So, here’s to going against the grain not once, but twice in one article: basing an allegedly real product off of a rumor, and predicting that something made by Apple will have trouble taking off - doesn't that sound like fun? While we have no idea whether this year will be the year that Apple unveils a smartwatch of its own, the odds are looking pretty good given that many major companies working with primarily Android devices have already taken the initiative to do so. That being said, I feel like without the appropriate changes being made to an alleged “iWatch”, the Apple variant can do no better than the alternatives.

Especially if it doesn’t have good battery life.

I’ve been wary of smartwatches in general since they seem to be speckling the market more and more often these days. While they’re intriguing pieces of technology, there’s a couple of issues I have with them that make them not worth the purchase to me. Not only do I feel a little silly carrying both my smartphone and a smartwatch that do the same thing, but I have to charge both just as often as the other in most cases. The idea isn’t bad, per se, it’s just in its early stages right now. This is why I think that if Apple doesn’t come out with something super wow-worthy, or at least something that lasts for more than a few days on a single charge, it won’t be the next iPod, iPad, or iPhone, which are all easily recognizable household names at this point. Without anything to truly make it stand out from other smartwatches, the only thing make it worth the purchase for some people is the Apple brand name.

Here’s the thing that I’m noticing with smartwatches now. Some of us, myself included, went kind of gaga over the Moto 360. I realized only recently that the only reason it was super interesting, at least to me, was because Motorola made a round smartwatch instead of the typical square-ish design that we’ve been seeing over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, that round face is only temporarily satisfying. Being round isn’t going to take away the potential frustration of having not-so-great battery life and having to remember to charge two devices at night instead of one. So, while initially the “round” design might win us over, it’s not taking care of the real problems that smartwatches face today.

When I was looking for leaks and rumors of the iWatch, I saw a couple of different design predictions that made me go, “Oh, that looks nice! I hope it looks like that.” I quickly realized that it doesn’t really matter. Without battery life and a real, practical reason to purchase one none of it will be worth a couple of hundred bucks to me.

I do kind of hope, both for Apple’s and smartwatch sake, that Apple was able to fix some of the problems that smartwatches have just to keep the ball rolling. It’s only been about two years since smartwatches first started popping up on the market on the regular, but it feels like they should be more polished at this point. I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t have good battery life and the biggest headlining quality is that you now have iOS on a smartwatch (the only smartwatch with iOS on it, mind you, which is a good advantage for Apple). I just think that smartwatches, as a product, could use a boost; I also think that Apple, as a company, could use another refresher to keep the interest going. With the iPhone 6 coming out this year, a highly improved smartwatch could be a big help in making Apple a huge hit over the holidays this year.

Images via Mac Rumors, Business Insider