The leading analyst at KGI Securities, Ming Chi Kuo, revealed yesterday (14/8) some information about the next generation of Apple watch, throwing a bucket of cold water at those who expected design news and other innovations.
According to Kuo, the next generation of the watch will remain with two size options (38mm and 42mm) and will not have "big changes" to the design, something recently raised by the well-informed John Gruber of the blog. Daring fireball.
Regarding the news, the analyst corroborated what was found in the firmware of HomePod: for him, Apple Watch have cellular connectivity. Kuo, however, states that it would be possible to choose between options with or without LTE, as happens today with the iPad difference would be due to the lack of support for 3G connectivity (ie we will only have 4G / LTE).
One day before the HomePod firmware discovery, the Bloomberg He said the third generation of Watch would have this kind of connectivity and that the four largest US carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint) would already have agreements to support the watch.
Kuo bet that the new models will reach 8 to 9 million units sold in the second half of 2017, with the LTE model accounting for 35% to 40% of this total. Overall, it forecasts 17.5 to 18 million units sold in 2017, which means a 70% increase year on year.
Still, he says that in order to drive more sales, Apple would need a radical change in design, market the 5G connection, and have more FDA approval to improve health initiatives.
Today the CNBC He threw more wood at the stake, stating that the next Apple Watch would be announced alongside the "iPhone 8," at a special event in September sales would start in the same month.
As already suggested, the publication stated that the watch would have a "virtual" SIM (instead of a physical chip) and could be connected to the cellular network without the need for the iPhone nearby. And, perhaps as we could predict, the situation outside the US is not that easy: CNBC said Apple is looking for partnerships to sell Watch in Europe, but it seems that nothing has been finalized yet now imagine this drama here in Brazil.
So far, no invitations to the September event have been sent; Ma is expected to fire it by the end of August, that is, it's pretty close!
via MacRumors, 9to5Mac
