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What Went Wrong: Apple Watch Series 7 Rumors Edition
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The thing is, if Apple had designed the series 7 in the rounded form from the beginning as their primary offering, there is almost a zero percent chance that they’d be delayed to the point of not having a launch date. When you factor in that the Watch played such a minor part in the presentation and that even their website has very little info about the 7 noted, doesn‘t make it seem like they’ve had this design locked and loaded for months. If feels more like they‘re now scrambling to get a plan B version into production and as would happen with a late stage failure, they can’t provide firm dates for delivery because there are now too many unknowns.
Even the curved-edge screen feels a bit off target for Apple. In the same way they never implemented a waterfall display on the iPhone, because from a functional standpoint there was little value in seeing small amounts of screen on the side of the phone, it makes even less sense to have the screen edge show anything. It’s taking what has clearly become a multi-functional device and adding some superfluous design gimmick. I know I’m getting old, but these types of product decisions provide zero benefit imho.
I believe Apple did this to catch the leakers. Apple will use the Series 7 watch design to add more health monitoring features next year. Besides, we are still forgetting the chip shortage situation, which has hampered even Apple; note the delays in releasing the M1X-based Mac models, the non-appearance of the AirPods 3, and no serious hardware updates to Apple TV.
Why? They still need batteries, semiconductors, and the new crystal/glass. Who knows where the hiccup is - the pandemic has screwed a lot of things up, and really the only thing apple can guarantee that it has plenty of is things it purchased more than a year ago (like wafer starts at the fabs) and not new things that came up in the last year (like the thicker glass).
I’m still thinking that the square-edged version was always next year’s model (maybe a year+ ago there was some consideration of using it this year but that was long ago decided in favor of the model they’re shipping), and the leakers got the year wrong.
Another possibility is always that the square-edged design is a throwaway design (maybe something they considered and rejected), that was intentionally leaked internally to see if/how the info got out - if you have a leak but can’t tell where it is, you “accidentally” mention to each suspect group a slight variation (maybe tell one group the exclusive color is pink, tell another group it’s blue, a third, green), and see which information surfaces outside. Next time, you do the same process, but narrowed down to / dividing up the group where last time’s info leaked). Rinse/repeat.
And there’s always the possibility of an echo chamber effect, with people reporting on what others have reported, and one initial leak ending up sounding like a chorus.
Another possibility is always that the square-edged design is a throwaway design (maybe something they considered and rejected), that was intentionally leaked internally to see if/how the info got out - if you have a leak but can’t tell where it is, you “accidentally” mention to each suspect group a slight variation (maybe tell one group the exclusive color is pink, tell another group it’s blue, a third, green), and see which information surfaces outside. Next time, you do the same process, but narrowed down to / dividing up the group where last time’s info leaked). Rinse/repeat.
And there’s always the possibility of an echo chamber effect, with people reporting on what others have reported, and one initial leak ending up sounding like a chorus.
you can’t trust rumors, they’re just that rumors/speculation especially from the biggest one who like to think he’s right Jon
Watched several times in the slowest speed YT allows. Optical illusion. You see a rounded watch go in the water with the swim stroke. It can't magically morph into the flat square rumored one ... and there's no cut, so not some editing error.
I’m not saying that Prosser is creditable. I don’t actually like him and he has got most things wrong over the last 12 months but he did admit thet he got it completely wrong unlike Gurman and I have to respect him for saying that and he still swears that he saw an actual Apple Watch with the squared off design
So if Apple had to scrap the real AW S7 like a lot of people are claiming and give us a slightly modified AW S6 as plan b, the question I have is will we have an iPad 3 situation? Will Apple release the new design as the AW S8 a year from now in September 2022 or if they resolve the issues with the design earlier, could we get a March or April 2022 release?
Of course there could be any number of components causing delays, but the case itself shouldn’t be an issue since it was only tweaked in size, the battery and electronics are mostly carryover, although the faster charging could be one hiccup. The screen tech hasn‘t changed, although the tighter edge fold and lens changes would seem to present the biggest potential for problems. But to get to a launch event and not have a on-sale date due to something like this screen / lens change seems odd to me.
Thank you! 110%. Apple is one of the biggest company’s in the world, anyone claiming they wouldn’t have their ducks in a row by the 11th hour is crazy. Prosser is just useless and that’s the bottom line.
Personally I’ve never been a fan of the squared, flat edge design on the watch (love it on iPhone)… but something just looks off with it, looks cheap, looks Android, remember the watch is not just a fitness device it’s a piece of jewellery. The current rounded design looks much more appealing.
I actually used to defend John Prosser, but he has kind of turned comical more than he has than an actual valid source. I do think that he will still be noted for his ‘predictions’ in the future, but he himself has to know that he has a damaged reputation that probably can’t be fixed, unless he predicts something big in the future that would be completely accurate. I’ll just follow Ming-Kuo from this point forward.
I really don’t think Apple redesigned the watch this year just to redesign it *again* next year for the flat edges.
This MR article implies that there’s only 2 possibilities: either the design changed last minute or that the squared design was a year off. It fails to mention a third possibility: that the “squared” rumor was never accurate to begin with and either came from an unreliable source that was then picked up by the leakers, or that Apple intentionally put out a fake leak to identify the source.
This MR article implies that there’s only 2 possibilities: either the design changed last minute or that the squared design was a year off. It fails to mention a third possibility: that the “squared” rumor was never accurate to begin with and either came from an unreliable source that was then picked up by the leakers, or that Apple intentionally put out a fake leak to identify the source.
1. The squared-off one looked incredibly ugly, dated, cheap, and uncomfortable to wear.
2. Why is this such an earth-shaking thing for a lot of you to care about? It’s being treated like an episode of Scooby Do, or the X-Files. Is this really some big crazy mystery that needs to be investigated? Seems like such a trivial thing. 😂
2. Why is this such an earth-shaking thing for a lot of you to care about? It’s being treated like an episode of Scooby Do, or the X-Files. Is this really some big crazy mystery that needs to be investigated? Seems like such a trivial thing. 😂
If you want to be technical, all Apple products are over priced. I mean, a lightning cable is $20 on their website. That’s ridiculous. The Apple Watch, no matter what generation is coming in the future, will always be over priced. That’s how Apple boosts its profit margin’s that it does.
In all of these flat edge design rumours, everyone forgot that the Apple Watch is a device that’s meant to be worn.
The last thing Apple is going to do is make it look even more like a gadget on your wrist.
I think it’s highly unlikely Apple will take on the flat / squared edge design despite that’s where all their other products are going because it doesn’t look very comfortable to wear, and screams “I have a piece of tech on my wrist!!!” (more than it already does).
Looking back at the redesign from the S3 to S4, Apple, they rounded everything off more and will probably continue with this trend of refining the existing design.
I do hope in the next major redesign they keep the rounded body, but have a chamfered / beveled edge with the glass pushed back into the body - the screen will almost never break if that’s the case.
Come back and quote me in a few years when I’m wrong! 😂
The last thing Apple is going to do is make it look even more like a gadget on your wrist.
I think it’s highly unlikely Apple will take on the flat / squared edge design despite that’s where all their other products are going because it doesn’t look very comfortable to wear, and screams “I have a piece of tech on my wrist!!!” (more than it already does).
Looking back at the redesign from the S3 to S4, Apple, they rounded everything off more and will probably continue with this trend of refining the existing design.
I do hope in the next major redesign they keep the rounded body, but have a chamfered / beveled edge with the glass pushed back into the body - the screen will almost never break if that’s the case.
Come back and quote me in a few years when I’m wrong! 😂