by Dan Moren
The rumored Apple Watch 2 includes a camera, oh please no
9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman reports on rumors of the Apple Watch 2:
Two months after the initial launch of the Apple Watch, and only a day following the device’s debut at Apple Stores, sources have revealed Apple’s intentions for the 2016 release of a second-generation model. According to multiple sources familiar with Apple’s plans, the Apple Watch 2 is set to gain a video camera, a new wireless system for greater iPhone independence, and new premium-priced models.
First of all, a 2016 release doesn’t surprise me. I’m kind of hoping that it’s late in the year, and perhaps even a 2017 release. As I’ve said before, I think Apple dug themselves into a hole releasing a new iPad every year when it wasn’t clear what the refresh cycle of the tablet was. Now if they don’t release a new iPad once a year, people will whisper about it being a flop. (Well, even more so than they do now.) Plus, as many of us wondered before the Apple Watch’s release, are we really going to be in the market for a new watch every year?
But if any of these rumors make me grimace, it’s this:
Apple’s current plans call for a video camera to be integrated into the top bezel of the Apple Watch 2, enabling users to make and receive FaceTime calls on the move via their wrists.
Okay, look, I want a futuristic “video call people from your wrist” device as much as the next guy, but I just have a hard time believing anybody’s going to use this feature, really.1 I don’t think I’ve even taken a single phone call on my wrist in the six weeks I’ve had the Watch. Plus, as I feel like we should have learned by now, holding up your arm for long periods of time isn’t very comfortable. And if you put your arm down, people are going to be looking up your nose. Sounds great.
So I guess that’s my long-winded way of saying “Apple, please don’t put a camera on the Apple Watch 2.”
- Granted, a lot of us didn’t think anybody would use the iPad as a camera. ↩