Apple Watch 2 Release Date and Rumors: June 13 Release Possible For An Impending 'S' Upgrade
Wearables aren't hot market yet but Apple is clearly ahead of the pack with its Watch. New rumors suggest the company is going to launch a second iteration of its wearable to further explore this growing market.
Watch 2 was expected to be revealed at Apple's March 21 event but the Cupertino company only released bands in numerous colors. Tim Cook however claimed the Watch was doing robust sales but stopped short of saying when a second edition of Watch could be unveiled. Most reports have pegged the release for fall but Apple's WWDC could also be a potential launch platform.
Speculated features of Watch 2 include inclusion of the faster ARM Cortex A32 processor, health sensors, GPS and Bluetooth connectivity among others. A facetime camera is another feature on the wish list. The Watch relies heavily on the iPhone for its calibration and playing music which is also expected to be addressed in the second edition.
Among other less likely but significant improvements could be introduction of a modular band that allows attachments of modules to improve functionality of Watch.
Reports of these updates notwithstanding, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that this year's Watch will only be an 'S' upgrade without any design upgrades. He had also predicted that Apple Watch sales have fallen short of expectations at around 10.5 million due to the immature market. According to Kuo, the sales of Apple wearable will not exceed 7.5 million units in 2016.
In other Watch related news, some developers are reporting loss in functionality of the mysterious port at the bottom of the Watch. Reserve Strap, a company that makes bands to provide additional battery power, reported loss of functionality of the port.
"In recent WatchOS releases, Apple made the decision to remove all functionality from Apple Watch's accessory port thereby blocking Reserve Strap's ability to charge the Apple Watch," the company said on its website.
