watchOS 5 Not Available for Original Apple Watch

The new watchOS 5 update, which was introduced at the keynote event of the Worldwide Developers Conference this morning, will not be available on the first-generation Apple Watch models that were released three years ago in 2015.

There were some hints that support might be dropped for the original Apple Watch, including warnings in later watchOS 4 updates after Apple stopped supporting the watchOS 1 SDK.

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watchOS 5 will be able to be installed on Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Apple Watch models, while original Apple Watch models will not be able to be upgraded beyond watchOS 4.

The original Apple Watch likely does not have the power and battery life necessary for some of the newer watchOS 5 features, including Walkie-Talkie for touch-to-talk communications with friends, richer interactive notifications, automatic workout detection, and updates to the Siri watch face.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
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Top Rated Comments

code-e Avatar
92 months ago
This trusty S0 has held out so long. Looks like I won't be running the beta, but assuming a new Apple Watch is announced in the fall, it's finally time to upgrade!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yaxomoxay Avatar
92 months ago
I will NEVER buy another Apple watch because of this policy. When I pay an outrageous $700 for a stinking watch, I expect it to be supported for a long time to come. Apple has just become too greedy!
I am pretty sure that the Watch will continue working for all the functionalities you paid it for, for many years to come.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
poppy10 Avatar
92 months ago
Imagine if you spent $15,000 on one of the gold plated edition versions of this. So much for being a rival to luxury watch brands. Those last generations. This is dropped after a few years
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gabriel193755 Avatar
92 months ago
All I wanted was new watch faces.
What do we get? Walkie-Talkie...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
witherwings Avatar
92 months ago
So the $10.000 Gold Apple Watch series are now obsolete? Good investment!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
92 months ago
My S0 is ready to be retired alongside my first generation iPhone and first generation iPad. I should put them all together in a display case or something in the new office I'm building in my basement. If only I had an original Mac! I joined the party too late.

The S0 battery life and performance is already not great. It's best for them to optimize watchOS for newer, faster devices. Looking at iOS, it seems like Apple is now supporting devices even longer once they got to a certain performance level. Hopefully the same happens for the Watch and we eventually get updates for longer once devices get fast enough.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)