The Apple Watch is still being rolled out around the world, but according to the chairman of Quanta Computer, a.k.a. the company which builds Apple’s debut wearable device, a sequel is very much in the works.
Quanta’s chairman Barry Lam made the comments during a recent investor meeting, in which he claimed that the Apple Watch 2 will (not-so-shockingly) be better than the original, and that it will be released in late Q2, 2016. Subsequent rumors circling in the Chinese media clarify Lam’s comments by suggesting that a small batch of Apple Watch 2 devices will ship near the end of next year’s second quarter, while volume shipment will begin in Q3.
Seeing as the iPhone and iPad are both on yearly upgrade cycles, it’s perhaps not all that surprising that the Apple Watch would do the same, but it’s certainly interesting to hear confirmation from high up that this will likely be the case.
Previous rumors have claimed the Apple Watch will keep the same size, shape and resolution as its predecessor — although the display will be marginally thinner to allow for a larger battery, it will boast an added FaceTime camera, greater levels of iPhone independence, and additional high-end models costing $1,000+.
Research firm Canalys recently claimed that Apple has shipped close to 7 million of its first-gen Apple Watches since launch — a figure which outstrips all other vendors’ combined smartwatch shipments in the past five financial quarters. If true, that’s definitely worthy of a sequel!
Source: GforGames
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “Apple Watch maker says a new model is already in the works”
I’ve been holding out for the second-gen Apple Watch, as first-gen products often pale in comparison to subsequent versions. Hopefully it will pay off. Really hoping for improved battery life, as required charging every ~24 hours is the biggest shortcoming of nearly every smartwatch on the market.
Same here.
I completely disagree on needing more battery life. Humans work on habits, and only the daily habit of charging at night works for most people. A watch that gets two or three days of life will actually end up OUT OF POWER more often when charged by humans because they will not have a daily habit. They will ‘chance it’ or forget when the ‘day of reckoning’ approaches. It may be counter-intuitive, but a watch with more battery life, in actually practice, will run out of power during a typical year much more often than a daily charge device for most humans.
With my present watch, I usually go to bed with 40-50% power. Only using it for workouts changes that to a significantly lower number.
The advances in the watch for the next couple of years will driven by many software improvements, not hardware upgrades. The tiny size and tiny battery create this optimization path. I do hope to see ‘smart bands’ at some point that utilize the port where the band attaches to the watch. I imagine we could see that for medical purpose to the watch and the bands can be on separate innovation paths when it comes to government approval cycles.
Since the big improvements will come in software and not hardware, you’re simply missing out by not getting an Apple Watch now.
Do you guys think it still makes sense buying the apple watch? I live in Europe so we always wait for apple products quite a long time…