Apple will reportedly launch the iWatch in multiple sizes, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The new smartwatch will apparently come with multiple screen sizes, costing different amounts, alongside dozens of sensors inside the device for health and fitness tracking.
In the report, it details how Apple will utilise more than 10 sensors inside the iWatch and these won’t be typical smartphone-base sensors. This could lead to new developments on mobile health, allowing the iWatch to track more stats about the user’s body and relay them back on HealthKit.
Apple has been hiring different health and fitness specialists on their executive team. The HealthKit API is also a big hint that the iWatch will feature a lot of health and fitness features and capabilities, stepping above the Samsung Gear and Android Wear devices.
Interestingly, Apple will look to add a 2.5-inch screen, alongside 1.6 and 1.3-inch options. The 2.5-inch screen will make it easier for touchscreen usage, whereas the 1.3-inch model will mostly rely on Siri voice recognition, similar to how Google is developing Android Wear.
Apple is working with Quanta Computer Inc, a Taiwanese manufacturer who has previous experience working on Mac computers. The move to a smaller Taiwanese manufacturer might be due to the product scale, with Apple only preparing 10 to 15 million units for 2014.
This puts the project on a much smaller scale compared to the iPad and iPhone. Apple is apparently preparing 200 million iPhone 6 units to be sold worldwide in 2014 and the start of 2015, 20 times more units than Apple is preparing for the iWatch.
The iWatch will go on sale in October, this has been backed up by multiple sources in Taiwan and China. Apple will most likely announce the iWatch next month or in September, following a general rollout of iOS8, alongside the launch of the iPhone 6.
Source: WSJ
