How did the Apple Watch Series 7 rumors get it so wrong?

Late last year and throughout this one, the reports, leaks, and rumors suggesting Apple Watch Series 7 would be getting a significant squared-edged redesign to match iPhone and iPro Pro were voluminous.

But they were wrong. This is what Apple unveiled this week:

Sami Fathi for MacRumors:

In the weeks and months leading up to the event, credible reports from reliable journalists and leakers suggested the new Apple Watch would be sporting a flat-edged design. The first time we heard of the 2021 Apple Watch getting a redesign was from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who stated in September of 2020, exactly a year before Apple’s “California streaming” event, that the new watch will receive a “significant redesign” in 2021 “at the earliest.”

The second time we heard and saw the alleged redesign for the Apple Watch was from Apple leaker Jon Prosser, who in May shared renders depicting an Apple Watch with fully flat-edges, similar to the ‌iPhone‌ and iPad… In reports and newsletters after, [Bloomberg News’ Mark] Gurman reported that the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ would feature flat-edges, corroborating Prosser’s previously showcased renders.

Of course, we’ll never know for certain what happened and whether Apple had last-minute design changes, or whether all of the previous rumors and reports were simply meant for the Series 8, rather than the Series 7. As stated above, Apple hasn’t provided any dates on availability or pricing for the ‌Apple Watch Series 7‌ and may do so during its rumored second event for the fall, now expected to headline new Apple silicon Macs.

MacDailyNews Take: Most probable explanation: the rumors weren’t wrong, just for the wrong series and year: The squared-edged Apple Watch Series 8 arrives in 2022 with an advanced processor not an S6 rebadged as an S7 (the response to COVID has disrupted many things, including chip manufacture. That, not “brain drain,” is why we see a bit of a pause in both the A15 and S7 this year).