Apple Watch 7 faster, Apple Watch 8 Explorer, Apple Watch SE2 2022

Watch out Garmin…Apple is coming for your Fenix sales…eventually…maybe…perhaps.

There has been a relatively big and seemingly reliable leak on Apple’s plans for the Watch 7 to be released in September and, incredibly, on some of the plans for the subsequent series in 2022.

Here’s what’s leaked…and I have to say for once it’s plausible. This time around the leaks says that Apple’s Blood Glucose monitoring won’t be ready for ‘several more years’ which, in my opinion, was always obvious. Some of the Apple Fan sites can get a little too carried away with their belief in Apple’s ability to lead innovation…Apple is a follower but one who follows properly.

Apple Watch 7 (September 2021)

Here’s what’s been ‘confirmed’ so far for this year

• Faster processor – The current 64-bit Dual-Core processor was first introduced on the AW4 and is unchanged on AW SE, AW5 and AW6. It makes sense that this year will see a faster replacement, perhaps even quad-core.
• Improved UWB Connectivity- This is an intriguing leak. UWB IS already on the Apple Watch 6 but not on the SE model. So I was somewhat surprised that Apple Find My does not (yet) use UWB Precision Finding on the AW6 to find Items like the Apple AirTag. I assumed that ability would be added later this year but maybe the existing UWB on AW6 is only able to support the basic unlocking of hotel rooms and cars (as has already announced for watchOS 8)? I previously assumed that Precision Finding would be introduced to AW6 on watchOS 8…now it might be that I need to buy an AW7 to check that out.
• Updated screen – It looks like the screen tech is to be changed to reduce the number of laminations used (which is probably irrelevant to most of us) but also changed so that the screen borders might be thinner or, put another way, there could be a slightly larger usable screen area and an increased resolution (pixel density will be unchanged) or, more likely, the screen resolution and size will be unchanged and the overall form factor made very slightly smaller.
  

Apple Watch 8 (September 2022)

Hmm. Another new watch next year. You surprise me!

Apple usually adds a new sensor capability with each model. Apple Watch 7, kinda, will get a respiration sensor via software on the new oHR sensor from 2020. Going on past trends, we should expect new sensor hardware to follow on AW8 and the leak confirms this

• It looks like Watch 8 will finally get the body temperature sensor which I had predicted/hoped would surface this year. This is an important sensor that can be used for illness detection, sleep stage and ovulation tracking. Time will tell if this gets medical-grade certification. Nevertheless, we have already seen the announcement of breathing rate detection with accelerometers in watchOS 8 and the addition of body temperature is just another sensor input that will be used to refine Apple’s Health algorithms. Apple is slowly ticking off, one by one, each individual physiological measurements that it intends to measure.
• Fitbit Sense already has skin temperature measurement.

Apple Watch SE gen 2 (September 2022)

Confirmation that Apple will iterate the SE model in 2022 logically means that it won’t happen this year!

This also sounds a death-knell for Apple Watch 3 which I predict will vanish when the SE gen 2 is released and as the SE gen 1 price slips to fill the price point currently occupied by the AW3.

It will be interesting to see how Apple continues to differentiate the SE model from the more expensive variants, currently, it is the always-on screen, optical sensor, UWB and battery performance that set them apart.

Apple Watch “Adventurer/Explorer” (September 2022)

There is going to be an outdoors variant of the Apple Watch supposedly targeting Casio, Garmin Instinct and, much less so, Garmin Fenix.

This has been reported a few times already and the leak surfaces again via different sources. I don’t know why anyone is getting too excited about this as the Apple Watch is simply not going to be able to take the hardcore nature of what a Garmin Fenix can do. However, interestingly, I wrote this piece explaining that the Apple Watch 6 is already largely capable of competently supporting outdoors mini-adventures. It just needs a protective covering, decent strap and a judicious choice of app and you are ready to go and explore. So the new Apple Watch 8 Explorer Edition is highly likely to be little more than a ruggedised hardware offering. And even then remember that the Apple Watch 6 ALREADY comes with Gorilla glass if you get anything but the cheapest variant…just sayin’ that not too much needs to be added and Apple is good at adding ‘not too much’ and over-hyping it.

Must Read: Apple Watch 6 For Hiking, Outdoors, Adventures – Accessories and apps you can get right NOW!

• Read More: Turn your Apple Watch 6/SE into an outdoors Garmin-like mini-adventure tool
• Read More on Better Sports Apps: iSmoothRun, RunGap, WorkoutDoors
• Read More on Sporting Watch Face Failures: Here, Apple vs. Garmin

Take Out

I’m falling into the trap of getting excited about the drip-drip progress of the Apple Watch. Still, it’s a strategy that patently works so maybe my excitement about a new sensor here and a new software feature there is founded on some reality.

Here are predictions and leaks for pretty much every other GPS sports device available right now

new Garmin, Polar, Suunto for 2024 Sports Watch & Bike Computer Update: All new & current Bike/Run/Tri/Fitness Models with GPS. Rumors + dates for all Garmin Gadgets & Wearables, Plus Apple, Wahoo,

Source: Bloomberg