Starting with the 2005 iPod Nano, Apple has tried to adhere, whenever possible, to an annual release cycle for its more mobile products. Most prominently, we’ve seen this with the iPhone which, rather impressively, has remained on a strict 1-year refresh cycle ever since it debuted back in 2007. The only slight blip on Apple’s resume in this regard was the iPhone 4s which launched about 16 months after the iPhone 4.
That said, when might we expect the Apple Watch 2 to hit store shelves? Though Apple has been keeping a busy pace with all things Apple Watch, what with the release of watchOS 2, new watch bands, and new partnerships, the rumor mill has been surprisingly quiet with respect to when new Apple Watch hardware might see the light of day.
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Tackling this question, analyst Timothy Acuri of Cowen and Company recently issued a research report indicating that we shouldn’t expect to see new Apple Watch hardware until mid-2016 at the earliest. Originally spotted by AppleInsider, Acuri’s position is based on information he gleaned while visiting a number of Apple suppliers in Asia recently.
With respect to what features the second-gen Apple Watch will bring to the table, Acuri writes that the device will offer improved performance along with a thinner form factor. And though not explicitly mentioned by Acuri, it stands to reason that Apple will also do its best to expand the device’s health tracking capabilities.
As a final note, an obscure rumor popped up recently claiming that new Apple Watch hardware is slated to be released sometime next September. While the rumor by itself was initially too sketchy to draw attention to, it now doesn’t seem terribly off-base given Acuri’s own release timeline.
