Apple Watch made of plastic: Alleged problems during production
There were already rumors last year that Apple could produce a new watch made entirely from plastic.
Person with Apple Watch: cases made of steel, titanium, aluminum and now gold and ceramic. Is plastic now also coming?
(Image: Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock.com)
Speculation about an Apple Watch SE made of colorful plastic – based on the old iPhone 5c – already existed last year. But then nothing happened. Apple neither updated the entry-level watch nor came up with a new case material. A report from Sunday now states that this may remain the case: Apple allegedly has various internal problems with the new model.
Doesn't cost much less than aluminum
As Bloomberg report Mark Gurman writes in his new newsletter, the plastic SE is "seriously compromised". One of the reasons is that the design team does not like the look after all. In addition, and this may be even more serious, there are said to be difficulties in production. Apple's operations department has discovered that little can be saved by using plastic. Allegedly, it would be difficult to produce the case significantly cheaper than from the current aluminum material that Apple uses for its cheaper computer watches.
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For Apple, a plastic SE would have been a way to differentiate the entry-level watch even better from the other series –, i.e. the current standard version Series 10, the Hermès version and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 – if it had been given its own look. In addition, the plastic watch could also have been produced in many bright colors.
Plastic a material with obstacles for Apple
Apple's use of plastic in various products has fluctuated over the years. There were famous products such as the iBook or the first MacBook that used "iconic" white plastic. The iPhone 5c was only semi-popular, even though Apple launched it on the market in a particularly colorful version – including matching cases with holes. For the iPhone, the company is now once again relying on aluminum and steel. The Apple Watch is currently available in aluminum, steel and titanium, but Apple has also used ceramic and – briefly – gold (18K) for the so-called Edition models, which are no longer available in this form.
The next Apple Watch generation is expected in September. Possible innovations include the ability to measure changes in blood pressure – although Apple has been trying to do this for years and, according to Gurman, continues to have problems. Apple Watch Ultra fans are also hoping for a new model, after Apple simply gave the old Ultra 2 a new case color last year, but otherwise left it unchanged. The Apple Watch could also get 5G support – for the first time, albeit with a lower data rate – and satellite radio.
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