According to analyst Brian White of Drexel Hamilton, Apple may introduce a completely revamped version of the Apple Watch as early as June. While previous reports pointed to a September 2016 introduction, MacRumors reports that White recently toured a number of companies from Apple’s supply chain and heard rumblings that Apple may take some time at WWDC to showcase its next-gen wearable.
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From a product positioning standpoint, this isn’t completely outside the realm of comprehension. While Apple Watch sales have reportedly been healthy, Apple’s new wearable, at least not yet, hasn’t exactly become the runaway hit that many on Wall Street initially anticipated. That being the case, Apple may understandably want the focus of its media event in September to focus exclusively on the iPhone 7.
As for what we can expect to see from the next-gen Apple Watch, White relays that the casing may be as much as 20-40% thinner than the original.
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. We believe Apple Watch 2 could be 20-40% thinner than the current Apple Watch.
While a 40% thinner casing seems like quite a leap, this isn’t the first report we’ve heard pointing to a thinner Apple Watch 2 design being in the works. Other rumored features include much-improved battery life along with the inclusion of GPS and a FaceTime camera.
