There was so much virtual ink spilled about the Apple Watch that it’s interesting to see what people got wrong. (We’re not calling anyone in particular out — mostly because it’s just so damned hard to figure out where which rumor started….) There are plenty of features that no one wrote about ahead of time, but this is about what was written about that didn’t work out.
1. The curved screen. The screen’s not curved, nor is the body. Instead, the main electronics are rounded, but boxy. Drawings that implied that the watch would look more like a cuff were just wrong.
2. A sensor-laden band. The idea that the Apple Watch was going to have sensors in the wrist band was in a patent given to Apple. The bands look very nice and make liberal use of magnets, and the replacement mechanism looks elegant, but no sensors.
3. The watch has just the normal complement of sensors. There were all sorts of wacky predictions about the kind of sensors that would be in the watch; Nope: just heart rate. Even GPS and barometer will sit on the phone.
4. The standalone watch. Nope — it needs an iPhone to work.
5. The name. No one got that right.
6. Wireless charging. It was generally accepted that the Apple Watch would use inductive contactless charging. Nope.