Apple Watch can save lives. There is no other way to say it. It sounds like a copy from a press release, but I have met a guy who found out he has a heart problem thanks to the Apple Watch. Also, someone in my extended family could have still been with us if they had worn an Apple Watch.

That last experience, made me equip my mom with an Apple Watch. Although my mom will never use all of its features. That whole thing is going to be in my next instalment of Project Mom. For now, let’s stick to talking about the Apple Watch.

When the Apple Watch Series 7 and the Apple Watch SE was released Apple touted a certain set of features. New capabilities of this wrist computer.

The Apple Watch SE is bigger than the Series 3 and has the brains of the Series 5. It has all the advanced fitness features and sensors like GPS, barometric altimeter, Wi-Fi, compass, and more. It also has cellular connectivity, Emergency SOS for personal safety, fall detection, and runs the latest watchOS7 which brought with it a whole lot of features.

This is where we begin to run into the silly things with the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch SE is good enough for most people, but it is aimed at the young and the elderly. Apple strongly hinted at members of the family who might not have an iPhone but could benefit from the features and connectivity of the Apple Watch.

However, to use all the features of the Family Setup you need the ability to activate the Apple Watch SE without an iPhone and connect it to an LTE network. Local Telco would have to support this feature and in Malaysia, they don’t.

Now, the Apple Watch Series 6 can do everything the Apple Watch SE can and more. It has a more powerful processor while keeping the same battery life, can be fully charged in 1.5 hours, and come in new colours. More power is always welcomed, and as someone who only charges their Apple Watch when showering, that fast charging makes a lot of sense.

Here, the silliness starts with the Blood Oxygen Sensor and app. I love the idea of knowing my SpO2 and I love that Apple is joining forces with researchers to conduct health studies using this sensor. However, the features came with a big disclaimer: Blood Oxygen measurements are not intended for medical use. That leaves me with the question, what good is it then?

If you go into the health app, respiratory, and blood oxygen on the iPhone, there are some interesting reading material there that explains what blood oxygen level is all about and what it can tell you. In fact, almost every page in the health app has something interesting to read. Maybe the disclaimer is just for liability.

This is almost the same case as the new sleep tracking feature that came with watchOS7. I appreciate sleep tracking. The one on the Apple Watch is very general and focuses on hours of sleep over anything else. The silly thing is, it counts the alarm I set as the moment I wake up even when it is not.  And it does not detect naps very well.

Basically, you got to tell it when you are going to bed by putting it into sleep mode and when you wake up by deactivating it. Then the app verifies it but does not detect it. On the plus side, the sleep mode turns off the always-on display and saves battery.

Speaking of the always-on display, what is up with making it brighter? I still don’t understand that decision, why the always-on display? Then again, most of us are relegated indoors most of the time, so I don’t personally see the benefit of seeing the always-on display more clearly in daylight. Someone else might? But, it is still strange to me.

Next is that Always-On Altimeter. The Apple Watch SE has it too, but who uses it? Especially when the margin is +/-15 meters. Perhaps it is for the app developers to think about.

Finally, I think the Solo Loop is silly. I think the new colours and variants of the Apple Watch are beautiful (more so if it was available in green) and I am intrigued by the new bands. Still, I am not confident about turning the Apple Watch into a bracelet.

First, the silly things come in fixed sizes. That creates a supply, demand, and support issues that Apple could have avoided.

Second, how comfortable are they? I know they are stretchy, but even I often readjust my watch band size depending on what I am doing. Tighter if it is a physical activity with a lot of movement, and loser if I’m doing everything else. Also, I take off my watch a lot, especially when I’m going to do something that involves water. I know it is water-resistant, but I just take the opportunity to charge it.

Third, how durable is that Solo Loop? It needs to withstand a lot of stretching from everyday use and even the Sport Loop will warp.

To me, what the Solo Loop has going for it is hygiene and security. You can be confident it won’t fall off and because it is made out of silicone, it is far easier to clean and dry.

In addition to the lack of support for Family Setup as I mentioned earlier, Malaysians miss out on Apple Pay, Irregular Rhythm Notification and the ECG sensor on the Apple Watch

Although Apple touted all these big new features on the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6, and we are missing some, it is the little things that made me wear one every day.

The fitness app still motivates me to keep active. Closing the now customisable activity rings is still a fun thing to do. People who are more or less active can now set their goals accordingly, which is makes the tracker more useful.

The elderly, for example, could set the goals low, while athletes can set the goals high and not burn through those rings before they had their morning coffee. If only those things auto-adjust.

Now, if only Apple Fitnes+ is available in Malaysia.

Making sure that I wash my hands for at least 20 seconds is made easier with the new handwashing app. It not only keeps tracks and tells me how long I have been washing my hands but also how often. Occasionally it also confuses me washing dishes by hand for washing my hands.

Oh, and don’t forget the customizability options, the different straps, styles, and watch faces. With watchOS7, the selection is more varied and more fun too.

The ability to connect my watch to an LTE network to get all my calls and notifications on it is great. Combined it with the ability to customise the notifications that I actually want means I am always within reach of those who are important to me.  Even when I don’t have my phone with me or in easy reach. And that is priceless to me.

There are more reasons why I wear an Apple Watch but that will be another post.