Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
The Apple Watch will be in the wild by the end of April, and eager Apple fans will no doubt queue up to get their hands - and wrists - on the device. Or will they?
You can usually guarantee that a new Apple product will shift millions on its opening weekend, but there is more scepticism about the Apple Watch than any other product in a long time.
Apple confounded the critics with the iPad. Many people insisted that it served no purpose, but the tablet flew off the shelves.
The Apple Watch may well do the same, but it too must overcome criticisms to convince buyers, as V3 has outlined in our usual top 10 fashion.
10. Device will be out of date within a year
Spending large sums of cash on technology is always painful as you know that the device will be out of date within a few years and you'll be tempted to buy a new one. This is especially true of the Apple Watch.
Those who bought the first-generation iPad will remember well the feeling of frustration that set in when the iPad 2 was unveiled, offering vastly improved specs and capabilities.
Some expect Apple to update its Watch portfolio before the end of the year, so those who do splash out in April may well find that the gadget is considered old even before Christmas has arrived.
This may be acceptable for the £299 version, but it may hurt a little more for the £13,500 model. More on those eye-watering prices later.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
9. Rivals will benefit from Apple
Many people believe that Apple invented the smartphone and tablet markets. This isn't technically true.
IBM has the honour of being the first firm to enter the 'smartphone' market with the enterprise-focused Simon over 20 years ago.
Prior to the iPad there were more 'slate' Windows tablet PCs than could easily be counted.
What Apple did is make the devices 'cool' enough to get general consumers, as opposed to businesses with bespoke needs, interested in smartphones and tablets.
This has let Apple become the most valuable company in the world - seriously it has more money than many countries - but it has also benefited numerous other companies.
The tablet and smartphone revolution started by Apple allowed vendors such as HTC, Samsung, Sony and even Google to release their own devices targeting more specific sections of the market.
We're guessing the same may happen with the smartwatch market come the release of the Apple Watch, and many analysts have pointed out that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
8. Apple Pay absent from Europe
Apple made a big show of using Apple Pay on the Apple Watch during the launch event. But for early buyers of the Watch in April the Apple Pay feature looks to be conspicuously absent.
Visa is working with Apple to bring its near-field communication contactless payment to Europe for compatible iPhones, iPads and the Apple Watch, but Apple has said nothing about when the service will arrive.
So European early adopters of the Apple Watch keen to pay for their triple-shot, extra hot, skinny lattes may have to wait until Apple and its payment partners rollout the service across the continent.
This could give rival technology brands the opportunity to steal a march on Apple in Europe by adding services like Google Wallet contactless payments into smartwatches running a horology-focused version of Android.
Given the prevalence of chip and Pin payments and the relatively recent introduction of contactless payment cards, it has yet to be seen whether smartwatch users will be keen to pay for goods by hovering their wrists above a payment terminal.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
7. Fitness features need improving
Much has been said about the Apple Watch serving as a fitness companion, able to do all sorts of fancy things like measure your footsteps or your heart rate.
But there are several shortcomings with the Watch which suggest that it isn't a fitness fan's dream device yet. For example, it requires constant pairing with an iPhone to gather GPS data.
This is not ideal for keen runners, as it was hoped that the Apple Watch negated the need to take an iPhone when running.
If Apple cracks this, turning the device into a GPS-enabled watch, it would definitely boost its appeal among the running fraternity.
Finally, there is the slightly unnerving fact that the Watch will monitor how long you sit down and tell you to stand up and walk around if you're sedentary for too long. The machines are taking over.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
6. iPhone pairing required at all times to function properly
The Apple Watch isn't going to replace your iPhone, mainly because the watch relies on the smartphone to function.
Unlike the Samsung Gear S, which is one of the few smartwatches that don't need to be paired to a smartphone to operate, the Apple Watch needs to be connected to an iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, 6 or 6 Plus running iOS 8.2 or later.
This is because the Apple Watch relies on the iPhone's internet connection. Information is passed between the two gadgets as it is used.
