Apple Watch 2 Not Until Fall 2016

[FrankySavvy]

With the fact that some pre-order buyers are already not receiving a Watch until August, it seems safe to say that Apple would make a lot of early adopters unhappy by releasing a new Watch next April when many are already receiving the first-gen over the summer. In my opinion Apple launched the Watch in April to not only build demand that leads into the holiday season but to also gauge SKU demand and gain user feedback so that they can spend a longer-than-usual cycle developing Apple Watch 2. All of Apple's major products eventually move to a fall schedule, so I would expect Apple Watch 2 won't be released until September 2016 at the earliest at this point since Apple was not at all ready to meet demand for the first Apple Watch.

I completely agree.

Apple Watch 2 will launch in Fall of 2016

New bands and casing options coming Fall of 2015.

 

[dotnet]

My feeling is that most notable upgrades in the foreseeable future will be by way of software. There may be additional case options at some stage (titanium, anyone?) and possibly more bands, but I don't think the shape and feel of the watch will change much in the next two or so years. I reckon the model cycle will be more Mac Pro like.

I'm not saying this because I have a preference either way, it just feels like the right way to go about evolving the watch.

There may even be hardware upgrade options. After all, some people will have plonked down $10k+ for their watch. We already know about the out-of-warranty battery replacement options and pricing, there might also be S1->S2 drop-in replacements, who knows? At this stage I'm not sure even Apple knows yet.

I definitely believe that Apple will stick to the iPhone satellite mode of operation for a long time. It's the very philosophy of the watch, and they expended so much effort into making the relationship seamless and useful (unlike the Android Wear shipwreck).

 

[camtechman56]

I guess it really depends on how this watch plays out. If it ends up being complete trash that even software updates won't fix, then I see a quicker approach for next gen

I agree. but I would expect Apple to work all the bugs out before releasing gen2. and if it is trash, then they should offer a trade with good discounts for those who adopted gen1

 

[NavySEAL6]

I wouldn't mind them releasing the watch and iPhone simultaneously with a price break...I'd do it

 

[gsmornot]

I would like to see an annual update with small improvements. Something that I could skip every other year and not feel too bad about but enough to see the progress being made and innovation being driven. If I chose, I could jump in on a one year rotation and not have to wait two years for improvement or not.

My guess is they will try for once per year updates to keep the conversation going with the public. I just hope they keep the band attachments the same for several/all years so that people that buy a $500 band can continue to use it with each generation.