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Apple Watch battery life will only last a single day, confirms CEO Tim Cook

"You're going to wind up charging it every day," said Cook. "Because you're going to use it so much."

James Vincent
Tuesday 28 October 2014 10:02 GMT
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One of the Apple Watch designs unveiled by CEO Tim Cook yesterday
One of the Apple Watch designs unveiled by CEO Tim Cook yesterday

When Apple unveiled their first ever smartwatch in September this year there was plenty of talk about its ‘digital crown’ and variety of styles, but one key element was not mentioned: battery life.

Now, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that yes, expectedly and somewhat disappointingly, the Apple Watch will need charging every night – just like the majority of smartwatches currently on the market.

"I think given my own experience, and others around it, that you're going to wind up charging it every day. Because you're going to use it so much,” said Cook, reported The Verge. "Overnight - that's what we think.”

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s first tech conference, Cook said that the thought the Apple Watch was “profound”, adding that it would target new areas of the market for the company – namely fashion and fitness enthusiasts.

Apple is planning to release the device early next year in America before slowly rolling it out to other markets, and the Apple Watch will come in three models – normal, sport and luxury – all of which need to be paired up with an iPhone.

The watch will charge using the same Magsafe technology used in the company's laptops.

The company hasn’t shown off much about the device since its unveiling, but as well as the usual mix of apps offering social media, email notifications, fitness tracking and music controls (and, yes, it tells the time), the company will be hoping that the Apple Watch will stand out from the competition with its digital crown (a knurled control that lets users zoom and scroll through menus) and its taptic feedback system that lets users talk to one another using subtle vibrations.

However, it’s likely to be a slow burn for the Apple Watch, with Cook saying at the WSJ live event that he expects that the iPhone will continue to generate at least half of the company’s revenues for the foreseeable future.

He also boasted about the success of the recently-launched Apple Pay mobile wallet, which lets iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners pay for purchases using their mobile. The company has reportedly had more than one million cards activated for Apple Pay in the first 72 hours, which Cook says gives the company “more than the total of all the other guys”.

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