At the moment’s “It’s Glowtime!” Apple occasion noticed a sequence of headline-grabbing bulletins, from the iPhone 16 Professional to the AirPods 4. And the Apple Watch wasn’t ignored of the enjoyable, with a totally redesigned Collection 10 mannequin providing each the thinnest physique and the largest show the road has ever had, together with sooner charging and a brand new health-monitoring characteristic.
The Collection 10 replaces the Collection 9 within the lineup, however what in regards to the different fashions? Most pundits anticipated new variations of the Apple Watch Extremely and SE too, however these didn’t seem: the 2nd-gen variations of every stay on sale. The Extremely 2 will get a brand new colour end (a moderately stunning satin black) however the Apple Watch SE, so far as we will inform, didn’t change in any respect. It wasn’t even talked about within the presentation.
Which makes it moderately unusual, while you go to the Apple web site, to see that the Apple Watch SE 2 is available for purchase… on preorder. There isn’t a brand new colour, there isn’t a brand new colour or chip, and it hasn’t had a worth lower, so what provides? The inventory is presumably on the market already, having launched in fall 2023, so why do we have to wait till the twentieth? What’s the distinction between shopping for it now and shopping for it every week in the past?
We’ve emailed Apple PR to ask for clues, however there are just a few potentialities. Maybe the vary of equipment has modified in some small manner that we haven’t seen but: new bands, maybe these “Fresh band colors” talked about on the positioning, that should be shipped out to prospects. (The Extremely 2 obtained a brand new band, the Milanese loop in black titanium, and this was introduced throughout the presentation. However a much less thrilling SE band won’t have merited stage time.)
Alternatively, Apple might have tapered off manufacturing of the SE in July and August, on the understanding that prospects would have been anticipating a brand new mannequin and subsequently wouldn’t wish to purchase the present one; which suggests it now has to ramp that manufacturing again up once more and get models out to distributors. Perhaps the corporate even deliberate to replace the SE this fall, and adjusted its thoughts at a late stage. Or likes the concept of individuals pondering the SE on the positioning proper now’s newer than it truly is, though that may be barely naughty. (And in equity, it’s moderately clear that it isn’t new. The Collection 10 has a crimson NEW badge, whereas Extremely 2 has NEW COLOR. The SE has no badge in any respect.)
We’ll replace this text if we discover the reply, or if Apple replies. However for now, it should stay a small however intriguing thriller.