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Redesign o’clock: Apple Watch makeover expected in 2021

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According to information from one oft-reliable analyst, Apple’s next-generation Apple Watch – due to be released in 2021 – is set to include a brand new form factor. This is good news for fans of the smartwatch, as Apple’s wearable typically doesn’t see regular hardware design changes.

The information comes from Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5mac), who explained in a recent note to investors that consumer response to the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE has been strong. The Apple Watch is the powerhouse behind Apple’s soon-to-be-released Fitness+, a new service designed to bring gym-style classes to Apple devices. Plus, the Apple Watch has helped people track their activity more generally during the current period of lockdown.

According to Kuo, however, the Watch is set to change. He expects an improved form factor design to arrive with the Apple Watch Series 7, which is due to launch next year. On top of that, Kuo expects the new wearable to include “innovative health management functions,” though further details concerning this are scarce.

The hardware design of the Apple Watch last changed with the Series 4 model, which altered the wearable’s screen sizes. Apple still sells the Series 3 model online, alongside a more recent lower-priced Apple Watch SE (which features the Series 3 design with improved internals) and the current-gen Series 6 model.

Elsewhere in his note, Kuo suggests that a new form factor is also coming to Apple’s MacBook line and that the iPad may – at long last – get mini-LED display technology. He adds that AirPods sales have been lower than anticipated recently, and as such the next-generation AirPods 3 are expected to launch later in the year (rather than in early-2021).

Kuo is usually on the money with his Apple-focused prophecies and predictions, so – for now, at least – expect a new design with 2021’s Apple Watch. How would you like to see Apple improve and enhance the look and feel of its much-loved wearable?