Apple Watch (original, 42 mm, silver stainless steel with black leather loop, 2015) and Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock

On September 9, 2014, Apple announced the Apple Watch and called it its “most personal device ever—featuring revolutionary new technologies and a pioneering user interface with a beautiful design.” The Watch debuted the Digital Crown that Apple described as the “most revolutionary navigation tool since the iPod Click Wheel and iPhone Multi-Touch.”

The original Apple Watch required that the user pair it with an iPhone 5 or later and carry the iPhone 5 to access all of the Watch’s functions.

The original stainless steel Apple Watch models were sold in ten configurations:

  • silver stainless steel body with white Sport Band
  • silver stainless steel body with black Sport Band
  • silver stainless steel body with black classic buckle leather band
  • silver stainless steel body with Milanese loop
  • silver stainless steel body with black leather loop
  • silver stainless steel body with bright blue leather Loop
  • silver stainless steel body with stone leather loop
  • silver stainless steel body with light brown leather loop
  • silver stainless steel body with stainless steel link bracelet
  • space black stainless steel body with space black stainless steel link bracelet

In addition to the Digital Crown, the original Apple Watch had a Retina display with Force Touch capability. The 42 mm Apple Watch featured a 312×390 display with a protective sapphire crystal layer with a zirconia ceramic back and sapphire crystal lenses that connected to the wireless charger.

My original stainless steel Apple Watch was boxed with a black classic buckle leather band, but the Apple Store allowed me to swap the band for a black leather loop band because the classic buckle did not fit my wrist.

Also pictured is the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock, a 4.1-inch diameter charging pad for the Apple Watch that uses the same inductive charging connector that comes with Apple Watch. According to Apple, “you can charge your Apple Watch in a flat position with its band open, or on its side. When docked on its side, your watch automatically goes into Nightstand mode, so you can also use it as your alarm clock.”

Sources: EveryMac.com, Apple.com (announcement, charging dock)

Apple Watch Series 4 (cellular, 44 mm, stainless steel case with white Sport Band, 2018)

The Apple Watch Series 4 was the first major redesign of the Apple Watch family and added several important functions, including health-related features. The display was over 30% larger and filled the entire screen with curved corners, it added more advanced input capabilities, more powerful processing, and more advanced sensors. This model also included GPS and cellular service for use in the United States and Canada.

Like all cellular-capable Apple Watch Series 4 models, this watch could connect to the Internet without an iPhone and send and receive phone calls with an activated cellular service. It was controlled with a Digital Crown with haptic feedback and Force Touch.

This Apple Watch Series 4 model is 44 mm (previous Apple Watch models were 38 mm and 42 mm) with a 368×448 OLED screen. This stainless steel case model used a sapphire crystal to cover the display. All Series 4 models used a ceramic and sapphire crystal back to connect to the wireless charger.

The Apple Watch Series 4 shipped with “revolutionary health capabilities, including a new accelerometer and gyroscope, which are able to detect hard falls, and an electrical heart rate sensor that can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) using the new ECG app.” When announced on September 12, 2018, the ECG feature was not available until it was released on December 6, 2018, through an iOS update.

The ECG feature on Apple Watch Series 4 marked “the first direct-to-consumer product that enables customers to take an electrocardiogram right from their wrist, capturing heart rhythm in a moment when they experience symptoms like a rapid or skipped heart beat and helping to provide critical data to physicians. The irregular rhythm notification feature on Apple Watch can now also occasionally check heart rhythms in the background and send a notification if an irregular heart rhythm that appears to be atrial fibrillation (AFib) is identified.”

In addition, a new accelerometer and gyroscope could detect falls and automatically call 911.

There were 12 different options for this particular Apple Watch Series 4 model:

  • silver aluminum case with white Sport Band
  • silver aluminum case with seashell (gray) Sport Loop
  • gold aluminum case with Pink Sand Sport Band
  • gold aluminum case with Pink Sand Sport Loop
  • space gray aluminum case with black Sport Band
  • space gray aluminum case with black Sport Loop
  • silver stainless steel case with white Sport Band (this Apple Watch)
  • silver stainless steel case with silver Milanese loop
  • space black stainless steel case with black Sport Band
  • space black stainless steel case with black Milanese loop
  • gold stainless steel case with stone Sport Band
  • gold stainless steel case with gold Milanese loop

Source: EveryMac.com, Apple.com (announcement, ECG)