Apple’s September 9 event introduced the new Series 10 watches and added a new color option for the Watch Ultra 2. There was no Ultra 3, however, and no new Watch SE model. A third edition of the Apple Watch SE is definitely in the works, writes Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.
The third Apple Watch SE is expected to be released in 2025. According to Gurman, Apple’s team has been busy converting the original aluminum design into plastic. Using plastic allows Apple to lower the price and introduce new, brighter colors.
The View SE (2022) is already pretty cheap at $250 for a 40mm model and $280 for a 44mm model, even the cellular upgrade is pretty cheap at just $50 more than the GPS model. However, one rival, the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, is $200so a price reduction may be necessary.
The current Apple Watch SE (2022) doesn’t have much variety when it comes to colors
As for the new colors, remember the iPhone 5c? It was plastic, and Apple went all out with the colors. Kids might like the new colors, and parents might like the new price points. As Gurman points out, more and more countries are considering or already banning smartphones in schools, so the Watch SE could be a way to stay connected without a phone. Apple even offers a way to set up a Watch for your kid even if they don’t have an iPhone of their own (you use yours instead).
Regardless, Gurman also reports that the new SE could get a chipset upgrade. The Watch SE (2022) will use the Apple S8 chipset, the same as the Series 8 watches released in 2022. However, the underlying hardware isn’t all that different from the S6 from 2020. Apple has been fairly vague about the upgrades to the new Apple S10 chipset, focusing on the AI side of things. Whether the new SE has an S9 or S10 chip could depend on supply and pricing.
A quick word on the Ultra series: The 2023 Apple Watch Ultra 2 was a fairly minor upgrade, and Apple is skipping a year before the Ultra 3 arrives. Gurman suggests the Ultra series will move to a 2-year upgrade schedule, like the SE. Even then, the Watch Ultra 3 may not be particularly impressive.