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It’s been a rollercoaster week for Apple due to the incoming so-called ‘Apple Watch ban’. After attempts to evade it and some confusion on what a ban actually means, it seems Apple is resigned to defeat.
But it wasn’t all Apple Watch will-they-won’t-they dramas this week.
There were other rumours and updates on what we might be seeing from the iPhone and Apple Watch in 2024, including a new episode of ‘Guess The Vision Pro Release Date’ which is beginning to feel more like pin the tail on the donkey by the day.
Join me for this week’s Apple news roundup!
The Apple Watch Ban
This week, Apple pulled the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from their website. You cannot, as of publication, buy a new Apple Watch. Why? Let me explain…
Back in October 2023, the Independent Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the blood oxygen monitor inside the latest Apple Watch models infringes on the copyright of a health technology manufacturer called Masimo.
This led the ITC to place an import ban on the Apple Watch, meaning that Apple has had to preemptively stop selling their smartwatches to comply.
Ever since October, Apple has been trying to bypass the ban through things like software updates whilst also hoping for a Presidential veto as seen with the iPhone 4 in 2013.
So far, all appeals and workarounds have failed. It looks likely the ITC Apple Watch ban will be enforced. Luckily for Apple, the ban comes into effect after the Christmas buying rush and only affects the US market. If you’re outside the USA, you won’t be impacted
As for those in the USA, the ban will last as long as it takes to find a resolution, either in the form of an appeal or a legal settlement with Masimo. You’ll still be able to buy an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 through third-party retailers though until stocks run dry.
All in all, it feels simultaneously like a storm in a teacup that Apple could solve themselves with money/a redesign as well as a big deal; these are the best-selling smartwatches in the world.
Vision Pro Could Be Released In February
And now to the Vision Pro release date. A new prediction seems to pop up every day and all of them shift the goalposts by a few weeks. First, it was late March, then it was early January, and now it is ‘by February’.
Mark Gurman at Bloomberg reported this week that Apple’s international supply chains and manufacturing hubs drastically ramped up in intensity. This suggests that an early 2024 release is all but confirmed.
A January release seems too early though according to Gurman and others in the know, but late January will be the customer reveal (when you can buy the product). February 2024 will likely be the time Vision Pro headsets reach homes.
With CES also taking place in January, it wouldn’t be surprising for Apple to try and steal the limelight by announcing that Vision Pro is available to buy then.
Either way, we’re getting VR from Apple in a few months. Well, those of us with money to burn are which, in these times, can only be a minute fraction of the population.
iPhone and Apple Watch Updates
Finally, onto some more meaty Apple tech news. Whilst the following are rumours, they look pretty likely.
First off, the least believable. According to leakers, the iPhone 16 Pro will have a second 48-megapixel camera to compliment the lonely one that ships with the iPhone 15 Pro.
That camera on the iPhone 15 Pro is mega. It takes excellent photos with a recognisably ‘Apple’ stamp on them in terms of lighting and colour intensities. So, if Apple was to follow its iterative update process, moving one of the 12-megapixel cameras to a second 48-megapixel camera would make sense.
What that would do to the cost is anyone’s guess but you’d assume it would be pricey.
The second rumour is that the 2024 Apple Watch will receive new health monitoring features. The Apple Watch Series 9 saw little in the way of new specifications, so it feels right that in its 10th anniversary year, Apple will go all out on the Apple Watch.
This will be the Apple Watch X of course, following the same naming convention as the iPhone X (actually the iPhone 10). Rumoured new features include sleep apnea detection as well as hypertension monitoring.
Not the most exciting rumour but one that would add to the Apple Watch’s usefulness. Other smartwatches like the Garmin Fenix Pro 7 track a ridiculous amount of stuff about your health. So Apple does have catching up to do.
Round up
So it’s been a mixed week for Apple. They’ll be royally peeved off by the fact they haven’t managed to wrangle a way out of the Apple Watch ban. But then again, all most people care about at the moment with Apple is Vision Pro.
Something tells me they won’t be letting any product ban last very long anyway. They’ll do something soon to avoid having to stop sales, it’s bad business otherwise.
What are your thoughts on this whole Apple Watch ban fiasco? Let me know below!
