Bloomberg: Apple Watch Series 7 to Feature Thinner Screen Bezels, Faster Processor, and Updated Ultra Wideband Tech

[jmgregory1]

part of it is the need to spread the updates over the years. they know that mearly updating the look of the watch (flatter sides, smaller bezel, etc.) will be the feature that triggers updates this year. why "waste" putting new biometric sensors in this year when they can use it to drive upgrades for the Apple Watch Series 8 and 9 which likely will look exactly like the 7? wish it wasn't this way but that's the deal...

This idea that Apple pushes off updates to future releases just as a reason to drive upgrades is a fallacy. Given Apple's scale required for production, raw material sourcing, tool development and production, global shipping, marketing, etc., they have to make decisions on products close to a year in advance - and some of the things they hope can make the timeline one year, end up getting pushed out to future releases because either the technology isn't fully developed, or the supplier of components can't deliver enough product that meets their qc requirements, timeliness, etc.

I'm sure Apple has a roadmap of what they want the Watch to offer going out perhaps 5 years, but they also have contingencies for features that may not make the cut, and the timing they need to shift to plans B or C prior to their putting in orders for components.

This idea that their roadmap includes "hold back feature for future release" is crazy thinking, at best.

 

[EdT]

I appreciate them updating these every year. Just the like with the iPhone, the low-hanging fruit has been picked over the last years so we should not expect big features every generation. Also remember that these biometric sensors are truly innovative features and take many years to develop.

And in the case of glucose monitoring requires FDA approval to be even considered as a reliable medical device. I don’t know what testing and approval is required for any blood sugar monitor but if the FDA doesn’t sign off on it then insurance companies won’t treat the readings as valid. Actually, even if the FDA certifies it insurance companies will still drag their feet as far as acceptance goes.

 

[EdT]

Sorry but no, we have a right to complain.

It's not like the Apple Watch is groundbreaking, Apple could do a lot more than thinner edges and updated UWB.

A lot of people are crying out for longer battery life (not one charge a day, one charge a week), more sensors, etc to bring it up to speed with rival products.

Love Apple Watch, love Apple, but not going to fall into the trap of endorsing mediocracy!

A lot of people crying for a feature doesn’t make it appear out of thin air. Right now batteries are a serious limitation for everything from phones to computers to cars, and if any company develops a better one, capable of beating current batteries/technology by a factor of 2 or 3 they would be Wall Street darlings for a considerable time. No one has released such a battery, not Apple not Tesla, not Samsung nor Google nor Panasonic or any Chinese or Indian company ….no one. They introduce items with increased battery life but most of that has been lowering power requirements to accomplish the same things, not a markedly improved battery technology. Since Lithium Ion batteries were released battery improvement has been incremental not exponential. And if I knew who would release something that was 2 or 3 times better I would buy a lot of stock in that company. I don’t, and evidently neither does anyone else. If it was easy to do then someone would already have done it. The market for such a battery technology is huge.

 

[subi257]

I care more about a thinner Watch than smaller bezels. Oh well, perhaps next year.

So, you'll be okay with shorted battery life between charges?

 

[EM2013]

“The new Watch is likely to be slightly thicker overall, but not in a way that's noticeable to the user.”

Macrumors users: series 7 hurting my wrist.

 

[LeeW]

I disagree. Do you remember all the complaints from having to buy Macs with 1+ year old CPUs for the same price as release date? That sucked... I will take the yearly upgraded internals any day. Software is another matter, but hardware absolutely at least yearly (wish it was more like PC manufacturers do)

What you think you need and what you actually need are not the same.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Four pages of comments and no one mentioned a watch with a wireless plan where you don’t need a phone. Am I the only one that wants to ditch a phone?

It wasn't mentioned as a possible in the article so, why bring it up and argue about it for 3 pages? It would be a waste of time.

 

[MCUser_]

I just want a battery that last more than 5 days.

 

[deeddawg]

No killer feature since AW4. Maybe next year.

For you perhaps.

For me, Always on Display has been a great feature well worth the upgrade.

 

[nutmac]

Apple Watch Series 6 already has the U1 chip.

But it cannot ping AirTags. So perhaps this "updated" ultrawideband will be capable of pinging AirTags (probably without precise location as it will likely lack the camera)?

 

[deeddawg]

Always on display - for some it might be killer feature, but what I read on Macrumors, a lot of users turned this off, cause of battery drain.

Speaking for myself only - really haven't seen AOD create any issue with battery life. Even with an hour outdoor run without my phone, streaming music over cellular, I get all-day battery life. Which is all I need since my watch goes onto the charger on my bedroom dresser every night.

Perhaps if I were interested in sleep monitoring or perhaps if I wasn't in the same bed every night I might have a different view.

 

[Shirasaki]

Stop complaining everybody. Thanks to our demanding attitudes Apple has to launch new iPhones, Watches and iPads every year.

Remember when they took 3 years to develop an Mac OS X release? But now we want MORE, MORE, MORE. FASTER, FASTER, FASTER.

We're never satisfied. Even if Apple would launch an Apple Watch that could fly us to the moon, you guys would complain wHy iT dOeSn'T fLy uS tO mArS.

I start to realise why apple treats all customers as dumb****. They are.

 

[bigcat318]

Been holding out for the 7, I still have a Series 2 but man is it terribly slow to respond now. Text notifications will show up minutes later on the watch after they have already shown up on my phone and I respond to it. I guess for me the real question is to get the 7, or try for a good deal on the 6.

