Apple Watch 2 Reportedly Will Ship in Second or Third Quarter Next Year

Apple is reportedly planning to ship the next iteration of Apple Watch sometime in the second or third quarter of next year, according to UDN (via 9to5Mac). The report cites comments made by founder of Quanta Computer, Barry Lam, one of Apple’s main manufacturers of the Apple Watch.

According to 9to5, the report mentions shipments starting in the second quarter, suggesting Apple could unveil the Watch 2 either around Spring or Summer, potentially ramping up into the holiday season.

What makes this interesting is that Apple has had a history of shipping products prior to new software and vice versa. With the iPad for example, Apple unveiled the iPad 2 and iPad 3 prior to major updates to iOS. The same can be said for iPhone up until iPhone 4S. However, more recently, Apple has shifted its efforts to unveiling software ahead of hardware, meaning we don’t see a new iPhone until a major version of iOS is ready to ship with it.

If Apple were to ship a new Apple Watch, would they do it while it runs watchOS 2 or would it only run watchOS 3? Either way, we’re expecting big improvements with the next version of Apple Watch including a much faster processor, perhaps an LTE chip, GPS, a rumored FaceTime camera, and much more.