Apple’s first attempt at a smartwatch, called the Apple Watch, was discovered to have a “secret port” that could carry data and power to the Watch with a special connector. Originally, Apple stated that this port was there for debugging purposes in case a customer came into an Apple store and requested service for their Watch. However, a Watch band manufacturer by the name of Reserve Strap discovered that by simply creating the proper connector, it could create a band with a built-in battery that could charge the Watch without plugging it in. Think of it as a charging case for your iPhone. And this worked, and the company began selling the bands. But when watchOS 2.0.1 came out, it was discovered that Apple disabled the connector, therefore disabling compatibility between the charging band and the Watch.
More specifically, the update changed the Apple External Accessory Protocol and “disabled the functionality of Reserve Strap.” The company has thus suspended any additional shipments for customers who have updated their Apple Watch.
A statement from Reserve Strap suggests that Apple is working on a MFi program to support such an accessory for the Watch:
“For the time being, Apple has suspended use of this port until they unveil an official MFi program for Watch.”
The post above also asks people to contact Apple and insist that they release a program for such a purpose so Reserve Strap can stay in business and keep shipping units of their bands as it’s proven to be pretty popular amongst celebrities, professional athletes, and even Apple themselves.
What do you think? Is this just Apple backstabbing someone or do they have something awesome up their sleeve? Let us know what you think about the whole situation in the comments below!
