Although we know there’s a new iPhone or two coming out this fall, with a likely announcement on September 9, there’s a lot more uncertainty surrounding Apple’s plans to launch a wrist-mounted wearable gadget. According to John Paczkowski at Re/Code, who previously reported that Apple was scheduling an October event for the iWatch, the new plan is to launch the wearable device alongside the iPhone.
There are two ways to look at this new tidbit: First of all, the iPhone is the most profitable consumer product in the world and is more than deserving of its very own dog-and-pony show. On the other hand, if [company]Apple[/company] is going to break into a new product category, what better time than when the world’s rapt attention is focused on the latest iPhone?
Even if Apple combines its smartwatch and iPhone events, there’s still more than enough new products in the Apple pipeline for a second launch event. Apple will release OS X Yosemite this fall, and usually new versions of OS X come along with new Mac hardware — possibly the 12-inch MacBook that’s been rumored.
Thanks to Apple’s legendary secrecy, there isn’t a whole lot of clarity surrounding the features or the look of its long-rumored wearable device. There’s a good deal of evidence pointing to Apple releasing a health-focused wristband with several integrated sensors that may or may not have a big, curved screen. It will likely integrate with Apple’s HealthKit platform as well as HomeKit. But unlike the iPhone, there haven’t been many supply chain part leaks yet, so if it were to be announced in September, it might not go on sale for a while afterwards.
Even though this new information comes from a very reliable source, it’s not yet time to start queuing up at the Apple Store: Apple hasn’t even yet sent out invitations to the iPhone event, and since it appears to have changed its launch plans once, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it did it again. Still, don’t be surprised on September 9 when CEO Tim Cook teases “one more thing.”