 

[InGen]

What happened to that rumour about blood sugar level monitor for the upcoming Apple Watch?? It hasn’t been spoken again since it’s original speculation, does that mean we likely won’t be seeing blood sugar sensors or is it a given for the next release? It will be the difference between staying on 6 vs upgrading for me. Real time sugar level measurement is a life changer for me and many people, especiallly those who like to live low-carb/keto or work out a lot

 

[EdT]

What happened to that rumour about blood sugar level monitor for the upcoming Apple Watch?? It hasn’t been spoken again since it’s original speculation, does that mean we likely won’t be seeing blood sugar sensors or is it a given for the next release? It will be the difference between staying on 6 vs upgrading for me. Real time sugar level measurement is a life changer for me and many people, especiallly those who like to live low-carb/keto or work out a lot

The rumors are that it won’t make this year’s model. But do you trust a rumor that contradicts another rumor? I’d say no release this model year because they had trouble getting the cardiac features approved by the FDA and something would have leaked from the FDA if the AW had passed their review.

 

[kingtj1971]

Stop complaining everybody. Thanks to our demanding attitudes Apple has to launch new iPhones, Watches and iPads every year.

Remember when they took 3 years to develop an Mac OS X release? But now we want MORE, MORE, MORE. FASTER, FASTER, FASTER.

We're never satisfied. Even if Apple would launch an Apple Watch that could fly us to the moon, you guys would complain wHy iT dOeSn'T fLy uS tO mArS.

Exactly the opposite of the reality I see. I couldn't care a BIT if Apple took 2 or 3 years to release an updated watch! As it is, I bought their very first version of it and kept that until version 3 had been out a while. Upgraded to it and kept it until it started having some weird battery/charging issues, so I sold it to one of these online places purchasing them from people. By then, series 5 was available at a discounted price at Micro Center so got one of those.

At the rate Apple does these incremental upgrades to the watches, it seems my pattern is holding true... No point buying one until they've gone through at least 3 revisions since the one I own.

 

[macsimcon]

Remember when they took 3 years to develop an Mac OS X release? But now we want MORE, MORE, MORE. FASTER, FASTER, FASTER.

I would be perfectly happy with iPadOS and WatchOS updates every other year if it gave Apple more time to fix the bugs in macOS and iOS.

 

[manu chao]

Well, I was talking about myself. For me AW4 was biggest update ever. New design, ECG and CPU so good, that they put it to the AW5 next year (different name, but same arch. and efficiency, with only minor changes like compass).

Always on display - for some it might be killer feature, but what I read on Macrumors, a lot of users turned this off, cause of battery drain.
The only cool feature for me is this Oximeter, but it is too little for me to upgrade.

Once again - just my opinion, for me AW4 is still best price/value Apple Watch ever. There is reason why Apple removed ECG from SE and still sells AW3… AW4 would be a big competition for AW5 and AW6 with price drop for older device.

There is some linguistic nuance between:

1. “I don’t think the models after the AW 4 really had a killer feature that differentiated them from the AW 4 in the market”, ie, Apple suffered from not having such a feature or Apple failed to add such a feature, and
2. “The models after the AW 4 didn’t have something that would count as a killer feature in regard to my personal decision making whether there is something that tempts me to upgrade”

Unambiguous communication is often harder than one might think.

 

[GuruZac]

Nothing that I have been wowed by since Apple Watch Series 5 introduced Always on Display. I’ll keep my Series 5 one more year and upgrade to the Series 8.

 

[Havoc035]

I will only get an AW when the battery lasts at least twice as long as it does now.

 

[npmacuser5]

The sensors are the most important aspect of any new watch for me. The rest of the watch upgrades are nice to have.

 

[BillyBurke]

Give it up on the battery whining already. Don't you think they would like to develop a multi day battery ? The AW is an incredible SMALL computer, with its' necessarily small battery on your wrist. More computing power than Apollo 8. When the technology is there, we will have it. This isn't like that infamous "1000 MPG" carburetor the industry was hiding from us all those years.

 

[HarryWild]

Right now batteries are a serious limitation for everything from phones to computers to cars, and if any company develops a better one, capable of beating current batteries/technology by a factor of 2 or 3 they would be Wall Street darlings for a considerable time. No one has released such a battery, not Apple not Tesla, not Samsung nor Google nor Panasonic or any Chinese or Indian company ….no one.

Solid state batteries are around the corner now! Samsung makes them but not a lot of OEM want to buy them since it expensive!

 

[Abazigal]

Exactly the opposite of the reality I see. I couldn't care a BIT if Apple took 2 or 3 years to release an updated watch! As it is, I bought their very first version of it and kept that until version 3 had been out a while. Upgraded to it and kept it until it started having some weird battery/charging issues, so I sold it to one of these online places purchasing them from people. By then, series 5 was available at a discounted price at Micro Center so got one of those.

At the rate Apple does these incremental upgrades to the watches, it seems my pattern is holding true... No point buying one until they've gone through at least 3 revisions since the one I own.

Most people are not upgrading their watches every year either. So your decision to buy a new Apple Watch every 3-4 years seems more or less in line with what Apple has planned.

 

[EdT]

Solid state batteries are around the corner now! Samsung makes them but not a lot of OEM want to buy them since it expensive!

Cost is always part of the equation. A component that raises the final products cost by a significant amount has to raise performance by more than that amount. If a competing product is cheaper and does most of what your product does then people will go cheap. If the performance is a lot better price will still be a consideration but a lot of people will pay the difference. But a lot of cost for a medium or less gain will make people look at other options and some of them will choose cheaper over performance, snd the greater the cost difference the greater number that will choose cost over performance. Better performance by itself isn’t a guarantee of success, you have to still be close to the average cost for your type of product. Look at the now out of stock original HomePod. I don’t think most people would deny it was better sounding than Alexa or Google, but it was 10 times the cost without many of those products other features.