Yeah, yeah, I know you love your Apple Watch. It’s helped you streamline your workflow, get fit, sleep through the night. Yes, I know a guy who crashed his bike deep in the woods, knocked himself out, and probably the only reason he’s alive is that his Apple Watch notified his family and emergency services to come find his unconscious body. Sure, it’s amazing.
Also, if you aren’t in the Apple ecosystem, then what are you even doing with your life? It’s annoying when people don’t have AirDrop. Like, why do we need WhatsApp when iMessage and FaceTime do the same thing in a prettier package? Oh, you have an Android. It doesn’t mean you are edgy, bro.
As locked in as I am to this Apple universe, I am not a blind disciple. I remember a time when Microsoft was “The Man,” and Apple was the sexy, alternative, revolutionary brand. Here in 2026, Apple is omnipresent and omnipotent, inserted into many intimate aspects of our lives. From the way we communicate, to the memories we capture, to the music we listen to, to the way we transact, and so much more. We buy in because they do the best job of making everything seamless, easy and aesthetic. But has it gone too far? I think the Apple Watch crosses the line.
I don’t wear one. Everyone in my family does. Most people in my office do. They mostly all think it’s swell. But I feel that it’s time to give up these wearable devices, and here are six reasons why:
BORING
Remember when individuality was cool? Wearing an Apple Watch gets you zero style cred. No, the custom strap or plastic case you snapped on it doesn’t differentiate you from the mob. They all look the same. Wearing a watch is the perfect opportunity to make a statement. Whether you are wearing a $40 Casio, a $150,000 Patek, or anything in between, a wristwatch reflects your personality and says something about your choices. For many men, a watch is the one piece of jewelry we get! Don’t waste it on looking like everyone else.
BRUTAL BATTERY
Speaking of $40 Casio’s, when my Dad died, he left me his Casio A158W. It tells time, day, date. It has alarms, timers, stopwatches. The battery lasted for TEN YEARS after he passed. Replacement batteries are $6.51 for a pack of four. If you have an Apple Watch, you know the battery life quickly degrades, and in a year, the thing is dying on you before the day is over. Charging it midday is a pain. In Canada, with tax, changing a battery is over $150. If you rely on the watch’s functionality, after a couple years, you are looking at upgrading to the new model because the battery is supposed to be better. Even if you get 24 hours, it’s yet another device you need to think about charging.
DISPOSABLE DEVICE
Besides the battery degrading, after five-ish years Apple stops offering OS updates and obsolescence is nigh. There’s a financial consideration. Even with the cheaper aluminum model, by the time you are adding AppleCare (which you need!), cellular capability, the nicer strap, you are spending over $1000 CAD. Over five years, let’s say you need a battery replaced and you have a data plan connected to your mobile device, plus taxes, you are likely spending $2500 for a device that suddenly is useless. Unlike my dad’s $40 Casio, which has worked perfectly for three decades. Try passing on a thirty-year-old Apple Watch to your kids. Speaking of kids, both of mine have broken their Apple Watches multiple times. These devices are not as resilient as you would hope; there is a chance they could be damaged before you reach that five-year mark. This all adds up to a lot of e-waste, and we are already doing this dance with our phones.
WORKS WORSE
Speaking of phones, the Apple Watch just does a worse job of doing what our phones do. We’ve all made that call where the person on the receiving end is yelling “sorry, I’m on my watch!” because we can’t hear each other. Messaging from the watch is annoying, especially if your fingers are as meaty as mine. It’s mediocre at handling notifications. The apps are lacking. An argument I always hear in favour of the Apple Watch is that it allows the user to spend less time looking at their phone. But because the functionality is more cumbersome, many people are just picking up their phones to address the notifications they get on their watches. So, is it making us look at our phones more?
NO TO NOTIFICATIONS
Why do we need more beeps and dings and vibrations to grab our attention? This is the philosophical portion of our little argument, but no matter your philosophical bent, we can all use an escape from the avalanche of digital notifications. Instead of putting your phone down and relying on your watch to keep you connected, try just… putting the phone down! If you feel anxious that you are missing something important, work on building resilience to anxiety instead of spending money to stay more connected. The last decade and a half has programmed us to be constantly plugged in. We start to trust data over our own feelings. The phones are bad enough; the smart watches lead us further down that road. The data can be helpful, but you don’t need a wearable device to tell you if you had a good night’s sleep. You are allowed to go for a run without obsessing over your fitness stats.
DATA DIVE
Speaking of data, lets’ get into the conspiracy portion of our program. Apple’s official stance is that they do NOT sell or share the information collected by our devices. But if you are like me, you have experienced your phone listening to you and presenting targeted ads through social media. Yesterday, my phone was on the table when I was asking a friend about her recent trip to Mexico. Since then, multiple ads for Mexican vacations have been crowding my Instagram feed. For sure, they are finding sneaky ways to monetize that data. And Apple Watch is collecting the most intimate of data. Heart rate, blood oxygen, respiration. It knows how many steps you’ve taken and how much time you’ve spent sitting on your ass. It can track your menstrual cycle and the nuances of your sleep. But how important is it for us to know all this? Somehow, prior to the Apple Watch, humanity survived without knowing how many steps it took to walk to work. Is the data helpful, or adding to the clutter of information we deal with daily? What is the true value of knowing all this? I have a feeling Apple, and its affiliates are getting more value than us civilians. Maybe they should be paying us to wear these things?
