My Apple Watch SE 2 is 2 years old and is currently at 90% battery health. It serves my purpose perfectly and battery life is still good enough for me. So I don’t see myself upgrading to a newer model anytime soon unless Apple stops supporting with watchOS updates. For me having the current software is big deal. So how long do you think it’ll be supported? as the S6 - S8 and SE 2 all have basically the same chip.
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After seeing the release of the SE3 watch, while I literally got the SE2 watch 6 months ago, I am kind of doubting till when the major software updates stop for my watch. (like watchOS 26, 27, etc.)
Do anyone of y'all know? It's better to get an answer about this then doubting about selling this watch.
A few key dates:
Apple Watch SE (gen 1) originally launched in Sept 2020.
Apple Watch SE (gen 2) originally launched in Sept 2022.
watchOS11 released in Sep 2024.
Support for Apple Watch SE (gen 1) was dropped.
That's 4 years of support if you bought the watch when it was released. 3.75 years for me. And for any poor people who bought it summer 2022, that's 2 years of OS updates that you've been allowed.
That's planned obsolescence at its most shameless and inexusable. I think that is the tipping point. Apple has had its last dime from me.
Update:
The reason I want more years of OS support isn't for the "features", it's because watchOS 10.x has de-stabilised the watch, badly. Now I can't update the OS because Apple forbids it. And I can't downgrade the OS because, you guessed it, Apple forbids it. Handcuffed. Locked to a version that is unstable.
If had been informed before purchase that the OS would only be granted 4 years of updates, I'd never have bought it. I would respect that frankness. I'd agree that it should be longer, but I'd respect Apple's transparency. But this surprise after 4 years is pitiful.