AW3 - No WatchOS9 support

[honglong1976]

Hi everyone,

I am shocked that the AW3 is not WatchOS9 support.

Its still for sale as well.

Must be an Apple first to do that. What do you guys think?

 

[bricktop_at]

No surprise tbh

 

[ExAndroidUsr]

Well, I got the Series 3 GPS in the beginning of 2020, before the lockdowns hit so got 2 years of OS updates. With Wear OS I only had one update and that was it. In september of 2020 I did wish I have waited longer for the SE, but oh well. Maybe I will keep the S3 for another year and then get the newest model 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[GangstersParadise]

It’s the first time apple kills the software Support for a product sold on Apple.com. They are still selling it, even after the Keynote and press release lol.

Can’t believe it. The fact that they are discontinuing it, is no problem for a five years old device. But the long sale time on apple.com is unbelievable, still today after it’s clearly that they discontinue it.

Hope for a WatchOS 8 Support (Security patches) for at least a year.

 

[GangstersParadise]

When viewing an Apple Watch in the Apple Store App (even more modern versions), it says explicitly „Apple Watch Series 3 is compatible with watchOS 8 and earlier“ so I think it’s intended that it’s still on sale. I will keep mine until I won’t receive security updates officially.

 

[JBinPDX]

It will only be an "Apple first" to sell a non-supported product if they're still selling it in the fall. Assuming that watchOS 9 will be out in the fall with series 8... there's nothing saying that series 3 will still be for sale at that time. I think this confirms that series 3 will be dropped when the new watches come out. Really surprised they're still selling it at all, personally.

 

[oldmacs]

Cannot believe they've got the nerve to still sell the Series 3. Bad enough to do it to the iPod Touch which was discontinued a few weeks back and even Macs that were being sold 3 years ago.

I sincerely hope that WatchOS 8 gets 2 or so years of security patches.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

Cannot believe they've got the nerve to still sell the Series 3.

Wait what? lol that's insane

 

[honglong1976]

I think it's unfair to sell the AW S3 and with no updates. At least update to WatchOS9, then stop selling it via the store, then drop support for WatchOS10.

At least update the sleep app.

Although the watch may be a few years old, that's irrelevant to a consumer who buys it, see's watch OS9, oooh can't wait to update my new watch when it comes out.

S3 not supported.

What?

 

[ExAndroidUsr]

I think it's unfair to sell the AW S3 and with no updates. At least update to WatchOS9, then stop selling it via the store, then drop support for WatchOS10.

At least update the sleep app.

Although the watch may be a few years old, that's irrelevant to a consumer who buys it, see's watch OS9, oooh can't wait to update my new watch when it comes out.

S3 not supported.

What?

The S3 should have been put off the shelves when the SE came out to be honest.

 

[honglong1976]

The S3 should have been put off the shelves when the SE came out to be honest.

If something is good enough to sell to someone, it's good enough to provide support for.

 

[kiranmk2]

Guess they couldn't get the SE down to the Series 3 price point - that's normally the reason old models remain on sale. As this year seems to be a year of price rises due to inflation I'll hazard a guess that the SE drops to $249 in the Autumn and Apple abandons the $199 price point.

 

[TKSX]

The person who picks up a S3 watch probably not interested in the latest and greatest anyway. I think cutting support for a 5 year old product is that big of a deal. Heck if you buy an android watch or fitbit, you might loose software updates 2 year after launch and your device becomes obsolete 1 year later.

 

[martinm0]

My burning question is will this apply to the Hermes S3 watch? I would assume yes, but it has double the storage space (16GB). I always knew the watch would get phased out, but the fact that they still sell some version of the S3 gave me hope.

 

[selaing]

Question for you all... if my S3 watch is using Watch OS8 but my iPhone is using the newest OS.... will they link up? I know sometimes my battery goes due to operating systems being different for that day.

 

[oldmacs]

The person who picks up a S3 watch probably not interested in the latest and greatest anyway. I think cutting support for a 5 year old product is that big of a deal. Heck if you buy an android watch or fitbit, you might loose software updates 2 year after launch and your device becomes obsolete 1 year later.

Not interested in the latest and greatest, but probably not aware that they're buying such an old device. Isn't Apple meant to be for people who aren't hugely techie?

I think it's a fair assumption to assume an Apple product will get a reasonable amount of security support.

 

[oldmacs]

Question for you all... if my S3 watch is using Watch OS8 but my iPhone is using the newest OS.... will they link up? I know sometimes my battery goes due to operating systems being different for that day.

Yes it will work fine My Series 1 is stuck on Watch OS6 and works perfectly fine with my iPhone 13 Mini on iOS 15

 

[utente__mac]

It’s the first time apple kills the software Support for a product sold on Apple.com. They are still selling it, even after the Keynote and press release lol.

That's not the case.
watchOS 9 will be released alongside the new set of watches, which will not include the AW3.
AW3 is going to be supported with software update for its entire time it's been sold: until fall 2022.

 

[JCCL]

That's not the case.
watchOS 9 will be released alongside the new set of watches, which will not include the AW3.
AW3 is going to be supported with software update for its entire time it's been sold: until fall 2022.

It's pretty much the first time that you can buy a product that the end of the software upgrade path has already been announced.

Can you name another one?

 

[henry72]

It absolutely boggles my mind that they are still selling a product that is going to be obsolete in about 3 months!

Seriously Apple, you can do better!! They should have taken it off the store right after the WWDC livestream. Arguably they should have removed it in Sep 2021, but I believe they wanted to keep the S3 so can say the starting price is $199 USD and don't need to lower the price of the SE.

Bad Apple $$$$$

 

[honglong1976]

It absolutely boggles my mind that they are still selling a product that is going to be obsolete in about 3 months!

Seriously Apple, you can do better!! They should have taken it off the store right after the WWDC livestream. Arguably they should have removed it in Sep 2021, but I believe they wanted to keep the S3 so can say the starting price is $199 USD and don't need to lower the price of the SE.

Bad Apple $$$$$

I agree. It's a poor move by Apple.

The whole OS updates a few days ago was a Kull of so many usable products (iPhone 7 Plus for example).

 

[ExAndroidUsr]

Guess they couldn't get the SE down to the Series 3 price point - that's normally the reason old models remain on sale. As this year seems to be a year of price rises due to inflation I'll hazard a guess that the SE drops to $249 in the Autumn and Apple abandons the $199 price point.

Yes I figured the price had to be the reason and I agree with You, the SE will take the place of the S3 with a price cut but definitely wont be the same price as the S3 now.

 

[ExAndroidUsr]

Question for you all... if my S3 watch is using Watch OS8 but my iPhone is using the newest OS.... will they link up? I know sometimes my battery goes due to operating systems being different for that day.

It will. I am on the iOS16 dev beta and it works perfectly fine