Early rumours ahead of Apple’s “Let us loop you in” press event suggested that the company would unveil a new smartwatch at the event. Those rumours died down as we got closer to the event with new ones instead suggesting a launch in September along with the next-generation iPhone. Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White this week issued a research note, suggesting that Apple may instead unveil it a bit sooner at its Apple Worldwide Developers Conference set for June 2016.
White is currently in China, meeting with various technology companies. In his note, he says, “Finally, we walked away with the sense that the Apple Watch refresh will not occur in September with the iPhone 7, but is more likely to occur within the next 2-3 months, and thus we believe an unveiling at WWDC in June makes sense.”
While White provided little information about the Apple Watch 2, he predicts that it will be 20 to 40% thinner than the current Apple Watch.
At least one rumour gives credence to White’s claim that the Apple Watch 2 will launch earlier than September. Back in January, the notoriously hit-and-miss Digitimes claimed that mass production of the Apple Watch 2 would begin sometime in Q2. This would certainly allow Apple to unveil its new smartwatch in June with availability to follow some time after.
Past rumours have also suggested that the Apple Watch 2 will come with a new Facetime camera and improved Wi-Fi capabilities to make it more autonomous. It could also pack new sensors and software to increase its health and fitness tracking capabilities. A new version of watchOS (3.0 perhaps) is also a strong possibility.
For its part, Apple has yet to announce the dates for WWDC 2016.
Note: Apple Watch images used in this article are concept devices by Eric Huismann and Peppi Kääpä.
Source : MacRumors