I don’t think it’s a last minute change. Apple didn’t need to announce AW7 if they weren’t ready. No one forced them to do so. And it’s not the first product they didn’t give a exact release date. Eg: AirPower.
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What Went Wrong: Apple Watch Series 7 Rumors Edition
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It's possible it was planned for the series 7 and then at some point they decided to scratch it for the series 8 instead. I fully expect to see the flat sides next year.
This is what I think too. I would not qualify the S7 as a new design, but the bigger screen that goes up to the edges would have to be completely flattened to fit a boxy apple watch case. I doubt we will see this in the near future
In which report did Kuo say it would have a flat edge? I don't remember reading that, just that he said Watch 7 would get a form factor redesign (which it did), but I could have missed it.
I don't buy the "changed the design at the last minute" excuse.
Its either a future design or a red herring. You can't expect last minute design changes like this on an Apple product and still hope to have millions of units ready for consumers within a few months (at worst).
Darth Tulhu
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As "feminine" as I find the Apple Watch shape to be, and as much as I was looking forward to a square-edged, more "masculine" shape, I know that hard edges don't feel good against skin.
It's one of the reasons why I prefer the iPhone 11/Xr design vs my 12 Pro. The newer iPhones look better, I think, but feel worse in hand.
At least now I can take the Watch plunge if next year turns out the flat rumors are true and not miss out on hopefully too many nice features.
It's one of the reasons why I prefer the iPhone 11/Xr design vs my 12 Pro. The newer iPhones look better, I think, but feel worse in hand.
At least now I can take the Watch plunge if next year turns out the flat rumors are true and not miss out on hopefully too many nice features.
Starting production from scratch? Sure. But the curved case is a mature design has been in use for years at this point with suppliers probably needing minimal adjustments to tooling. Of course the issue might also have had something to do with changing the internals to fit it into the flat case.
A square flat slab hard corners & edge design for the watch makes very little sense, it would be universally disliked as it would not slip in and out of shirts as easily when people looked at their watch and/or interacted with it. So, I am super happy this was proven wrong and hope Apple never goes that design route with the watch. But they might. The first rounded over phones and tablets were great and ergnomic, then we needed chamfers, then flat, then we go back to some round ones and some flat ones ... what was old will be new again.
Many just assumed the watch would follow the flat edge design started with the iPad Pro in 2018 & continued with iPhone 12 in 2020. Strange considering Apple hardware has never all conformed to one basic look. The rumour mill also claimed the S7 chip would be new. Fact is the watch chips run on a 2 model cycle since being dual core. S2 & S3 are basically same as is S4 & S5 and now S6 & S7. Funny how these analysts didn't pick up on that.
doubtful they will ditch the small redesign in the 7 a year later. I'd say Watch 9 at the earliest.
Well, whatever, what I want to know is when is it going to be released. This fall means until December 20th at midnight. I hate it when they don’t specify an exact date.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
Suspended
Conclusion: We do know two things for sure, Prosser and Kuo know nothing. Sweet FA.
Yes I agree. I can't believe such a minor design and spec upgrade has caused such a delay. It's like a 'S' iPhone upgrade with which they can't even give a launch date or even the full specs. Must be a last minute change.
Doesn't mean Prosser et al were right but this launch smells like a last minute Plan B.
Well, they don’t seem to have enough for preorders to open and the bulk of new models are usually made via production crunch just months before the launch. Apple doesn’t even have a preorder date this year (“fall”) which is very unusual. So not completely unlikely that Apple had two designs ready and switched to the easier one when it looked like the new design wouldn’t have good enough yield.
People are mad about the shape, I think the more important fail was regarding new sensors. Imagine a pin-prick-free glucose monitor! That would have been a coup. Too bad, although the later rumors suggested it wouldn’t be this year anyway.
So what if rumors are grossly wrong. Reading rumors of upcoming products is only entertainment anyway. Makes zero difference if rumors are correct or not. Actually it's more fun when the rumors are totally wrong.
I remain confused as to why anyone finds Prosser to be credible. Using his system, I can say that it will rain somewhere sometime during the next year and be considered a leading meteorologist.
It was definitely a last-minute change. And the proof of this is an Apple’s phone series 7 introduction video where accidentally they showed the new watch design on a swimmer. You can see it for a few seconds.
That is definitely not what was released and clearly matched Prosser’s renders.
And it’s in Apple’s own series 7 promo video
They definitely changed plans last minute (really a few months but yeah)
That is definitely not what was released and clearly matched Prosser’s renders.
And it’s in Apple’s own series 7 promo video
They definitely changed plans last minute (really a few months but yeah)
I don’t like Prosser, but we have to give him some credit. He leaked accurately many renders in the past, like AirTag and AirPods Max. The man is annoying for sure, but it’s unfair to say that he has 0 credibility regarding leaks
Apple Watch 7 vs 6 was a real non event , unlike iPhone 12 vs 13 which had some real tangible improvements
To say nothing of the the past year and a half putting a crimp in things. Maybe they had to decide what got the limited resources available to them and in the end that was the iPad mini redesign and the iPhone.
This may have been the watch version of the teardrop shaped iPhone that also never transpired.