The Apple Watch is the kind of Apple product that receives annual refreshes. They don’t always bring major redesigns or massive new features, although Apple keeps refining both the wearable’s design and its health-tracking abilities. The Apple Watch Series 7 might be the first model in years to receive a major redesign, according to some reports. A new rumor claims that Apple is also preparing a significant change inside the new model that could be great news for Apple Watch fans unhappy with the one Apple feature that hasn’t improved over the years.
The Apple Watch offers 18 hours of battery life, according to Apple’s estimates. That’s to say the wearable will last you for the day, but it will require charging at some point every single day or it will inevitably run out of juice. A different way to look at it is that Apple has maintained that 18 hours estimate over the years, despite improving everything about the device. The Watch got faster processors, an always-on display, and advanced health tracking features like an EKG and a blood oxygen sensor.
The processor, or System-in-Package (SiP), has also gotten more efficient in recent years. And the always-on screen comes with a display technology that allows Apple to dynamically adjust the screen refresh depending on what’s happening on the screen. Incidentally, the same tech will reportedly be applied to iPhone 13 Pro phones with 120Hz displays.
A new report from Digitimes (via MacRumors) says the new Apple Watch Series 7 will feature a double-sided SiP from Taiwanese supplier ASE Technology.
As always with these reports, there’s no way of verifying the information, and suppliers very rarely confirm rumors involving Apple’s business. But ASE Technology’s own website does say the company offers double-sided SiP technology for such products.
Double-sided SiPs allow manufacturers like Apple to continue to reduce the sizes of the modules in the SiP. As a result, the S7 SiP inside the Apple Watch 7 might occupy even less space inside the Watch.
The extra space might be used to increase the battery size. Of course, there’s always a chance that this might not necessarily lead to a better battery life estimate for the Apple Watch Series 7. The device might still deliver only an average of about 18 hours of life since the Apple Watch Series 7 might pack other components that require more energy than before.
Some of the most exciting Apple Watch Series 7 rumors so far claimed the device would feature a blood glucose monitor, but that doesn’t look to be the case. Additional sensors that would passively monitor health parameters would consume energy.
Whether or not the ASE double-sided SiP design tech will be used in the Apple Watch Series 7, other rumors might be interpreted as good news for the battery. The new wearable is supposed to get a significant redesign. The Apple Watch Series 7 could feature flat edges, and the screen might sit closer to the glass panel on top of it. Such design optimizations might allow Apple to add extra millimeters to the battery size, translating into better overall battery life.
That’s just speculation at this point, but it’s based on what Apple is reportedly doing with the iPhone 13 series. The new iPhones are supposed to have the same height and width as the iPhone 12 series, but they’ll all be 0.2 mm thicker. This is enough for Apple to increase the battery capacity on all four iPhone 13 models significantly.
Apple Watch Series 7 will likely launch alongside the iPhone 13 in September. Device teardowns that follow the official release might tell us whether any of the rumors above were accurate.
