Apple to Unveil New Apple Watch Bands in March, Second Generation Apple Watch This Fall?

Apple is planning to unveil new bands and software for the Apple Watch in March but won't unveil a second generation Apple Watch until this fall, says 9to5Mac. The report backtracks from the site's earlier prediction that a second generation smartwatch would launch at the event.

TechCrunch first suggested that Apple wasn't planning to launch a full update to the Apple Watch this spring.

I’ve now heard a bit more that suggests that Apple might ship a minor revision of the Apple Watch that includes a FaceTime camera and not much else — but still that it would not be a full “Watch 2.0” with casing changes and major improvements.

9to5Mac now says that "The March Apple Watch update is unlikely to include new hardware functionality, but Apple is said to be preparing to formally release the WatchOS 2.2 update, which went into the developer beta stage earlier this month, alongside the new variations."

It's also said that the current watch will get more band color options, bands made out of new materials, and possibly additional partnerships similar to the one Apple has with Hermes.

Apple's event could happen during the week of March 14th. Other devices rumored for launch include a 4-inch iPhone 5SE and possibly a new iPad Air 3. An iOS developer tells the site that it started seeing signs of new iPads (iPad 6,3 and iPad 6,4) starting in November.


It now appears likely that the second generation 'Apple Watch 2' won't get announced until around September. Please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.

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