Same here, although I‘m a bit younger (mid 40ish) and don’t have a cellular plan on my AW because I simply don’t need one. It can be a life saver, even if no one ever wants to be in a situation where this is needed.
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AWU2 kinda pointless?
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Not really though. You get the right tool for the right job. The apple watches are great do-it-all devices and even the SE2 is plenty enough. but when I say "want more", I mean people who want more out of their sporting activities and a Garmin or something like a Polar heart rate sensor placed near a vital point is a better tool for the job, even at the expense of being a second screen for iOS users. You don't lose full compatibility, you still get some basic stuff like notifications. Yes there's a little bit of give and take, most athletes with iPhone+Garmin(or other fitness tracker) combinations out there usually just make do with the trade-off and get whatever specialized tracking tool that they use.
Sure, I agree that people should get the right tool for the right job, but you're acting like the only job for a smartwatch is tracking ultra-marathons. There are other things people use their watches for alongside activity tracking where an Apple Watch Ultra strikes a much better balance than a Garmin device. And there are things that the Ultra is better at than the SE (battery life is an obvious one).
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You and I know they’re either using garmin edge or wahoo bike computers with their garmin watches.
They’ll be fine my friend.
Oh which half Ironman are you doing?
I wish you the best. What’s your expected finishing time? Hopefully the battery of your awu will make it.
10000%
Garmin is hot garbage of a smart watch.
This is why I recommend wearing two watches; Garmin and Apple. One on each hand. This only applies to athletes who care about metrics.
Alternatively just use the garmin on workouts only.
I just find the daily metrics more useful on the Garmin than Apple.
Seems to me Apple doesn’t know what to do with all of the data but Garmin will tell you how you are recovering, sleeping, etc.
Again most of you guys probably won’t care about cadence, power, temp, but I do.
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It’s easy to come up with many rationalizations of why you want your phone - it is an addiction. It’s equally easy to experiment for two weeks without it - you have nothing to lose.
This is very true, and I don’t understand it.
It just seems like a lack of first party effort by Apple
They’ve outsourced a bit too much of core functionality/data to third party apps imo
I’ve got an S9 cellular with a plan. I’m 63, on dialysis and when hiking in the middle of nowhere near my house I need comms and am always forgetting my phone. My watch, on the other hand, is tethered to me. 3 weeks ago I left my phone on the medical transport van when coming home from dialysis. I was anle to find/track where my phone was using my MBA, but I had my AW and would have been able to use it in case of a medical emergency.
I had such an emergency in April, 2023 the day I had received my Haemodialysis implant after stopping Peritoneal dialysis; the implant site was not completely stitched, which I/medical team did not know at the time and I not find out until waking up in the moddle of the night to go to the bathroom. I have an nsfw photo I took of my shirt I had worn to bed. The entire right side was soaked with blood, bedsheets, mattress cover. Was able to call an ambulance, go to the gospital and get it fixed right up w/dissolving sutures. Lost ~ 0.5l blood
Was also able to get a 1yr sedative prescription based on my demonstrated sleep patterns being totally broken up/fragmented and the dialysis staff are very interested in seeing my weekly O2 stats.
But hey, that’s just me and my watch uses 🇨🇦👍
Tom
(Can I make a nsfw image insertion on Macrumors?)
No phone no money, it runs my business
I got my first Apple Watch with the series 2 and within a year started having heart issues that it helped diagnose which was nice. now I have a series 9 and use the ecg all the time. Best feature for someone Without Heart issues though is definitely silent notificstions. That being said I sure wouldn’t buy a high end one like the ultra two just silent wrist pulse notifications
I don’t work; I’m on medical retirement. My phone is a literal lifeline. At home it’s usually within a few feet of me. Trsporting to/from dialysis it’s in my pocket. At dialysis it’s sitting on my reticulating table along with my coffee, airpods and iPad Pro. When I go hiking - it comes with me; again, lifeline. Feel free to leave home without your iPhone.
regards
Tom
Garmin isn't a good smartwatch, but smartwatch features are a distant second to me over health metrics. I'm a pretty heavy trail runner/marathoner and summer bike rider, so Garmin is leaps and bounds ahead of the Apple Watch.
My buddy does what you suggested; he wears a Fenix on one arm, and an Ultra on the other. I have no intention of every wearing two watches, so since I don't use 90% of the smartwatch features of the Apple Watch (I only use it for notifications and to look at weather), I'm probably moving to a Garmin 265 for my next watch.
I also really, really wish that the Apple Watch could link with a bicycle computer, and then disable the on-board GPS to save battery. They (Apple Watch) won't last through a century ride.
You don't really explain why a phone is more of a lifeline than an Apple Watch with cellular on your wrist.
Generally, of course, there are some exceptions. But they are exceptions and not the rule. Most people don't need their phones on them as much as they have them. The world wasn't so bad before mobile phones. I think it was better in some important ways.
