The Apple Watch Series 7 will ship in mid-October with pre-orders to begin "as early as next week," claims leaker Jon Prosser, citing sources "familiar with the release."
Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 7 at its September "California Streaming" event alongside the iPhone 13 models, but at the time, said the new Apple Watch would ship later in the fall.
There has been no official word on when the Series 7 will be available, but most Apple Watch Series 6 models have been sold out in the United States for a couple of weeks now. Rumors suggest the Apple Watch Series 7 was delayed because of manufacturing issues caused by the complexity of the device, which pushed back mass production.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in early September that Apple had resolved the production issues and that manufacturing would ramp up in mid to late September.
Prosser says that Apple has started "informing the press" inquiring about review units to expect more information on the Series 7 "in the coming weeks," with no other information available. Prosser has a mixed track record when it comes to leaks, particularly with launch date predictions, so this information should be viewed with some skepticism.
Still, mid-October is a reasonable guess and timeline for the Apple Watch Series 7 launch, especially as we are still expecting one more event this year that could take place in mid to late October.
The Apple Watch Series 7 did not get the design changes we were expecting, including the flat-edged design described by Prosser earlier this year. There is a redesign with a larger display, slimmer borders, and new 41mm and 45mm size options, but the general curved design of the Apple Watch remains the same.
The Apple Watch Series 7 does not feature new health tracking capabilities, but Apple improved durability and added a fast charging feature. Pricing on the Apple Watch Series 7 will start at $399.
