'Apple Watch Series 6' expected to have better waterproofing, wireless connectivity
Work on the "Apple Watch Series 6" is already underway, with Ming-Chi Kuo expecting the new model to have faster wireless connectivity, better performance, and be more water resistant.
According to a note to investors written by Ming-Chi Kuo seen by AppleInsider, switching to a new motherboard interconnect material is the key to the improvements. Kuo has spoken about liquid crystal polymer (LCP) before as it pertains to antennae, but this is the first time that he's included it in a technology for the Apple Watch.
Apple's current crop of Apple Watch models is water resistant to 50 meters. The last improvement in waterproofing was in the Apple Watch Series 2, and it isn't presently clear how LCP interconnects even to the Digital Crown would help this waterproofing at all.
LCP is a low-cost organic flexible substrate and has a few unique electrical properties that make it desirable for conductors like motherboard interconnects and antennae. It behaves consistently across the entire radio frequency range, and has a very low resistance making it useful for 5G technologies in an iPhone and for small connection points between components, like what is required in an Apple Watch. It also has a low thermal expansion coefficient, making it stable across temperatures.
Kuo has said that the material will be used in the so-called "iPhone SE 2" as well as in the "iPhone 12" families for different uses. Where Murata was expected to provide the antenna technology for the iPhone, Kuo predicts that Avary and Flexium Interconnect will be the primary beneficiaries of Apple's adoption in the "Apple Watch Series 6."
Kuo's other predictions make sense. Apple is using Wi-Fi 6 in the iPhone, and a shift to it in the Apple Watch would be logical. Additionally, the S5 chip varied from the S4 only in how much flash storage it contained and a new compass, so an improvement in processing power in the 2020 Apple Watch makes sense as well.
Others believe that the "Apple Watch Series 6" will shift away from OLED to a microLED display. A previous report has also claimed that sleep tracking will be added to the Apple Watch in 2020, but battery life may have to improve for that.
Sleep tracking could be implemented as an extension of the existing Bedtime feature that was introduced in iOS 10. This is a very basic alarm that tells you what time to go to bed if you say how long you want to sleep and when you need to get up. However, it also integrates with the Health app to show at least some details of your sleep history.
According to a note to investors written by Ming-Chi Kuo seen by AppleInsider, switching to a new motherboard interconnect material is the key to the improvements. Kuo has spoken about liquid crystal polymer (LCP) before as it pertains to antennae, but this is the first time that he's included it in a technology for the Apple Watch.
Apple's current crop of Apple Watch models is water resistant to 50 meters. The last improvement in waterproofing was in the Apple Watch Series 2, and it isn't presently clear how LCP interconnects even to the Digital Crown would help this waterproofing at all.
LCP is a low-cost organic flexible substrate and has a few unique electrical properties that make it desirable for conductors like motherboard interconnects and antennae. It behaves consistently across the entire radio frequency range, and has a very low resistance making it useful for 5G technologies in an iPhone and for small connection points between components, like what is required in an Apple Watch. It also has a low thermal expansion coefficient, making it stable across temperatures.
Kuo has said that the material will be used in the so-called "iPhone SE 2" as well as in the "iPhone 12" families for different uses. Where Murata was expected to provide the antenna technology for the iPhone, Kuo predicts that Avary and Flexium Interconnect will be the primary beneficiaries of Apple's adoption in the "Apple Watch Series 6."
Kuo's other predictions make sense. Apple is using Wi-Fi 6 in the iPhone, and a shift to it in the Apple Watch would be logical. Additionally, the S5 chip varied from the S4 only in how much flash storage it contained and a new compass, so an improvement in processing power in the 2020 Apple Watch makes sense as well.
Others believe that the "Apple Watch Series 6" will shift away from OLED to a microLED display. A previous report has also claimed that sleep tracking will be added to the Apple Watch in 2020, but battery life may have to improve for that.
Sleep tracking could be implemented as an extension of the existing Bedtime feature that was introduced in iOS 10. This is a very basic alarm that tells you what time to go to bed if you say how long you want to sleep and when you need to get up. However, it also integrates with the Health app to show at least some details of your sleep history.
Comments
That said, I've swam with my Watch since Series 0 with no issues.
Your anecdote doesn't alter the fact that the watch isn't warranted against water damage. If her watch failed due to water damage, it would not be covered under warranty. She swims with her watch at her own risk. I seriously doubt Apple or any of their competitors will ever warrant their wearables against water damage because they know the water resistance isn't permanent.
the problem is that none of these devices, by anyone, tells just how deep the device was when water seeped in. How does Apple, Samsung, or anybody else know that you stayed within the rating?
i see iPhones tested to 30 feet without a problem. But that doesn’t mean that every iPhone will be ok at that depth. When I was diving, 50 meters was below the normal depth of a dive. I could get special mixes and go further, but that was a hassle. So 50 meters is fine, though Apple does say that this is not a diving watch.
but occasionally a product will be defective, and fail before the rating is reached. If Apple is selling a good 20 million watches a year, and I believe it higher than that, I would expect a few to not meet the rating.
Nobody wanted a round Watch.
Not all of Apple's products in a lineup have all the same features and functions. Compromises are made not only for performance, but for style.
Which is to say for those who chose to firmly bury their heads up their asses, not only can a round watch not do everything a rectangular watch can, it doesn't have to. Not everybody will use all the functionality of the current Watch.
It made sense for Apple to start with a rectangular watch as their goal was certainly to deliver a maximum about of information for maximum utility for a broad market appeal. So I think it's very early to expect Apple to go round.
Only idiots lacking vision (by virtue of their HUA posture) would assume that a round smartwatch has no market. Apple products have always been about style vs function, and sometimes style over function resulting in much whining and handwringing by their customers.
It will be a few years, but I bet they will have a round smartwatch. They only recently started making rectangular faces for other than the Hermès line. I highly doubt Apple has dismissed the idea outright, unlike the haters who don't want to see Apple make one for whatever stupid-ass reason. Such fools seem to almost always believe it's an either/or situation.
Apple grew a market for the iPhone. Apple grew a market for the iMac. Apple grew a market for the iPad. Apple grew a market for the Watch, all despite constant outcries of people proclaiming 'Nobody wants that!'
I've every confidence Apple can and will one day make a round Watch and grow a market for it.
Sorry, but I don't see it -- the sole reason that a watch/clock is round due to arms circling a center point, none of which exists on a wrist computer watch. Rectangular is simply more useful when it comes to data elements per surface area. Same reason Casio Databank wasn't round -- it just doesn't make sense.