If you’re like us and breathlessly checking daily for new developments with Apple’s rumored iWatch, you might finally have a date you can look forward to. The newest reports have Apple preparing to roll out its first wearable device in October of this year, probably right around the same time as the new iPhone.
Over at Re/Code , they’re citing sources familiar with Apple’s plans as pointing toward October for a debut. Apple reportedly plans to hold a special event to show off the device, which may or may not actually be called the iWatch.
Reportedly, the new Apple wearable will have a huge focus on health and fitness information gathering, both of which were big topics this week at the company’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference.
Should Apple decide to jump into the wearables market, it would be joining chief rival Samsung, but observers expect Apple to be able to draw much more attention for its device than Samsung has been able to. Samsung has released four wearable devices in the past nine months and rumors have the South Korean tech giant pushing out another later this year, alongside its Galaxy Note 4 . While Samsung currently holds more than 70 percent of the nascent wearables market, not one of its devices has taken off as “the next big thing” as the company would have hoped.
A wearable Apple device has been rumored to be in development for about a year and a half. Rumors emerged early last year when a former Apple employee posted his musings on the potential such a device might hold. Subsequent investigations into the possibility revealed trademarks, patent applications and more, all pointing to a possible wrist-mounted Apple device, the iWatch.
Apple, of course, has kept mum on the topic, with high-level executives only giving noncommittal expressions that the wearable market is “interesting.”
If the iWatch – or some other Apple wearable – does make its debut this fall, it could be as a “one more thing” at the end of the expected unveiling of the iPhone 6 . Alternatively, Apple could very well schedule its own dedicated event for the iWatch, which would give the company more time to expand upon its features and capabilities.