Mike Wuerthele
After years of relying on third party ruggedized cases for high-impact wearers, Apple is reportedly considering an Apple Watch variant aimed at extreme users.
Reportedly, should Apple proceed with its plans, the rugged Apple Watch would be an option for consumers, similar to how it sells the Apple Watch SE. It would feature hardware engineering choices like corner protection and more impact resistance than the existing model.
Alongside the effort, Apple is also said to be working on improved swim tracking.
The Bloomberg report from Friday morning claims that this is "at least the second time" that Apple has gone through this evaluation process.
There is no clear timetable for release, or guesses about pricing. The report alleges that the internal discussions revolve around a 2021 or 2022 release "at the earliest."
As with most similar reports about future Apple products, there is the normal disclaimer that Apple's plans may change, and the product may never see the light of day.
Friday's report is the first that alleges that there may be a ruggedized release parallel with the "Apple Watch Series 7" debut. There are few other rumors about the 2021 Apple Watch refresh, with one primary — and repeating — one being that it will include non-invasive glucose monitoring of some sort.
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William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
46 Comments
Makes sense, as Apple Watch is heavily used for sports and outdoors.
Better swim tracking? Sounds like Apple is gonna take sports even more seriously.
Add glucose monitoring and this would be a must-have for even more people.
Would love to see a “redesign” with no bezels.
Just wear a Solar Powered G-Shock watch and be done with the whole having to plug in your watch at night or at any point during the day because the battery life sucks.
With the way the space industry is going, Apple would be smart to offer a vacuum safe watch. That is a watch that will not explode if accidentally exposed to a vacuum. That would be an interesting battery problem, not sure how they would solve that. However I really think people are underestimating how big the space industry will become over this decade. If you agree, Apple would benefit from being able to advertise that their watch is used by astronauts or those @#$!!&@ Martians.
Rugged version of the Apple Watch is a dumb down version like the Apple Watch SE? No thanks! Who wants to wear a budget Watch with limited features inside it?