The iPhone maker might be working on an Apple Watch SE with a plastic case instead of aluminum, which would be lighter and cheaper to mass produce.
The redesign may reportedly coincide with the device’s tenth anniversary. “As the Apple Watch approaches its 10th birthday, the company is preparing a big update,” Mark Gurman wrote in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.
Swiss watchmaker Swatch was wildly successful with its plastic-cased watches back in the 1980s and 1990s, so Apple wouldn’t be exactly treading uncharted territory.
Apple Watch SE 3 may sport a plastic case
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:
The company is also working on a new version of its lower-cost Apple Watch SE model, which it last updated in 2022. One idea that the company has tested is swapping out the aluminum shell in favor of rigid plastic. Perhaps it’s looking to get the cost down to something that could better rival Samsung’s cheapest watch, the $199 Galaxy Watch FE. The SE currently starts at $249.
Constructing an iPhone SE chassis with plastic would presumably make the device much lighter than the current model, which uses an aluminum case in three color options, marketed as Midnight, Starlight and Silver.
Apple Watch Series 10 may get Ultra sizes
The upcoming Apple Watch Series 10 models (codenamed N217 and N218) will reportedly receive larger displays this year and have a thinner appearance, but the design won’t change much. “The change means Series 10 shoppers will be able to pick a screen that’s about as large as the one found on the Apple Watch Ultra.”
As for the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra 3, that model allegedly won’t get significant design changes this year. No Apple Watches coming down the pike this year will have the oomph to support the Apple Intelligence features, Gurman wrote.
Gurman also reiterated or updated his earlier claims:
- A new Apple Watch SE version might have a plastic shell
- “Major milestones” reached in developing wrist glucose monitoring
- A blood-pressure feature may not come this year due to reliability issues
- Sleep apnea tracking is even further along due to a legal dispute with Masimo
- 3D-printing watch chassis tested to speed up production and use less material
Do you remember the “unapologetic” iPhone 5c?
Apple experimented with plastic housing for the iPhone with the September 2013 release of the iPhone 5c, which was redesigned using a plastic housing strengthened by a steel band. With the white, black, blue, green, yellow and pick color finishes offered, the iPhone 5c became the first colorful iPhone.
It received lots of heat from some writers for designing a plasticky phone. But Apple’s executives anticipated this would happen, as Jony Ive-narrated promotional videos described the handset as “beautifully, unapologetically plastic.”