The rumors that Apple is working on an iWatch are starting to intensify, but is there reason to believe the rumors?
Bloomberg speculates that Apple may be more motivated to design and launch an iOS powered watch rather than a TV because the global watch industry is four times larger than the TV manufacturing business. Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen believes iWatch is a $6 billion opportunity for Apple.
The Verge checked with sources inside Apple and was able to independently corroborate that Apple designer Jony Ive is keen to make a watch.
Ive reportedly has 100 engineers assigned to the development of an iWatch, and the challenge they’re trying to solve is battery life. Apparently the goal is to get battery life up to 4-5 days, but the team is stuck at two days max.
It seems that Apple abandoned using the operating system developed for the iPod Nano in favor of running the Apple watch on a version of iOS. Engineers expect to get the kinks worked out in time for the watch to ship later this year.
I’ve been writing about Apple for eight years and have friends who work for the company. I’m skeptical that iWatch is anything other than a rumor .
Apple analysts are frequently wrong in their predictions about what Apple is working on. Sometimes they whip Apple fans up into a frenzy based on analysis that is nothing more than wishful thinking. That said, there are three reasons the iWatch may be more than just a rumor:
1. Jony Ive ordered “boxes” of Nike sports watches a few years ago so that Apple engineers could study them.
2. Apple released an iPod Nano in the form factor of a watch face. It even had digital watch software. Apple mysteriously took the popular watch shaped Nano off the market and replaced it with a Nano that was a throwback to older iterations of the MP3 player. Speculation is that Apple did that because they had plans for a real watch powered by iOS.
3. Apple has filed more than 79 patent applications including the word “wrist.”
Once Apple analysts get it in their minds that Apple is doing something they fuel the speculation. Rumors will come and go until Tim Cook stands on a stage and shows us an Apple iWatch. There is good evidence that an iWatch will happen, but like with any Apple rumor, remaining skeptical is never a bad idea.