Hasta La Ideas

I was today years old when I learned that the Apple Watch is the most popular watch in the world, overtaking Rolex to gain that title. Anyway, now that we have that tidbit aside, famed tech-leaker Jon Prosser is alleging that the world’s most popular watch is getting a redesign. Currently in its 6th series, the Apple Watch has seen only two major redesigns (with the second arguably boasting of a screen with thinner bezels) but it seems like the Cupertino-giant has giant plans for the 7th edition of its popular smartwatch… and it involves homogenizing its design to fit in with the iPhone and iPad’s form language.

The rumor-mill of a new Apple Watch started back in 2020 when prominent Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo hinted that a new design was in the works and could drop as soon as 2021. Now that we’re well into the year 2021, Prosser’s collaborated with Ian Zelbo to bring rumors and leaks to life in the form of pretty life-like renders. The renders are based on real images and CAD-file screenshots supplied to Prosser by his network of sources. In order to protect the sources yet still share the designs with everyone, Prosser and Ian created these renders to show us exactly what they saw, and it seems like Apple is really beginning to streamline their design language. The ‘magical slab of glass’ analogy seemed to work really well for the iPad and its flat-edge design language finally carried onto the iPhone 12 last year and the iMac this year. According to the renders, the Apple Watch is getting a similar design upgrade with flat sides as opposed to the rounded ones, giving its screen a larger-than-life presence with minimal bezel interference.

It’s worth noting that these renders do come with some caveats. For starters, they’re literally just renders. Prosser couldn’t get his hands on a spec sheet, so we don’t have any idea what’s on the inside of the watch and if there are any new sensors or features. In fact, the watches go by codenames in the supply line too, so for all we know, this might not necessarily even be the Apple Watch Series 7 but rather an incredibly early look at Series 8! One thing that definitely stands out is the Watch 7’s new color-schemes, especially that rather soothing moss green color that doesn’t just exist on the strap, it’s present on the anodized metal body too (iMac 2021 much?) I wonder if Apple’s planning on releasing an iPhone 12-style purple variant too.

Image Credits: Jon Prosser and Ian Zelbo