Apple Watch SE in plastic: The model is reportedly still coming

Many rumors about the Apple iPhone event last week were true, but well-known rumor mongers were wrong about one thing: the Apple Watch SE did not get a new plastic housing with a modern interior. Instead, nothing happened to the entry-level watch, now being priced starting at 249 euros. But supposedly it won’t stop there: Apple, at least according to Mark Gurman of the financial news agency Bloomberg, who started the plastic rumor over the summer Update next year,

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Manufacturing issues?

“A new Apple Watch SE with a plastic case remains in development,” he writes. “The idea is to reduce the price through cheaper materials while making the device more kid-friendly. It may be a good time: Schools in the US and elsewhere ban children from using cell phones, and Apple is offering its smartwatch as an alternative.”

So this product is still on Apple’s agenda, “possibly for next year”. However, the group’s manufacturing teams will have to deal with “some cost and quality challenges” when switching to plastic. After switching to titanium for the Apple Watch Series 10, the team has a “more free hand”. Gurman also hopes that the SE will get a “processor leap”; it is still stuck in the 2020 SIP era.

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Mixed line with questions

The SE therefore did not get a two-year rhythm with this year’s keynote – which is now assumed for the Ultra, which was only equipped with a new color this year, which was in fact already predicted for 2023. This caused disappointment among fans of Apple’s best and most expensive computer watch, as it makes little difference to the “normal” watch.

The line-up is currently quite confusing: The Series 10 has the largest and most modern screen of all Apple Watch models, which is also easy to read from the side. But it lacks more accurate sensors, for example in the field of water sports. The Ultra 3 is not expected before autumn 2025. Well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also initially suggested the Ultra 3, but then abandoned the idea shortly before the keynote.

(B.Sc.)