The iPhone manufacturer presented the first Apple Watch to us almost 27 years ago, really now? But how can this be, what did we miss back then and what did the pretty watch look like in the end? The answer should put a small smile on your face.
In September 2014, Apple presented the first Apple Watch, which was then available to buy from the spring of the following year – as far as the innovative manufacturer’s official chronicle goes. What Apple is omitting, however, already 20 years before the smartwatch we know, an “Apple Watch” was on offer. If you don’t believe it, you should take a look at the following pictures of our find:
Apple Watch from 1995: No joke, but a giveaway from the manufacturer
In 1995, users were able to secure the first Apple Watch – actually also referred to as such, see the advertisement page above. You got them as one Gift with purchase of system update to Mac OS 7.5. That’s right, back then system updates from Apple still cost money if you didn’t buy a new computer with the current system at the same time.
And this is what the current Apple Watch will look like in 2022:
Not a smartwatch, more like a Swatch
So if you wanted the “Apple Watch”, you first bought the update for 135 US dollars and then requested the watch, alternatively there was a system tool worth just under 100 US dollars to choose from. Of course, this “Apple Watch” didn’t offer any smartwatch features, but it did have a trendy 90s design – not only was the Apple logo colorful, the watch hands and the rest could compete with a colorful and trendy Swatch from Switzerland.
GIGA author and Mac veteran Sven Kaulfuss adds his two cents: I don’t remember the clock itself, but I do remember System 7.5. No glory for Apple, to be honest. The Mac system was under more and more pressure and was no longer up to date, so System 7.5 wasn’t really an improvement, it was the problem.
While the Mac was considered a guarantee of reliability for years, users like us now experienced system crashes on a regular basis. Smaller improvements then brought updates such as systems 7.6 or 8. However, Apple only managed to find a real and permanent solution to the problem years later with the successful migration to Mac OS X.