Let's face it: James Bond is an Apple fan at heart. Sleek, sophisticated, and effortlessly cool—these traits define both 007 and his gadgets. Sony reportedly offered Daniel Craig $5 million to feature one of their phones in Spectre, but he turned it down, deeming it unworthy of Bond. The same logic applies to smartwatches; a Sony wouldn't cut it.
Bond has long been synonymous with cutting-edge timepieces. From legendary gadgets like those highlighted in The Best Bond Gadgets of All Time (read more), his watches have always pushed boundaries—much like today's Apple Watch.
In 1973's Live and Let Die, Roger Moore's Bond sported the Pulsar P2, the first mass-produced digital watch. Back then, digital wasn't nerdy—it was revolutionary (unlike the 1980s, when such tech earned geek status; read more).
The P2 was simple: time only, no date or stopwatch, with red LED digits activated by a side button. At $395—pricier than a Rolex Submariner—it echoes the Apple Watch's premium positioning today.
From then through 1985's A View to a Kill, Bond wore Seiko digitals loaded with Q Branch tech: secure MI6 texts, even TV images in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
As digital faded from futuristic, Bond switched to analogs—TAG Heuer and Rolex for Timothy Dalton, Omegas for Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Brosnan's GoldenEye Omega featured a detonator laser, immortalized in the acclaimed N64 game (one of the rare great licensed titles; read more).
Post-Bond digital era, Casios ruled the '90s for kids like me, brimming with untapped potential—stopwatches to hundredths, though fiddly to use.
Tech writer John Gruber nails it in his piece on Bond and the Apple Watch: those Casios evoked the promise of Bond's Seikos, even if features were impractical.
Growing up, Saturday nights meant Bond marathons on Irish TV—shaping my love for espionage, gadgets, and wit. Four decades after wrist texts debuted, reality matches fiction. Roger Moore's Bond? He'd rock an Apple Watch. Daniel Craig? Likely post-Spectre.
As an Apple enthusiast who's tested countless wearables, I get the skepticism—no one needs a $400 watch. But Gruber says it best: "It must justify its existence no more than any other watch ever created." It's about capability: calls, messages, internet on your wrist, styled impeccably.
Bond wears it, so do I. The first-gen Apple Watch has quirks—like early iPhones or MacBook Airs—but its potential shines. If it's Bond-worthy, it's for me.
Apple Watch divides our MakeUseOf team. Planning to buy one? Influenced by 007's wrist tech? Share in the comments!
