When it comes to smartwatches, how big is too big? Apple may be putting that question to the test with the upcoming rugged Apple Watch Pro, according to Bloomberg’s well-connected reporter, Mark Gurman and his tech gossip-packed Power On newsletter.
“I’m told that the high-end model is going to be a good bit bigger than the standard Apple Watch — big enough that it might only appeal to a subset of customers,” he wrote.
How big is big? “The screen will be about 7% larger,” Gurman writes, presumably meaning by area. And while he doesn’t specify if he’s comparing it to the current 41 or 45mm watch, it still sounds like it’ll be quite a chunky beast.
Gurman also says that the Apple Watch Pro will have a “fresh new look”. But, honestly, it sounds like the word “fresh” is pushing it a bit: “it will be an evolution of the current rectangular shape, and not circular,” Gurman writes. “It also won’t have the rumoured flat sides,” he added — a reference to the leaked CAD designs for the Apple Watch 7, which ended up not being used.
It will also be more rugged, apparently, with Gurman saying that it’ll use a “durable formulation of titanium”, making it well suited to those who do extreme sports (or like to pretend they do from their sedentary office chairs.) To help with that, Gurman has previously said you should expect shatter resistance, stronger battery life and better tracking for swimming and hiking.
There’s good news and bad news about what this does for pricing. The good news is that even if the watch is heavier, your wallet at least won’t be as heavy to lug around. Which brings me to the bad news: Gurman is predicting a price of somewhere in the NZ$1,560 to NZ$1,650 range. Which at least makes the NZ$649 Apple Watch 7 look like something of a bargain…
