The first-gen Apple Watch is officially on Apple's list of obsolete products, including the $17,000 gold model. They're not getting bricked or anything—they'll work as long as they last—but there'll be no more updates, support or service.
Apple classifies a product as technologically obsolete once more than seven years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. The original Apple Watch was discontinued in September 2016 upon the release of Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 1 models, so the first-generation models recently crossed that seven-year mark.
Apple's experiment was brief: Apple-watchers generally felt it was at odds with the company's careful marketing of itself as a premium but not a luxury brand. It'd be interesting to see who can repair one of these without access to Apple facilities or bits. The guts, presumably, were identical across models, so maybe we're going to start seeing Gold Apple Watches of Theseus.
