Could a thinner Apple Watch 2 be coming in June at WWDC?
We’re reasonably certain that iOS 10 will be announced at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. It’s safe to assume that Cupertino will reveal new or refreshed Mac hardware at the conference. According to a recent investor’s note (via MacRumors), there will also be a new, thinner version of Apple Watch unveiled at WWDC, rather than the announcement being delayed until September.
Apple analyst Brian White, of Wall Street firm Drexel Hamilton, is currently touring Chinese tech firms and manufacturing facilities. White recently issued a research note to investors in which the analyst predicts that the next-generation of Cupertino’s wearable device could be considerably thinner than its predecessor, and might be unveiled within two to three months, at Apple’s WWDC conference for developers.
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.
- MacRumorsWhite has a mixed track record with predicting Cupertino’s product announcements, and most sources are pointing to a September launch of the Apple Watch 2. Even though the original Apple Watch was released in April 2015, many consumers did not receive theirs until the holiday season in late 2015. It seems to me that a June launch of Apple Watch 2 would be considered too soon by many customers.
With that said, some reports do line up with a release of Apple Watch 2 during the end of the second quarter of 2016. We commented in November 2015 about a report out of China that Taiwan-based Qanta Computer would begin producing the next generation of the wearable device in time for high-volume shipments to begin in the third quarter of 2016.
It seems to be roughly a 50 percent chance, in my mind, of Apple Watch 2 arriving in June as opposed to a September launch. We will continue covering the news and rumors as they surface, keeping you up-to-date on the growing spread of speculations about the next-generation of the Apple Watch.