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I don’t have to explain, do I? But…I’m older, my eyes are not what they used to be. It is far easier for me to read data from the larger screen of a phone and report that accurately than reading from a watch. I’d also much prefer handing over my phone to the nursing staff @ dialysis to look at some particular aspect/trend than to shove my watch in their face, have them squint and say they can’t read it.
And I get it; maybe your quality of life before (or without) your phone as constant companion is/was better. Mine is better with.
Ok, here’s a photo of my hoodie after taking it off after a major bleed. My watch does not have a camera yet (and I didn’t have a watch at the time). Don’t click if squeamish.
No flashlight on my watch. I like to read my ‘Just Press Record’ transcriptions on my phone while still in dialysis before I allow them to be sent to my MBA @home. And so on. My watch is the VP to my Presidential phone if you will; it is secondary. No one is forcing you to carry your phone so there isn’t a reason to assume that others will have the same degree of quality of life increase w/o one.
My phone is current resting under one of my cats and that’s close enough for me 😀
peace
Tom
edit: battery life is much longer on my iPhone
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I leave my house 3x a week for dialysis; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Pickup is at 6:50am, and usually back home between 12:00-1:30pm. I’m stuck in that boring chair for 3:30 to 3:50 hours depending on hookup time. Operating the fully reticulating chair is always amusing….for a few minutes and my phone gets used for;
1) Stockfish chess engine/gui
2) Plex client so I can watch videos from my media server at home. I do have the Plex client on my IPP as well simce if I’m playing chess it really occupies my phone, which can get sluggish b/c I allow Stockfish to use as much time CPU power as it wants
3) Dialysis is when I usually do my donations using Paypal
Once a month, after dialysis I do a large grocery shopping and use a Goodnotes shopping list generated on my IPP > iCloud > Phone and erase items as I add them to my cart. I used to leave the IPP propped up in the kiddie seat are of the shopping cart, but too frequently wander away from said cart in search of 1 item leaving theft-bait just sitting there. My phone is with me and I use a non active stylus to take care of erasing.
I went without a phone from Sept, 2012 when I smashed my 3gs iPhone against a wall at work after receiving far too many tech support requests after hours during my grocery shopping, Christmas dinner, while on holidays in the US (from a grad student and also from my boss recalling me from signed off holidays and getting called in to troubleshoot a gas chromatograph.
But I’m medically retired now and can actually use a phone for what I want.
Tom
1) Stockfish chess engine/gui
2) Plex client so I can watch videos from my media server at home. I do have the Plex client on my IPP as well simce if I’m playing chess it really occupies my phone, which can get sluggish b/c I allow Stockfish to use as much time CPU power as it wants
3) Dialysis is when I usually do my donations using Paypal
Once a month, after dialysis I do a large grocery shopping and use a Goodnotes shopping list generated on my IPP > iCloud > Phone and erase items as I add them to my cart. I used to leave the IPP propped up in the kiddie seat are of the shopping cart, but too frequently wander away from said cart in search of 1 item leaving theft-bait just sitting there. My phone is with me and I use a non active stylus to take care of erasing.
I went without a phone from Sept, 2012 when I smashed my 3gs iPhone against a wall at work after receiving far too many tech support requests after hours during my grocery shopping, Christmas dinner, while on holidays in the US (from a grad student and also from my boss recalling me from signed off holidays and getting called in to troubleshoot a gas chromatograph.
But I’m medically retired now and can actually use a phone for what I want.
Tom
Fitness isn’t just about “knowing what to do”.
It’s about metrics. And the Apple Watch gives you those in a readily digestible format, over time. I use mine to track ski runs and surf sessions where I can see how was perfuming relative to terrain and time. Actionable? Maybe. Interesting and fun? Heck yeah.
But to really appreciate the AW, you have to dispense with your phone habits. I use my Watch with offline maps on multi week backcountry trips, and in cities when I don’t want to carry a phone.
I listen to music and podcasts, straight from the watch. I no longer carry a wallet or phone for most day-to-day excursions. Simply not necessary. The watch is a great way to get away from being a phone zombie.
It’s about metrics. And the Apple Watch gives you those in a readily digestible format, over time. I use mine to track ski runs and surf sessions where I can see how was perfuming relative to terrain and time. Actionable? Maybe. Interesting and fun? Heck yeah.
But to really appreciate the AW, you have to dispense with your phone habits. I use my Watch with offline maps on multi week backcountry trips, and in cities when I don’t want to carry a phone.
I listen to music and podcasts, straight from the watch. I no longer carry a wallet or phone for most day-to-day excursions. Simply not necessary. The watch is a great way to get away from being a phone zombie.
I have done a # of 100+ mile rides (and longer activities entirely) with my AWU with no battery issue at all. Many people have used them to complete full distance Ironman's as well, with finish times 15 hours+.
A non-ultra AW may not survive a century, I don't know, but the ultra absolutely will & you don't even need low power mode for it.
