Apple Watch fans, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that a new report suggests Apple’s next-generation Apple Watch, presumably called the Apple Watch Series 3, is on track for a release at some point in the third quarter this year. Better yet, the new Apple Watch model will feature big improvements in two key areas that are still pain points for some users. The bad news, however, is that it looks like you’re out of luck if you were hoping to see a big hardware redesign this year, or even any exciting new hardware features.
Citing a report in the print edition of Chinese-language trade publication Economic Daily News, Digitimes reports that Apple’s upcoming new Apple Watch Series 3 model is on track to be released in the third quarter. It’s unclear exactly when Apple plans to unveil the next-generation Watch model, or exactly when it will launch. If Apple stays true to form and mirrors the past, however, we can likely expect the third-generation Apple Watch to be released in mid-September alongside the iPhone 8, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 7s.
Where design and features are concerned, that’s when the good news and the bad news comes into play. Apple is reportedly focusing on improving the Apple Watch in two key areas that users will certainly appreciate: performance and battery life. Performance can always be improved on any device, but the Apple Watch is in particular need of a speed boost. Despite the huge improvements between the original Watch and the Series 2 model, many apps are still slow to launch and even slower to refresh.
Battery life is an interesting area for Apple to focus on. As it stands now, the Apple Watch Series 2 can easily last for two to three days of typical usage before needing to be recharged. For a device that is designed to be charged overnight while you sleep, some would argue that battery life is already more than adequate. A focus on Apple Watch Series 3 battery life, as the report suggests, may indicate that some new features are in the works that could be a bigger drain on the device’s battery. Will that be enough to offset any potential disappointment if the Apple Watch Series 3 reuses the same overall design? That remains to be seen.
