Brian White, Apple analyst with Drexel Hamilton, who is currently on a Chinese tech tour. While on that tour, White released a research note cataloguing a variety of different aspects of Apple’s products, including the “iPhone 7” and “iPhone 7 Plus”, and the “Apple Watch 2”.
First up, the new Apple Watch is said to be 40 percent thinner when compared to the original wearable. Moreover, White believes that Apple is gearing up to reveal the Apple Watch 2 on stage at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off in June:
“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.”
Foremost, White cites a source who believes only the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus will feature a dual camera system, echoing the same prediction made by often-accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this week.
This would line up with a report that was published back in November of last year, which cited an earnings call from Qanta Computer, said that the Apple Watch 2 would debut sometime by the end of the second quarter of 2016. That would put the unveiling in June, if those expectations turn out to be true.
Whether the Apple Watch 2 is introduced in June or September, it appears clear that Apple may be elongating the wearable’s release cycle beyond one year to avoid consumer exhaustion. Many customers only received the Apple Watch in December during the holiday shopping season, so a new model launching this spring may be considered too soon. A closer to year-and-a-half refresh would seem more appropriate.
Are you already looking forward to the Apple Watch 2?