With only last year’s initial release going, there’s been some debate about whether the Apple Watch Ultra will receive annual updates for devices like wearables, or if it’s something that will be updated every two to three years, like the AirPods.
While dates 2024 through 2025 have been debated for a successor to the flagship smartwatch, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently predicted that we’ll actually see an Apple Watch Ultra 2 this year, and now it’s backed up by trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
in Posting on MediumKuo describes the new wearable as “2H23” — or the second half of 2023. While that could mean any moment of tomorrow, realistically, that suggests it could be at least the wearable alongside the iPhone 15 in September.
The date is mentioned only in passing, with Kuo more interested in Apple’s manufacturing process, which will apparently 3D-print some of the watch’s titanium mechanical parts.
He writes: “Although mechanical parts currently made by 3D printing still have to go through a back-end CNC process, it can still improve production time and reduce production cost.”
What mechanical parts can it be? Well, on the current Apple Watch Ultra, the mechanical parts consist of the digital crown, side button, and action button. Although of course the second generation device can adopt more mechanical parts which we don’t know anything about.
However, it’s not likely to be all that different from the $799 wearable you can buy today. Apple’s upgrades tend to be on the iterative side, especially when there’s only a 12-month gap between generations.
It might be nice if the newer version simply ships with a faster chip, and whatever additional health sensors the Apple Watch Series 9 arrives with, just so that it isn’t advanced in the features department with a cheaper model.
One of the rumors that has surfaced is that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will feature a larger screen, from 1.92 inches to a giant 2.1 inch panel. While this would likely allow for a larger battery, it’s not something everyone will be happy about, given the current model’s bulkiness.
However, the rumor of the 2.1-inch screen is linked specifically to a flip-up Micro-LED panel for 2024, so the Watch that launches alongside the iPhone 15 will likely look more familiar. If Kuo and Gurman are right, we should be sure of that in a couple of months.
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