Apple Watch’s Hidden Diagnostic Ports Opens Floodgates For Battery Straps, Innovative Accessories

Apple's Watch launched two weeks ago to some incredible hype (read our review!), and while it almost seemed impossible to not know every single little thing about Cupertino's latest gadget, the company has just one more trick up its sleeve.

On one side of the watch face (beneath were you insert the interchangeable straps) is a hidden door that exposes a 6-pin port. It's assumed that this could be used for diagnostic purposes, but with an Apple Watch in hand, company Reserve Strap was able to verify that it could also be used for charging. This is both huge and strange news: why would Apple keep such a thing quiet, when the Apple Watch's battery life is one of its most criticized aspects?

Even more interesting is the fact that Apple didn't make use of this port to release its own charging straps. However, without Apple's help, Reserve Strap is planning to get such a product to market as soon as possible.

The company says about its first offering, "The Reserve Strap will come in White, Gray and Black and will fit both the 38mm and 42mm case sizes. The first batch of Straps will be shipped in the Fall and will be sent exclusively to our pre-order customers. If you want one of the first Reserve Straps, you should put in a pre-order soon."

There's just one bit of information currently missing from this product, though: how much charge it's able to give back to the watch? It seems very unlikely that it'd be able to double the battery life, but if it could even come anywhere near +50%, that'd be a major feat, and immediately negate one of the biggest drawbacks of the device.