I’ve been an Apple customer for 15+ years. During that time I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to watch them launch a number of iconic products that have redefined their respective categories. I’ve watched each launch closely trying to understand what it is that makes Apple products special or different. And during that time I’ve made countless mistakes in attempting to understand what makes their products unique.

The iPad for example was a much simpler and more focused product than I predicted, and in hindsight I now realize that was a critical component of it’s success. With those lessons learned - I hope my iWatch predictions will be more accurate. Here we go...

1. First And Foremost It Will Be A Really Great Watch

The iWatch will be elegant and compact in design. It will be comfortable to wear everyday and will at a very minimum have the battery life to make it comfortably through a full day of very heavy usage. In fact, I would be surprised if it didn’t far exceed this minimum standard. Though I think the idea of heavy usage will be very different to that of an Android Wear watch (more on that later).

I believe it will be waterproof or at least very water resistant. It will also be fingerprint resistant and more scratch proof than other smart watches. Not just because the technology exists now, but because this is a prerequisite to making a great watch and that is the real goal.

The key here is that the iWatch will just be an incredible and iconic watch. That, in the eyes of consumers, holds more value than just some new functionality. Much in the way that classic timepieces are valued for more than just their ability to tell the time. With this in mind, I firmly believe Apple will gladly sacrifice some fringe use cases to ensure they can make a compact and elegant watch that people love.

2. It's Functionality Won't Overlap With The iPhone

I think the feature set of the iWatch will be simpler in many ways when compared to Android Wear. It will rarely if ever have a feature or experience that overlaps with the iPhone. Even though it will have a capable screen and the convenience of being on your wrist - I think Apple will recognize that many ‘possible’ experiences are impractical and are better suited to the iPhone or other larger devices.

As a quick example, I don’t think people will be using the iWatch to scroll through text messages or several pages of alerts. We all carry our smartphones with us already, so there is no need for this redundant functionality that is both easier and more practical on an smartphone. Instead, it will simply display alerts and possibly give simple one-click access to play/read alerts out loud or to dismiss them to the iPhone. The difference being, if you are going to look at a screen and scroll through messages - the smartphone provides a superior experience. If you have a single alert and aren’t in a position to use your phone (driving, exercising, or in a meeting) it will give you an option you to respond with voice (when driving or exercising) or dismiss it to your phone for later review (when exercising or in a meeting). The moment you need to do more than that is the moment you need your smartphone - not a bulky watch interface.

When it comes to health and fitness data - I believe the iWatch will lead the pack at gathering more data and delivering it more effectively. This is another key difference between it and Android Wear. First, it will gather more health data than other fitness trackers. Second, I don’t think the iWatch will be used to review or analyze any of this data - it will simply be gathered and then transmitted to iCloud through the iPhone. All configuration and analysis will be done through the iPhone, iPad, and other more capable computers connected to iCloud. No clunky iWatch health & fitness interface needed.

I believe all interaction will be through simple voice commands, basic voice messaging (all of which gets transmitted and processed through the iPhone), simple swipes of the screen, and direct interaction with other devices through NFC (payment terminals, smart locks, iPhones, etc.). Some of this may sound similar to Android Wear, but I believe there are a few factors that make it quite different. For example, I think the iWatch will limit itself only to very simple functionality and limited integration for outside services. At least for version 1.0. And, the functionality and UI will be centered around a few things that create a great experience without requiring significantly more computing power, more battery power, or even a marginally more complex interface.

This is what I was alluding to earlier when I mentioned this is a watch-first and that all-day usage of the iWatch will likely be very different to that of Android Wear. Not because Android Wear can do more, but because the iWatch does things that are simpler, require fewer actions, and are less battery intensive - while relegating other activities over to the iPhone where they are a better fit.

TL;DR - It'll be a truly great watch that just happens to manage simple notifications, gather valuable health data, and revolutionize mobile payments.