Apple

I don’t see how a purely magnetic watch band attachment could work for a watch, but I guess we’ll see. Would definitely be a shame to loose band compatibility.

Some variation of this rumor has floated around for years now. Every year we get people saying Apple’s going to change the band design and make old bands incompatible with new watches.

Will it happen at some point? Sure. Do I think it’ll be this next year? No. A magnetic connection seems like the exact kind of thing Apple would want to do if it were practical, but for a device that is used in the range of activities the watch is, it’s not.

Changing the band connector would be would be a disappointment. One of the great things about the Apple Watch today is the wide selection of watch bands available. The stability of the connector has created a thriving band ecosystem. If a new connector is introduced the variety of bands will take ages to catch back up, and old designs could be forever lost. If one of the reasons to change the connector is to integrate electronics into the bands that will also stifle band availability, as manufacturing them will become more complex and expensive.

Hardly a great environmental choice either to have all of those old bands thrown away. There’s enough waste being generated already by the Lightning to USB-C transition, although at least USB-C provides benefits of better cross compatibility with devices in the future.

A magnetic band connector also doesn’t sound a great idea for durability. Compared to a locking connector, it’s hard to see how that would hold up during rigorous activity, and also seems like it would be easier for thieves to yank off of a wrist.

I will suck cock if this actually happens.

Don’t downvote, it could be you whom I suck