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Two new Apple Watches coming this year, report says
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Enlarge ImageThe Apple Watch went on sale in April 2015.
James Martin/CNET
There could be new Apple Watch hardware around the corner, if a well-connected industry analyst is proved correct.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who last year correctly predicted Apple would launch the iPhone SE, says there are two new Apple Watches coming in the second half of 2016, MacRumours reports.
One model will apparently be an incremental upgrade to the current Watch, with a better processor and improved waterproofing. A second model, to be called the Apple Watch 2, boasts those improvements plus more precise location tracking thanks to GPS and a barometer, as well as a bigger battery.
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Ming-Chi also suspects Apple will introduce LTE connectivity to the line in 2017. That’ll mean you can use the Watch without needing to connect to a phone or Wi-Fi.
Apple in June unveiled a new OS for the Watch. The company was contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.
Despite enduring a drop in shipments, the Apple Watch is still leading the smartwatch pack. 1.6 million of the devices were shipped in the second quarter of this year — a sizeable decrease from the 3.6 million shipped in the same quarter last year, but still far ahead of the 600,000 that Samsung did with its Galaxy Gear range.
The Apple Watch 2 isn’t Ming-Chi’s only Apple prediction for this year. The analyst previously said that the company would be releasing a heavily revamped MacBook Pro in late 2016. It’ll include an OLED touchscreen in place of function keys, Touch ID and USB-C support, he said.
This article also appears in Spanish. Read: Apple Watch 2 con GPS y mejor procesador llegará pronto: reporte
