Apple Watch will 'not be released in March'

Despite Apple's product release schedule stating the Apple Watch 2 will be released in March, this commentator believes Apple should instead introduce new luxury bands in September, preserving the "mystery" and luxury appeal. Apple has recently teamed up with IBM and its Watson Health Cloud to create a new app, SleepHealth, which will collect sleep data that will be shared with researchers in an open-source format.

For all the rumor roundups I write here, whether the imminent release of the iPhone SE or the genius the will be the iPhone 7, I’m going to go on record and quite simply say that you will not see the Apple Watch 2 released in March, which would follow Apple’s product release schedule. It’s not going to happen.

Why no Apple Watch 2 in March?

That question might better be framed as “Why would Apple release a new Apple Watch now?” Apple still needs to get people to start wearing the first iteration of its watch and without any real competition in the market, why would it rush to put out either a potentially flawed device with little market instead of simply getting a bit of free press for the existing device with the release of a few new bands.

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Additionally, Apple has a few versions of the watch that cost a bleeping fortune. To release a new version in a year’s time would both take the mystery out of the device but also take away from its luxury appeal. While granted I would expect that when (September?) Apple does release the Apple Watch 2 it will simply be a matter of swapping out the “timepiece” and popping it into one of its luxury band offerings.

However, Apple is clearly not giving up on the project. The company just teamed with IBM and its Watson Health Cloud initiative to supply the cloud with sleep data from the Apple Watch in what could become the largest sleep study ever undertaken.

“With ResearchKit and Watson Health Cloud, this new app (SleepHealth) will help us build the world’s largest longitudinal study to collect data on both healthy and unhealthy sleepers that can be shared with other researchers in an open-source format,” said Carl Stepnowsky, the American Sleep Apnea Association’s chief science officer and lead investigator for the announced study said on Wednesday.

A number of analysts and rumors agree

In a recent note to investors, Stern Agee analysts wrote that Apple would be announcing a 4-inch iPhone based on the iPhone 5s, but replete with many of the internals of the iPhone 6.

But while speaking to the persistent rumors that Apple Watch 2 would also be announced in March the writers of the note rubbished the idea.

When the Apple Watch 2 is released, expect massive improvements, but you might be waiting for awhile.