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Something horrible happened a little after the new Apple Watch Series 9 came out.

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My watch, an almost three-year-old Series 6, would make a weird sound whenever I touched

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the screen.

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It felt loose right up until the moment when I could pull it off entirely.

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The screens come off. How'd that happen?

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It is weird. I'm not sure if it's the battery expanding or if all that COVID hand-washing soap ate

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away the adhesive, but I can't use my Apple Watch anymore.

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Hmm. That does bring up an interesting question.

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Should I fix my three-year-old Series 6 Apple Watch, or is the Series 9 compelling enough

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for me to buy a new one?

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One thing I've been curious about since starting this job is the longevity of Apple products.

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It's why I refrained from upgrading to the 2nd Gen AirPods Pro despite them being so

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much better. It's why I'm back to using this iPhone 12 mini every day, and it's why I kept using

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the Apple Watch Series 6 until now. There have been many upgrades to the Apple Watch in the past three years, but none of

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them have really moved the needle for me, except for the bigger screen maybe.

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There were a few periods where my batteries below 90% capacity state would leave me stranded

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at the end of the day, but somehow that would fix itself after an OS update.

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So even three years later, while my life would improve with the battery replacement, I could

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live without one. But we're getting close.

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I can't, however, live with the screen coming off. So I booked a battery replacement appointment at the Apple Store in hopes that they would

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simply fix the battery and screen in one go. I mean, half the work is done, right?

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Well, I did make an appointment for a battery replacement.

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We don't do any repairs on the watch. It's pretty old.

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We would replace it. Hmm. And it's going to take a few days as well.

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But what about getting a new Apple Watch Series 9 instead?

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There are improvements here. The new S9 chip, which you should know is the first actual CPU upgrade in years.

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A new gesture interaction method called DoubleTap.

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An ultra-wideband upgrade and new for 2024, a deactivated blood oxygen sensor, only for

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Americans. Ah, yes. That story.

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Basically last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission, ITC, ruled that Apple violated

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two blood oxygen sensor patents owned by Masimo, a health technology company that also owns

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Bowers and Wilkins for some reason. Anyway, Apple is appealing this ruling, but they have been denied the request that the

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import ban be lifted for the duration of the appeal.

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Not even Joe Biden was willing to veto the ruling. So that's why Apple has deactivated the sensor, and it could take upwards of a year for this

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to get fully resolved. That would have been a point for my old Series 6, which was the first to introduce the feature.

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But for the fact that here in Canada, the blood oxygen sensor is still functional on

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new watches. Well, sort of. I skimmed over some studies to see how well the Apple Watch compares to conventional pulse

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oximeters, which read from the tip of your finger, which is a more accurate place to measure.

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Hmm, unsuccessful. Well, while the Apple Watch can provide accurate readings, it can also provide scary low readings

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in healthy individuals too. It's why Apple's website has the fine print that says,

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The blood oxygen app is for wellness purposes only, and not for medical use.

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It's why Masimo's CEO is amusingly saying that users are better off without it.

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And it's why I don't care. Speaking of the tip of your finger, simply by pinching it twice with your thumb, you

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can do simple actions with your Apple Watch using double tap.

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Be it answering your phone, scrolling through your widgets, controlling music, and dealing

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with messages. It's very low res, only able to activate one thing depending on your state.

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Only for a few false positives, it does work quite well.

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But despite wearing this watch for months, I have yet to be in a situation where my hands

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are full and it helps. Though I will say if I was a jogger, which I am not, double tapping to skip a song while

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jogging would be really convenient. Oh, they'll be aware that's not the default setting.

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The upgraded ultra-wideband chip will help you precision find your iPhone should you

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misplace it. But because it's only supported on the U2 chip, only users of an iPhone 15 and newer

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can take advantage of it. I think one of the biggest reasons why you'd want to get a Series 9 is because of the chip

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upgrade. It's noticeably faster than my Series 6, doing just about everything.

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Apple tends to support devices with significant chip jumps the longest, though at this point

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software support clearly outlives the battery and adhesive anyway.

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To reduce their carbon emissions calculations with the Series 9, Apple no longer sells any

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leather watch bands. Instead, we get the fine woven magnetic link band.

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It is indeed fine, but I'm really going to miss Apple's take on leather.

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Luckily, if you do want a leather watch band, consider this video's sponsor, Bandwork.

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Oh, I got an email from Apple.

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Four days late. We need to hear from you.

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Our technicians have completed a diagnostic repair of your product.

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I don't like the sound of this. Well, it turns out that according to Apple's technicians, my Apple watch has a damage slash

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dent slash gouge on the display. No, the adhesive came off.

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This means that my $100 battery replacement has been categorized as a $400 other damage,

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which is the same price as a new Series 8 at openbox.ca.

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And because I'm dealing with the bureaucratic nature of big, I have a large powerful corporation,

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I cannot appeal. I can, however, ask questions.

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Here's one. Should we reform the ITC court so that Apple can only ask questions about their patent

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infringement ruling?

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I don't know if you noticed, but I'm actually wearing the first Mac Address merch on LTTstore.com.

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It's the Steve Turtleneck, and it comes in tall sizes.

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Apple's reticence to repair my watch comes from the fact that they don't repair anything,

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only replace. And that's so strange to me. Watch repair has been a part of timekeeping for centuries, and yet the largest company

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in the world can engineer a watch that they would feel confident repairing.

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Apple made a big deal that this watch with the woven band is completely carbon neutral.

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And that's great. But I mean, repairing a watch emits way less emissions than replacing one.

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Hi, I'm here to pick up a repair.

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Since the Genius Bar is useless, I'm going to go to an independent repair shop.

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I wasn't expecting this to become a repairability gripe video, but alas, it's taken almost

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two weeks for Apple to support me. Another repair shop will fix my Apple watch in a few hours, despite Apple's onerous

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restrictions on parts and access to manuals.

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It's good to have the old watch back, and for almost $75 as well.

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Now, I do have to admit, it wasn't the cleanest repair. I did have to remove some excess adhesive from the digital crown, and I have to accept

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that water resistance isn't guaranteed. But like, after three years, it clearly didn't hold up from the factory either.

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The battery, however, is performing quite well. Though I think the Series 9 is a little better.

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This in spite of the fact I was using the smaller model. I do, however, much prefer the larger size of my older Apple watch, even if the thicker

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bezels means this old screen is only marginally bigger than the smaller Series 9.

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I'm also missing out on the on-screen keyboard.

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The decision between fixing this old Apple watch and replacing it with a $400 new one,

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for me, is easy. Fix it.

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The battery is a consumable, like car tires, and Apple watches get five years of software

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updates now, so everyone can expect one battery replacement in their watch's lifespan.

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Except maybe Apple.

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After five years, the new Apple watch might look more compelling when this model is no

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longer supported, and this replaced battery is no longer holding a charge.

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But until then, I'm going to keep using this, because it's great.

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Thanks for not replacing this Mac Address. If you want to watch another video we did on the Apple watch, you can watch the one

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where I used this one, which is a cellular model, as my only mobile device for a week.

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The result was surprising, and I'm curious in the comments below how long you've been

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using your Apple watches for, and if you've replaced the battery.