Final 12 months marked the primary time since 2021 that Apple launched just one entry in its smartwatch household: the Apple Watch Sequence 10. Nevertheless, if the stories we’ve heard are correct, the corporate may make up for that this 12 months with its second trifecta of Apple Watches, matching the 2022 launch of the Apple Watch Sequence 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Extremely.
It’s a provided that we’ll see an Apple Watch Sequence 11 this fall, however most stories point out that Apple plans to launch an “Apple Watch Extremely 3” — a major improve that can embrace 5G and satellite tv for pc connectivity — plus a brand new Apple Watch SE.
The stories on what to anticipate from Apple’s most inexpensive smartwatch have been combined. Final summer time, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that Apple was contemplating Write: The Apple Watch SE May Get Greater This 12 months — seemingly plastic — to cut back prices.
Such a transfer would additionally assist set the Apple Watch SE other than the sleeker aluminum Sequence fashions — one thing the Apple Watch SE hasn’t executed but. The primary Apple Watch SE was launched in 2020 and was visually indistinguishable from the Apple Watch Sequence 6 that launched alongside it. The dearer mannequin got here in extra (PRODUCT)RED and blue colours that the SE model lacked, however you’d have a tough time telling the normal silver, gold, and house grey Sequence 6 other than the 2020 SE.
The second-generation Apple Watch SE seemed totally different from the remainder of the pack when it arrived in 2022 solely as a result of Apple didn’t change the design. The Apple Watch Sequence 7 grew in measurement, whereas the Apple Watch SE retained the design of the Sequence 6. Nevertheless, the 2 wearables seemed very related regardless of the scale variations, and solely a educated eye may inform which was which with out a nearer examination.
Nevertheless, earlier this 12 months, Gurman mentioned the plastic Apple Watch SE might not be within the playing cards. Apple’s design group reportedly didn’t just like the look of it, and because it didn’t actually scale back prices there wasn’t any benefit to creating the Apple Watch SE much less enticing.
As an alternative, Apple could merely revert to an older design, identical to it did with the 2022 Apple Watch SE. Now that the Apple Watch Sequence 10 has a fair bigger display screen, it’s arguably cleared the best way for the Apple Watch SE to undertake the design of the Sequence 7–9 period.
A brand new report from show analyst Ross Younger suggests that is what Apple has in thoughts. Younger lives and breathes show applied sciences, and he’s extra usually proper than improper on the subject of sharing details about the screens that Apple’s suppliers have in manufacturing.
In a subscribers-only submit on X observed by 9to5Mac, Younger notes that two new Apple Watch SE shows have simply entered manufacturing, measuring roughly 1.6” and 1.8” every.
Whereas Apple doesn’t publish the diagonal sizes of its Apple Watch shows, it does present the pixel width and peak for many fashions. For instance, the 46mm Apple Watch Sequence 10 specs reveal a 416 x 496-pixel show with a floor space of 1,220 sq. millimeters, whereas the 45mm Apple Watch Sequence 7 specs checklist a 396 x 484-pixel show at 1,143 sq. millimeters.
These numbers give us sufficient to calculate the remainder. For comparability, listed here are the display screen sizes of the previous few generations of Apple Watch fashions:
| Apple Watch Mannequin | Display screen Dimension |
| Sequence 10 (46mm) | 1.96 inches |
| Sequence 10 (42mm) | 1.76 inches |
| Sequence 7–9 (45mm) | 1.90 inches |
| Sequence 7–9 (41mm) | 1.69 inches |
| Sequence 4–6 and SE (44mm) | 1.76 inches |
| Sequence 4–6 and SE (40mm) | 1.53 inches |
| Sequence 0–3 (42mm) | 1.53 inches |
| Sequence 0–3 (38mm) | 1.34 inches |
As an apart, what’s attention-grabbing about these numbers is that they present how a lot Apple has diminished the bezels over time. The 40mm Apple Watch Sequence 4 had the identical measurement of display screen because the 42mm Sequence 3. The identical is true for the 42mm Apple Watch Sequence 10 in comparison with the 44mm Sequence 6.
Relying on which facet of “roughly” Younger’s measurements fall, the Apple Watch SE may simply cross into Sequence 7–9 territory, with 41mm and 45mm fashions changing the present 44/40mm sizes. The screens could find yourself barely smaller to maintain prices down; the expanded display screen on the Sequence 7 was reportedly “a novel problem” for Apple engineers, which undoubtedly interprets to a dearer one as effectively. Shaving even a number of tenths of a millimeter off the perimeters and growing the bezels is probably going a extra economical method.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]