Size is probably driven by the size of the electronics, size of batteries, and size of screen. You could probably get a usable system on a smaller screen, but the rest of it, I suspect, is already up against the limits of what we can manufacture today.
There is a general trend of huge watches though outside of these concerns. Omega seamaster used to be available in 36mm. No more. Even the larger ones went from 40mm to 41mm, and last year they upped it to 42mm.
It is. Watches lost the timekeeping service long ago, so their main purpose now is /only/ being a symbol of status.
(Thats why I'm happy with my wristwatch, it shows the time and day of the month. Nothing more. I wouldn't mind a perpetual calendar, only to avoid those three days a year when they don't sync with the ideosyncrazies of the human's calendar)
Sure, and I would very much prefer that we had more small watches (and phones, while we're commiserating). I'm just questioning whether a thing recognizable as an Apple Watch can be any smaller than it is today.
May be we can start a new trend, but instead of Z-height and making things slimmer, let's just make the phone and watch thicker but smaller X,Y dimensions.
They also mentioned being able to use it with gloves on. You'll need bigger controls for that. Plus reading and interacting with it underwater probably is better with a bigger screen as well.
I’m a man with 6 1/4” wrists, a 40mm traditional watch looks enormous on my wrist, I can’t even imagine what a 2” wide Apple Watch Ultra would look like.
My every watch is 36mm, I’d definitely buy a sub 40mm Apple Watch.
Most ladies, and many men like myself have small wrists, so the "small" apple watch is already quite large compared to normal watches for most woman or men with small wrists. The "large" would over hang on many of those people, so you can only imagine how a 49mm would fit for most woman and people with thin wrists.
Yes, I'd be happy with even just the the extra side button to start workouts and such, since whenever I put on the homescreen it mistakenly gets started when crossing my arms or such and gets pressed. I imagine that may eventually come to the regular models.