The Apple Watch 7 is starting to make me nervous. Well not an actual stomach-churning nervous — more like a “fan of the product who wants to see it succeed but fears Apple won’t push the envelope enough,“ nervous.
Even though Apple’s next-generation smartwatch is still a couple months away from making its debut, it doesn’t seem destined to sport significant upgrades. Of course, that’s just speculation. But based on leaks, or the lack thereof, the Apple Watch 7 won’t offer anything particularly interesting compared to the current Apple Watch 6.
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Sure, Apple is no stranger to incremental upgrades. There’s little justification for upgrading an Apple Watch annually, as many do with iPhones. Yet with each new model, we see at least one standout feature worth the hype. The Apple Watch 6 introduced an SpO2 monitor, while the Apple Watch 5 had an always-on display and Apple Watch 4 became the first smartwatch with ECG readings. The Apple Watch 3 was the first smartwatch with LTE support.
So what will the Apple Watch 7 offer? Your guess is as good as mine. We know watchOS 8 in hand with an exclusive S7 processor will benefit power efficiency and speed, but beyond the baseline improvements, it’s unclear what this upcoming smartwatch will be able to do that others can’t.
I’m especially concerned now that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 has apparently leaked in an Amazon listing, revealing the Apple Watch 7 rival will provide body composition analysis, likely through Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) technology. If it works on a user's wrist as it does in the best smart scales, the Galaxy Watch 4 will be able to estimate your body fat percent, muscle mass and more.
Previous rumors pointed to the Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch 7 going head-to-head with blood glucose monitoring. Now, neither smartwatch seems due for it, even though it would’ve been a game-changer for users with diabetes or who want to track their blood sugar levels.
That leaves the Apple’s smartwatch the underdog heading into the preliminary Apple Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 4 face-off. It maintained its best smartwatch title with practically perfect software, but Samsung has the new Wear OS-One Watch UI hybrid raring to go.
I want to believe the differences between the Apple Watch 7 vs. Apple Watch 6 won’t be as subtle as those between Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch 5, I really do. Except I’m caught up on the fact that if there were something exciting to share about the latest refresh, it would’ve surfaced somewhere on the internet already.
My sole consolation is that Apple has been taking strides to crack down on leaks, or prevent internal product information from making its way to reporters and Twitter users who might spoil upcoming launches.
Still, I would like to see a few more morsels of Apple Watch 7 information to keep me interested until September. We do have a Galaxy Watch 4 release expected before then, and the stakes are high for Apple to steal back the spotlight.
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