Apple’s big keynote event is this evening and the iPhone 7 is likely to be star of the show. But most commentators also expect a major update to the Apple Watch, in the shape of the Apple Watch 2. So what can you expect Apple to reveal?
Apple Watch design and versions
Don’t expect too many changes to Apple Watch’s design. Potentially it could be a little thinner, although that leads to tradeoffs with battery life, but we’d expect radical changes to happen next year rather than this one.
However, we do expect Apple to rationalise the versions of the Watch, and we expect a quiet but dignified exit for the £8,000 gold Apple Watch Edition.
Apple Watch 2 processor
Apple is likely to introduce an updated processor with Apple Watch 2, called the Apple S2. This will (of course) be faster than its predecessor, but it will also include a GPS module allowing the Watch to track location without users having to carry their iPhone too.
Why does this matter? Essentially, it’s so that fitness and running apps can accurately track your run or walk without you having to bring the phone along too. Although Apple Watch can currently interpolate your movement into a rough idea of your run, it can’t do it with any degree of accuracy – and as fitness and health are important for the success of Apple Watch a GPS is a solid addition.
Apple Watch 2 performance
In short, we expect Apple Watch 2 performance to be significantly improved over its predecessor. App performance has been most people’s number one complaint about the Apple Watch, and developers have been disappointed with how little they can do with the performance the original watch is capable of. More performance will make both users and developers happy.
Apple Watch health features
Other than the aforementioned GPS, we don’t expect any major new sensors to be included in the Apple Watch 2. Although there have been rumours the company is keen to add sensors for blood pressure, temperature and a whole slew of other health-related data, we expect that most of these will wait until next year.
Apple Watch 2 Software - watchOS 3
One thing that’s certain to arrive with Apple Watch 2 is watchOS 3. We’ve already taken a look at what’s in watchOS 3, but to recap it’s primary focus for users is on speeding up app performance. Gone is the rarely-used favourite friends, activated by pressing the side button. In its place comes a “Dock” where you can put your most commonly used apps, and which keeps those apps in memory to make them open and run significantly faster.
Apple Watch 2 price
Apple is fairly predictable when it comes to pricing, and Apple Watch 2 is likely to follow the same familiar pattern as most of its products. We’d expect Apple Watch 2 to cost exactly the same as the original Apple Watch but we also think that Apple will keep a single model of the old version in the line up at a reduced “entry level” price.
Conclusions
There’s no doubt that iPhone 7 will be the star of the show this evening. However, it’s well worth paying plenty of attention to what Apple does with the Watch. It will tell us whether this is going to be the company’s next big thing, or if, like Apple TV, it will remain “a hobby” for a while yet.