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New Apple Watch to Launch in Fall 2017 With Improved Battery Life But No Major Design Changes

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Apple's third-generation Apple Watch is expected to be unveiled in the third quarter of 2017 and will focus on improving battery life and overall performance, according to a new report out of China.

On Tuesday, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) claimed the next iteration of the wearable device will be manufactured by Taiwan-based Quanta, which was also responsible for the production of Apple's first and second-generation smartwatch.

apple-watch-series-2-2-800x395.jpg

Citing market watchers with knowledge of Quanta's plans, the paper said improving battery life is the manufacturer's "main task", but beside general performance improvements, the device's other hardware would not see much change. Quanta declined to comment on the report, calling it "market speculation".

The claims represent the first tentative indication of Apple's launch timeline for its third-generation Apple Watch, pointing to a possible fall unveiling of the new wearable alongside this year's iPhone 8.

The report also narrows down Apple's rumored ambitions for the third-generation device, with previous reports suggesting it could introduce the first significant design changes for the timepiece, such as more advanced sensors that Apple was not able to include in the first and second-generation models.

Other previous rumors have claimed Apple plans to add cellular connectivity to the next Apple Watch, after battery life concerns prevented the feature from being included in the Series 2 device. Also suggested is a potential switch to micro-LED displays, which are thinner and lighter than current screens and offer improved color gamut and brightness.

Filed patents by Apple show other possibilities for future versions of Apple Watch, including the ability to determine a user's identity through their heart rate and unique cardio rhythms. Future models could also potentially integrate haptic feedback into Apple Watch bands, freeing up internal space for other components and allowing for a thinner body design.

(Via DigiTimes.)

Article Link: New Apple Watch to Launch in Fall 2017 With Improved Battery Life But No Major Design Changes
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/03/apple-watch-3-fall-2017-improved-battery-life/
Better battery life would surely attract new Apple Watch buyers.

Most people I know balk at 1 day battery life and it puts them off purchasing.

Last 10 days I've been wearing a Samsung Gear S3 and it genuinely averages 3.5 days on a single charge. The hardware is incredible, only problem is a lack of third party apps.
 
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plexdk said:
im happy with my 1st gen, until we see some design changes, or at least some radical app changes, that this watch can't do.
Click to expand...

Yup.

That's why this report does not sound right: Apple would leave literally billions on the table from people that would otherwise upgrade (very happy with my Gen 0 Watch).

On the other hand, I have no idea about how the Watch may be redesigned (forget round shape), and Apple dislikes change for the sake of change.
 
They are moving at a glacial pace with this product when you compare the situation with Gear S2 and Gear S3 watches which have variants that already offer cellular connectivity without killing the battery. My sport edition of the Gear S2 runs two full days on a charge with 3G. My husband's Frontier Gear S3 runs a full day and has LTE as well as a large rugged looking real watch appearance a lot of men on this forum say they miss on an Apple Watch.

But where they are missing out on is watch faces. The Samsung store has a wide variety of interesting and useful watch faces ranging from free to $1.99 for a "variety pack" with one basic face that can be recolored. Some watch faces do drain the battery faster but most developers as well as reviewers will warn about that. The customer can then decide if they still want the face or not, like the adults we are.

Anyway, in addition to making money on bands, they could be making some money on watch faces like they do for iMessage sticker packs. It would certainly make the Apple Watch more interesting.
 
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The one thing that really bothers me about it is the bezels on the screen. It's a device that needs edge to edge screen. Much of watchOS seems to be designed so that it has a black bg to make the bezels less obvious but it just means that everything has to be black all the time which is quite limited. The screen is also quite small compared to the amount of space the watch case takes up.

I also agree with thinner (although it doesn't feel too chunky when wearing it) and better battery.
 
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Given the lengthy exposition by Jony Ive around the original design rationale, I'd think it'd be a long time before Apple could plausibly change its basic form. Quoting him, "When a huge part of the function is lists, a circle doesn’t make any sense." Any other shape can't suddenly make sense.
 
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Maybe this rumour is to muddy the water for purchasers, as it will be interesting to see what watches surface at the CES next week.
...I think I might just be getting sick of the constant upgrade to Apple products - will i buy a Watch 2 that was released only a few months ago, or wait to now have the possibility of a new version later this year that would address the low battery problem.
 
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ryanwarsaw said:
What would people like to see different in the design? Make it circular?
Click to expand...

I would like it to be thinner, which is a little funny considering most Apple products are on the edge of being to thin. But the watch would look much nicer if it was thinner.

As for being circular. I am going to say HECK no. I really think a circular screen on a smart watch is just freaking stupid and backwards. There is a reason why watches were circular and why the watch face is circular, but that does not apply now that we have moved away from mechanical watches.

Why would we be hindered by that when there is no reason for it? A circular screen is just awful for display information, it's not good for anything other than telling the time. So I really hope this never happens.

Other thing I want to see the watch get is a 4G connection. I'd love to see a future where maybe the watch can replace the phone for certain people. Pair it with AirPods and you got all the phone functionality. Then you could use it with other devices like the Mac, iPad, or a new iPod Touch. When you are on any of those devices the watch pushes the phone functionality on to them. Would be an interesting place to arrive at with this technology.

But battery life needs to really improve. The Serie 2 is pretty good, I even wear mine when I sleep. Only charging when I shower in the morning and eat breakfast. However if you add an always on cel connection to it that will change quickly.
 
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DanTheAppleMan said:
How many people are actually interested in upgrading their watch when a new version comes out so frequently?
Click to expand...

Not so much about people upgrading as it is about bringing in new people.

Doing a watch Series 3 in 2017 also allows them to drop the Series 2 into the lower price point, which can appeal to even more people as they are water resistant.
 
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First, it's Digitimes.(For what it's worth.)

As of now, I'm not believing this article. Otherwise, this shows Apple is quickly over lapping product Watch releases that trump the other rather quickly, which isn't making sense at the moment. Aside from consumer exhaustion, I don't foresee a major revamp until Spring 2018 With hopefully a redesign, perhaps offering circular, a larger screen variant, etc.
 
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Maybe a bigger screen in simmilair sized body would be a nice upgrade, same for iPhone.

Otherwise the Series 2 is already a great upgrade from the original with the speed, GPS and waterproofing. The real game changer might be making it more iPhone independent.
 
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As someone who actually owns an apple watch I would say that thinner would be fine, but really its not needed. Longer battery life would be good but again, not needed. The watch battery lasts much longer than my iPhone 6 does. I charge the battery every night and the watch is natural to charge at the same time. Charged my phone last night in the 40% range and my watch was still in the mid 70%s. All they need is a killer app and more horsepower to to run things. Perhaps a partnership with the big automakers to allow the watch to be used as a smart key
 
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