Apple Watch 7 – 6 new variants effectively confirmed

Recent Eurasian (EEC) filings have shown that Apple will release 6 new variants of their Series 7 watch and they are numbered A2473, A2474, A2475, A2476, A2477, and A2478.

6 is the ‘normal’ number of variants and 6 are the number we have this year.

Last year we had 12 new variants and that, in a nutshell, confirmed the Watch SE.

By the same token, the bottom line taken from this information is the very high likelihood that we will see the usual regional and LTE variants of the Watch 7 with no Watch SE Gen 2 version. This confirms earlier information that the Watch SE will iterate less frequently and the next generation of that will be 2022 (or later). Effectively this also confirms that the Watch 3 will keep being sold until the SE Series eventually replaces it.

Existing Apple Watch  Models

Last year we could draw various conclusions from the pairs of numbers used for filing but that is not the case this year as all 6 numbers are consecutive.

Take Out

The Apple Watch 7 will come pre-loaded with watchOS 8.

I’ve been using watchOS 8 beta a lot for the last month on the Watch Series 6 and there are numerous subtle changes as well as the headline new features that have already been announced. In a way, the most interesting one is the RESPIRATION RATE data that is now sensed from the accelerometer. Apple tends to add at least one new ‘thing’ that is sensed and I strongly suspect that RESPIRATION RATE will be it…not very exciting.

We’ve also had backdoor confirmation that the existing Watch 6 might not support Precision Finding (UWB) with Find My, so that feature is a shoo-in for Series 7. There are a few other things that can be extrapolated too and I cover them here, however, the biggest change will likely be a changed case style to match the more angular edges of the iPhone 12 (above), it’s possible that the crown could be replaced by a slider button of some sort to match the iPhone 12 aesthetics…but I doubt it.