Mark Gurman this weekend doubled down on his view that the new Apple Watch SE is likely to made from plastic rather than aluminum.
That raises the prospect of the company either reducing the price, or adding in new features at the same price – but Apple may well see colorful case options as the key selling point …
The reported switch to a plastic case
Gurman first raised the prospect of the change in materials a month ago.
Currently, the Apple Watch SE is made out of aluminum, much like the higher-end Apple Watch models. When Apple last updated the Apple Watch SE in 2022, it redesigned the back case to switch to a new “nylon composite” material instead of ceramic.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports the next-generation Apple Watch SE could ditch its aluminum shell “in favor of rigid plastic.”
This could reduce manufacturing costs, and potentially raises the prospect of a $199 starting price.
An alternative raised by my colleague Michael Burkhardt is that Apple might instead retain the existing price and give the model a feature bump, perhaps adding the ECG feature long supported by other models.
Might colorful Apple Watch SE options be key?
Aluminum places constraints on color options in a way that plastic doesn’t. With a plastic case, Apple could make the Watch in literally any colors in likes.
So might we see some bright and playful colors as the key selling point of the new model? Especially if Apple wants to encourage adoption by kids.
You may recall Apple went down this path with the iPhone 5c, adding to the appeal of the low cost by offering it in a range of “five gorgeous colors”: blue, green, pink, yellow, and white. Apple billed it as “the most colourful iPhone yet.”
Ultimately, a plastic iPhone appeared not to be a commercial success, as Apple chose not to repeat the move in subsequent years, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t work for the Apple Watch.
The Verge’s Wes Davis is a big fan of this idea.
Some of the more colorful non-pro iPhones have been a delight — consider the seafoam green iPhone 12 mini I had this phone, and I still think about it, more than I care to admit. Imagine what could flow from Apple deciding to make the Watch SE more kid-friendly. I’m sure it won’t be the eye-searing greens, oranges, and yellows of 90s Nickelodeon (oh my, would I buy that, though), but something like those mid-cycle purple or banana-yellow iPhone refreshes may not be out of the question at all.
A black or white option could make it a safe bet
Of course, offering the new Apple Watch SE only in bright colors could be appealing to some and off-putting to others. That, however, could be easily solved by including a black or white option in the line-up.
A white plastic Apple Watch SE might even look similar to the expensive and utterly beautiful ceramic Apple Watch Edition seen above.
What are your views? Would you like to see Apple introduce some bright colors in the new Apple Watch SE? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Image: 9to5Mac collage of Apple photos
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