What's more, the Watch doesn't have a GPS receiver so, if your phone isn't around you can't track the distance you've travelled beyond measuring steps, nor does it come with its own camera, instead acting as a viewfinder for the iPhone.
The Apple Watch can do some things by itself, though. It can play music stored locally, for example, although you'll need wireless earphones to make it work as there's no earphone jack.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
5. Apple needs to woo developers (again)
Apple put a lot of work into generating developer interest in its first smart wrist companion and released the Apple Watch software development kit, officially known as WatchKit, as part of the iOS 8.2 beta.
As a result the Apple Watch is set to launch with an impressive array of applications. Apple has already managed to persuade big name companies including ESPN, Twitter, Facebook, Shazam, Salesforce and CNN to create apps for the device.
However, as any technology company will tell you, getting early support ahead of launch is only one part of the battle.
The true fight is keeping the developers interested in the platform, a feat that not only requires work from the firm responsible for the tech to make the creation and monetisation model easy, but a large enough user base to entice app creators to see value in it as a platform.
However, considering the firm's impressive track record wooing developers to iOS, if any company can do it Apple can.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
4. Security concerns
Wearables have the potential to offer a variety of productivity and life enhancing services.
This is truer than ever for the Apple Watch which, as well as being a fairly nifty-looking time piece, comes with key fitness tracking applications as well as a wealth of business apps from the likes of Salesforce.
However, as is the case with any connected technology, it also opens up yet another attack avenue for hackers.
As we saw with smartphones, hackers from criminal and government organisations will target any new technology they view as valuable. This will, of course, remain true for the Apple Watch, which is set to hold a wealth of valuable information on its owner.
Many Apple fans will argue that they're safe, citing the low malware levels on Apple's iOS platform, but recent revelations about US intelligence agencies' activities have shown that this may not be the case.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
3. Battery life woes
Battery life has been one of the main talking points when it comes to the Apple Watch, after speculation suggested that it could handle a measly 2.5 hours of heavy app use.
Tim Cook looked to appease these concerns by claiming this week that the Apple Watch will last for 18 hours on average. The Apple boss didn't elaborate, but Apple's dedicated Watch website has since painted a fuller, not-so-optimistic, picture.
It quotes the '18 hour' figure, but also reveals that the device will offer just 3.5 hours of talk time and around 6.5 hours of music playback before throwing in the towel.
For those clinging onto Cook's remarks, the website reveals exactly how much users can expect: "90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours."
Thankfully, the battery can be charged easily thanks to wireless charging support. It will take 1.5 hours to charge to 80 percent, and an additional hour to charge to full.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
2. What's the point?
Apple has been falling over itself to justify why you'd want an Apple Watch - you can send drawings to one another! It tells the time with Mickey Mouse! - but there is a lack of real reasons for an Apple Watch in your life.
Analysts have pointed out several times that the Watch is a solution for a problem that doesn't exist, beyond maybe the frustration of having to get your phone out of your pocket to check the weather or stock apps. Hardly major.
So it's not impossible to imagine that even the most ardent Apple fan may look at the Watch and question just why they need it.
They have the iPad for media consumption and relaxing, they have the iPhone for calls and on-the-go data use, and they have the Mac for full-blown work requirements or editing. So what is the Watch for? The answer is it's not clear.
Apple Watch: Top 10 challenges and issues
Apple Watch still poses some key questions and concerns for buyers
1. It's really, really expensive
There's no getting away from it, the Apple Watch is very expensive. OK, so the sports version at its cheapest is £299, which isn't so bad and for some will seem like a reasonable outlay for a brand new Apple product. But for other versions the price jumps to just under £500 and just keeps rising.
Indeed, the Apple Watch Edition is priced between £8,000 and £13,000 depending on how big a schmuck you are/which version you want.
For a new product, with all the problems just outlined, to cost as much as £13,000 is eye-popping, but even at the low end, to be asked to shell out £300 for a completely unproven, first-generation product is fairly hefty.
No doubt many won't see this as a problem, but for millions of others it will just be another example of Apple's ability to charge considerably more for products that already exist in other guises on the market.