPS connections to pipe in directions or incoming voice calls and text messages, for instance.Stephen Lam—ReutersThe Watch, like Apple's other iDevices, will have various independent apps. Examples include a Tesla app that shows the status of your electric car when it's charging and a Starwood app that lets the Watch act as your room key.Stephen Lam—ReutersApple's fitness app, one of the device's main selling points, tracks runs, walks and bike rides.Stephen Lam—ReutersThe Watch also can track your heart rate (while resting, while active) throughout the day thanks to these light sensors on the back.Koichi Mitsui—AFLO/CorbisIt also has Apple Pay, the company's digital payments platform. Swipe the Watch in front of a compatible kiosk and it will make an automatic online payment.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesCEO Tim Cook has said the Watch will last about a day before it needs to be recharged. So far, battery life has been the biggest downside of most wearables. The Watch recharges through the magnetic system shown here.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesThe Watch will come with many customizable bands that slip on and click in place at the top and bottom of the device's body.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesIt also comes in two sizes, 38mm and 42mm, to fit on different size wrists.Monica Davey—EPAHigher-end models of the watch could cost several thousands of dollars.Stephen Lam—ReutersApple is significantly expanding it's product reach.Justin Sullivan—Getty ImagesAnd there's one more thing...David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIt tells the time.Marcio Jose Sanchez—AP
