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In 2014, Apple announced it was once again expanding its technological empire with the help of the Apple Watch, which officially launched the following year. The inaugural line included a luxury option that sold for between $10,000 and $17,000, but it took less than a decade for that offering to officially become “obsolete.”
Luxury watches can be a pretty solid investment (assuming you have the money to secure a sought-after piece from the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe, or Audemars Piguet in the first place), and while there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to profit if you decide to flip one, you can at least take solace in knowing they’ll still be able to perform the same basic functions they were capable of at the time of purchase.
The Apple Watch obviously does a bit more than simply tell time, but the fact that you’re essentially buying a tiny touchscreen you can attach to your wrist means you’re also at the whims of a company that once agreed to shell out $500 million to settle a dispute over allegations it released software designed to get iPhone users to upgrade to a new device.
As a result, anyone who buys an Apple Watch does so knowing it’s probably only a matter of time until it becomes a technological relic. That’s now the case with the original line that dropped back in 2015, as MacRumors reports Apple recently sent out an internal memo to employees that stated all of the first-generation models have become designated as “obsolete” (a label that means Apple-certified technicians cannot and will not offer repairs or any other services).
When you consider the cheapest aluminum model retailed for $349 in 2015 (the stainless steel option was a bit steeper with a starting price of $549), I think most early adopters who are still using one would admit they got their money’s worth.
However, I have a hard time imagining anyone who splurged for the high-end “Edition” model would say the same. That Apple Watch was encased in 18-karat gold and sold for a minimum of $10,000, but the 38mm variety with a “Modern Red Buckle” strap would’ve set you back $17,000.
The writing was already on the wall when Apple announced the Edition (along with every other first-gen model) wouldn’t be able to upgrade to watchOS 5 when the operating system was released in 2018, and now it’s hard to imagine there’s much of an appetite for a device that can even be taken into the Apple Store if it needs to be fixed.