According to Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, which knows this stuff inside out, Apple's Asian suppliers are now starting to receive orders for the components that will be used in a second-generation Apple Watch.
Samsung, along with other overseas manufacturers like Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, have reportedly secured component orders for the Apple Watch 2, which one analyst believes could be up to forty percent thinner and debut at Apple's annual developers conference this summer.
Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White, who is currently touring component makers in China, wrote in a note to clients Friday, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, that Apple will unveil a forty percent thinner second-generation Apple Watch at WWDC this summer, its annual pilgrimage for developers.
“We walked away with the sense that the Apple Watch refresh will not occur in September with the iPhone 7,” reads White's analysis.
Instead, it's “more likely” to occur within the next 2-3 months and “thus we believe an unveiling at WWDC in June makes sense”. Oh, and they also “believe” that the Apple Watch 2 “could be” twenty to as much as forty percent thinner than the current one.
It certainly doesn't take a genius to figure out that the next Apple Watch is going to be thinner than the first model.
Following a TechCrunch report which alleged that we might not see a second-generation Apple Watch released in March, as previously rumored, Taiwan-based DigiTimes reported Tuesday that the device is scheduled to enter mass production in the second quarter of 2016.
In addition, sources told the publication that Apple Watch 2 volumes will not be high as Apple's reduced the original device's shipment forecast for 2016 down further from its estimate in the fourth quarter of 2015 amid weaker than expected shipments.
Don't get your hopes up for new Apple Watch hardware in March, reports TechCrunch. Citing several sources with knowledge of the company's plans, the outlet said on Friday that it believes the oft-rumored March unveiling is a bit too soon for Watch 2.0.
The scoop goes directly against a recent report that the second-gen Apple Watch is set to begin production later this month. It also contradicts a December report from the reliable 9to5Mac, which said that Apple had been planning a Watch event for March.
A new supply chain rumour from Taiwanese outlet Commercial Times claims that a second-generation Apple Watch is scheduled to hit Quanta’s conveyor belts in the coming weeks, ahead of a rumoured media event in March 2016.
Quanta is an Apple supplier that builds the current-generation Apple Watch so it's not surprising they have been commission to assemble the forthcoming model. However, the iPhone maker could rely on additional partners to build the second-generation device, including Foxconn, Inventec and Wistron, as per the report.
Citing sources with knowledge of the plans, 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple is planning a media event in March of next year to unveil a second-generation Apple Watch, with the possible announcement of a rumored four-inch iPhone refresh in tow as well.
If true, the company would start shipping the second-generation watch in April, a year following the original model's debut in April of 2015.
The Apple Watch may have been met with a muted response from critics (and it's still being rolled out around the world), but that's not stopping Tim Cook & Co. from working on a next-generation model.
According to an Apple supplier, a second-generation Apple Watch is already in the works.
It's said to be released late in the second quarter of next year, a little more than a year after the original model’s debut. As reported by Taiwanese media, Barry Lam, the chairman of Quanta Computer, the company that assembles the Apple Watch, said during an investor meeting that the Apple Watch 2 is being developed, shockingly, as we speak.
9to5Mac recently learned from sources in the know that a second-generation Apple Watch will integrate a tiny camera into the top bezel for conducting FaceTime video conversations from your wrist. The report, short on details, has left many questions unanswered and prompted watchers to scratch their head in curiosity.
The logic goes: if Apple couldn't develop a non-protruding camera for the latest iPhones, how on Earth is the company supposed to fit one into such a tiny wrist-worn device?
Having faced the very same engineering challenges, rival Samsung has taken the easy route by embedding a camera into a Gear's band rather than the smartwatch's body.
Though not the prettiest of solutions, it is in fact functional—to a certain extent. But can you really imagine a camera bulge on an Apple Watch band? Yeah, me neither. Thankfully, Apple appears to have shrunk a high-resolution camera into a tiny module that could fit inside an Apple Watch.
Contrary to speculative reporting, a next-generation Apple Watch will not switch to a round screen instead as some watchers have been hoping. Moreover, the device's screen resolution will remain unchanged from the first-generation model.
According to sources in Asian supply chain who spoke to Taiwanese media, it does however appear that the Apple Watch 2 display will be a tad thinner in order to accommodate a bigger battery.
While the Apple Watch has yet to expand to more markets, Apple is already hard at work on a second-generation model. Reportedly due for release next year, the Apple Watch 2 should elevate your experience with a built-in FaceTime video camera for videoconferencing and improved Wi-Fi features for greater iPhone independence.
Interestingly enough, the device is said to retain the battery life of the original model, at lest according to sources familiar with Apple's plans who spoke with 9to5Mac.