One of the biggest surprises at Apple’s “California Streaming” on Tuesday was how completely wrong the ‘leakers’ were on the Apple Watch Series 7 design.
Yes, the Series 7 was supposed to usher in a new square-edged, iPad Pro- and iPhone 4/4S/5/12/13-esque design:
This is what Apple was really working on; a smooth, continuous, comfortable design:
Sarthak Dogra for India Today:
The Apple Watch Series 7 had been going on for months and had suggested a radical redesign for the smartwatch this time around. Speculation after speculation pointed at a flat-edge design for the Apple Watch, just as we had seen on the iPhones last year. The flat-edge design came, though not for the Apple Watch but for the iPad mini.
On the contrary to the popular expectation, the new Apple Watch remained largely the same to the older iteration, retaining its rounded-edge design and overall curvy form factor… However, the fact that the device did not sport the much-speculated redesign seems to be a huge win for team Apple. To understand the importance of this, know that renders of the new Apple Watch had already made their way to the internet. World-renowned Apple analysts and tipsters had ALL confirmed on the flat edge design. So Apple going the complete opposite way would have been a closely guarded secret, at least one that Apple finally managed to keep until it was time.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s plausible that Apple themselves engineered the square-edged design leak in order to track leakers inside the company. If so, we expect the leakers no longer inside the company, and may have been removed as soon as the bogus leaks hit the web earlier this year.
Head over to the Verge and you’ll get to read geniuses talking about how that WAS the design, but they changed it “at the last minute,” to this “emergency back-up design.”
Because yeah, this stuff gets throw together the night before the keynote or something.
There may be some truth that the iPhone-like design was THE design at some point, and it was (thankfully) changed. Apple Watch Series 7 is the only announced product at event that’s NOT available for pre-order this week, and shipping this month. The Watch page still sells existing lineup. No pre-order. Not even a date, except “available later this fall.”
On a separate note, it’s nice that Series 3 will remain in new lineup (along with SE). The longer it’s a “new” product, the longer WatchOS supports MY Series 3 with latest updates 😃 It’s also great that existing watch bands will fit Series 7, so customers’ existing collections don’t go to waste.
Any takers the leakers were fakers?
-Dis information brought to you by Apple.
This just goes to show that there’s more than one way to take a leak.
MDN, I hope your right.
Troll, identify, and remove the leakers.
Even a Chinese company made knock-offs of the “leaked” designs. LOL
Still missing the round faced dial but the bigger screen might actually get me this time and finally retire my original Apple Watch. It can sit next to the original iPhone and Mac Classic that are gathering dust on a shelf.
I miss the days when Steve would truly surprise us all and then follow up with ‘it’s available today’.
Remember Apple of the early 90s? Announce a product, you order it, if you’re LUCKY you get it in three months, and there’s a good chance Apple will have announced a better one, cheaper, in the meaning.
I really didn’t like the supposed new design. It just doesn’t look good. I’m happy Apple didn’t go that way. It’s did seem to make sense though when talking about a larger screen size. That square case would allow the screen to come closer to the edge than a rounded body. So I understand why they thought it would look that way.
But I’m happy it doesn’t.
Well thank Zeus for that, I said on here a while back such a change in design just didn’t make sense to me it would cheapen it, make it look much more bulky and like the boring clones, so this is an enormous relief from an aesthetic point of view.
The leaked false design appears to be one of Apple’s best mole-hunts ever. It also threw off the media, who took to this design hook, line and sinker. It stopped further digging to find out what iPhone 7 would be like, as this leak sufficed for lots of web hits and ad money.
Give it up to Apple on pulling this off so well. I think I’m not alone with wondering how a squared off, flattened frame, would actually help me not snag or damage my watch vs protect it. I really like how Apple has taken the previous design and pushed the envelope even further. Larger display, brighter display, smoothed even more so for a comfortable feel, that should just work with cuffs and long sleeve shirts all the more. Elegant. Well done Apple.
As for no new processor, it would appear Apple’s Johnny Srouji’s hardware tech team has their hands totally full, making sure they can provide all-new processors for:
– MacBooks & iMacs
– Mac Pro
– iPhones
– iPads
– AirPods
– Homepod
– Apple TV
– Apple Watch
– New Devices: Goggles, Glasses, Car
Yes, some of these are legacy or repurposed chipsets from the Mac or iPhone, but so many chips to continuously improve and new processors to design for new markets. It’s a lot. For the Apple Watch to utilize the same processor – which is MILES ahead of the competition anyway – for one two iterations in a row is not loss at all.
The end of Gold aluminum is the biggest change I can’t abide. Plus inside the Series 7 is the same processor as in the Series 6. So the upgrade from 6 to 7 is only a little bit bigger screen with a few exclusive faces and no more Gold aluminum. That’s a major fail in my opinion.
Why is that a fail? CPUs are not like this years’ fall fashion accessories. It cost literally billions to develop a new CPU. Sheesh, you act like those PC guys who rattle off their component spec lists as though that’s the only measure of success.